Altered Beast
Altered Beast — frequently asked questions
- What platforms is Altered Beast on?
- Altered Beast was released on Arcade, Commodore C64/128/MAX, ZX Spectrum, Android, Atari ST/STE, iOS, DOS, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, MSX, Sega Master System/Mark III, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Turbografx-16/PC Engine CD, PC Engine, Famicom, TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine.
- When did Altered Beast release?
- Altered Beast was first released on June 14, 1988.
About Altered Beast
Altered Beast is a 1988 beat 'em up video game developed by Team Shinobi and published by Sega for arcades. Set in Ancient Greece, the game follows a Roman centurion who is resurrected by the Olympian god Zeus to rescue his daughter Athena from Neff, the demonic ruler of the underworld. By collecting three power-ups in a level, the player character can transform into one of five mythical beasts. In the original arcade, the end credits are interspersed with images of actors in costumes for the different characters and monsters of the game, implying the whole game was a film production.
Summary via IGDB.
Game details
- Platforms
- Arcade, Commodore C64/128/MAX, ZX Spectrum, Android, Atari ST/STE, iOS, DOS, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, MSX, Sega Master System/Mark III, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Turbografx-16/PC Engine CD, PC Engine, Famicom, TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine
- Developer
- Team Shinobi
- Publisher
- Activision
- Game modes
- Single player, Co-operative, Split screen
- Themes
- Action, Fantasy, Survival, Historical
- Series
- Altered Beast
Details via IGDB.
Reception
Every version compared
Prices, contemporary reception and the studio credited for each release
| Platform | Year | Loose | Complete | Sealed | Period reviews | Fake risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sega Master SystemDetails ↓ | 1989 | $11 | $20 | $256 | 16 reviews | Low (look-alike) |
| Sega GenesisDetails ↓ | 1989 | $12 | $26 | $150 | 9 reviews | Low |
The cheapest way to own it loose is the Sega Master System version ($11).
Also released on: Arcade · Commodore C64/128/MAX · ZX Spectrum · Android · Atari ST/STE · iOS · DOS · Amiga · Amstrad CPC · MSX · Sega Master System/Mark III · Sega Mega Drive/Genesis · Turbografx-16/PC Engine CD · PC Engine · Famicom · TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine. We haven’t priced or authenticated those versions yet.
Prices are per version and are not interchangeable, and neither are the reviews: conversions in this era were often built by a different studio than the original, so a score earned on one machine says nothing about how another plays.
Collector value & authenticity
Sega Master System · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-28
Other releases and variants
| Release | Loose | Complete | Sealed |
|---|---|---|---|
| European (PAL) release | $11 | $24 | — |
How often it sells
- Loose: about once a month
- Complete: about once a week
- Sealed: about once a year
Prices marked “few sales” rest on about one recorded sale a year, so treat them as a rough guide: the next copy could sell well above or below. Expect to wait for one to come up.
Sales frequency from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, as of 2026-10-28.
Price over time
- Loose
- Complete
A loose copy sold for about $4.50 in Jul 2009, $13.82 five years ago, and $11.22 as of Oct 2026.
Show as table
| Month | Loose | Complete |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 2010 | $2.64 | — |
| Jan 2011 | $3.25 | — |
| Jan 2012 | $3.29 | — |
| Jan 2013 | $3.20 | — |
| Jan 2014 | $5.19 | $6.95 |
| Jan 2015 | $6.92 | $8.79 |
| Jan 2016 | $5.50 | $9.99 |
| Jan 2017 | $9.94 | $14.97 |
| Jan 2018 | $10.88 | $11.93 |
| Jan 2019 | $7.94 | $14.42 |
| Jan 2020 | $10.00 | $17.08 |
| Jan 2021 | $9.00 | $14.99 |
| Jan 2022 | $11.84 | $19.84 |
| Jan 2023 | $10.42 | $21 |
| Jan 2024 | $8.67 | $18.99 |
| Jan 2025 | $10.00 | $19.75 |
| Jan 2026 | $8.84 | $19.24 |
| Oct 2026 | $11.22 | $19.99 |
Monthly price estimates from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, sampled quarterly, through Oct 2026.
Release record
| Territory | Date |
|---|---|
| North America | June 1989 |
| Europe / PAL | June 1989 |
- Region
- NA+EU
- Released
- 1989
- Authenticity
- Low
The Sega Master System version
A cut-down conversion of the arcade beat 'em up that critics at the time found disappointing, but it costs little.
Sega released the Master System version of Altered Beast in North America and Europe in June 1989. You play a centurion who collects power-ups to turn into mythical beasts, but this port is missing levels from the arcade game. The arcade's lead, Makoto Uchida, was not directly involved in the Master System port.
Period reviews were mixed. Julian Rignall of Computer and Video Games criticized the reduced graphics, slow gameplay and fussy collision detection, and The Games Machine called it a middling conversion of a nice coin-op. Electronic Gaming Monthly was kinder, saying it captured most of the familiar play mechanics of the arcade game.
What the press said at the time
| Sega Pro Issue 1 | November 1991 | 68 |
| Sega Pro Issue 21 | July 1993 | 50% |
| Sega Pro Issue 22 | August 1993 | 50% |
| Sega Pro Issue 23 | September 1993 | 50% |
| Sega Pro Issue 24 | October 1993 | 50% |
| Sega Pro Issue 25 | November 1993 | 50% |
| Sega Pro Issue 26 | December 1993 | 50% |
| Sega Pro Issue 35 | August 1994 | 50% |
| AllGame | 2.5/5 | |
| Computer and Video Games | 60% | |
| HobbyConsolas | 45% | |
| The Games Machine | 43% | |
| GamesPreview (DK) | 43% | |
| Sega Power | 2/5 | |
| S: The Sega Magazine | 53% | |
| VideoGame (BR) | 5/5 |
“A horizontally scrolling hack ’n’ slash game let down by jerky movement and a distinct lack of reál action. Such a shame as the Mega Drive version was a great success.”
“Appalling conversion of a popular coin-op. Iťs a beat-’em-up, but is severely flawed due to the flickery sprites and ierky scrolling.”
“Appailing conversion of a popular coin-op. Iťs a beat-’em-up, but is severely flawed and made very average due to the flickery sprites and jerky scrolling.”
“Appalling conversion of a popular coin-op. Iťs a beat-'em-up, but is severely flawed and made very average due to the flickery sprites and jerky scrolling.”
Undated scores are from the review table in the game's Wikipedia article, limited to reviews of the Sega Master System version.
Also on other platforms
Arcade · Genesis · Amiga · Atari ST · Amstrad CPC · Commodore 64 · ZX Spectrum · PC Engine CD-ROM² · PC Engine · MS-DOS · Famicom · MSX
| Arcade | Team Shinobi |
- Arcade. The arcade game has five levels and up to two players at once.
How the other versions reviewed
| Amiga | ACE | 825/1000 |
| Arcade | AllGame | 3.5/5 |
| Amiga | Computer and Video Games | 69% |
| Atari ST | Computer and Video Games | 68% |
| Amiga | The Games Machine | 69% |
| Atari ST | The Games Machine | 70% |
| Commodore 64 | The Games Machine | 64% |
| TurboGrafx-16 | The Games Machine | 60% |
| Arcade | Commodore User | 7/10 |
These are the other versions’ scores, not this one’s. Ports of this era were frequently built by different studios, so they do not transfer.
Before you buy
Both US and European carts exist. Loose copies cost about the same either way, but a complete European copy usually costs more than a complete US one. The cart sits below the typical price for its year, and the look-alike risk is low, so condition and the manual matter more than the region.
Collector value & authenticity
Sega Genesis · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-29
Other releases and variants
| Release | Loose | Complete | Sealed |
|---|---|---|---|
| European (PAL) release | $12 | $27 | $208 |
| Japanese release | $20 | $50 | — |
How often it sells
- Loose: about 2 times a week
- Complete: about 3 times a week
- Sealed: about once a month
Sales frequency from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, as of 2026-10-29.
Price over time
- Loose
- Complete
A loose copy sold for about $3.18 in Oct 2007, $10.00 five years ago, and $12.10 as of Oct 2026.
Show as table
| Month | Loose | Complete |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 2008 | $3.90 | — |
| Jan 2009 | $3.25 | — |
| Jan 2010 | $3.49 | — |
| Jan 2011 | $1.99 | — |
| Jan 2012 | $2.67 | — |
| Jan 2013 | $2.87 | — |
| Jan 2014 | $5.50 | $11.95 |
| Jan 2015 | $6.75 | $12.99 |
| Jan 2016 | $9.80 | $14.99 |
| Jan 2017 | $10.50 | $14.83 |
| Jan 2018 | $8.69 | $16.15 |
| Jan 2019 | $8.75 | $21 |
| Jan 2020 | $10.00 | $16.19 |
| Jan 2021 | $8.97 | $17.04 |
| Jan 2022 | $9.45 | $22 |
| Jan 2023 | $11.75 | $23 |
| Jan 2024 | $8.35 | $25 |
| Jan 2025 | $10.95 | $22 |
| Jan 2026 | $11.00 | $24 |
| Oct 2026 | $12.10 | $26 |
Monthly price estimates from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, sampled quarterly, through Oct 2026.
Release record
| Territory | Date | Product number | Barcode |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America | August 1989 | — | 010086011005 |
| Europe / PAL | September 1990 | — | — |
| Japan | 27 November 1988 | G-4001 | 4974365540012 |
- Region
- NA+EU+JP
- Released
- 1989
- Authenticity
- Low
The Sega Genesis version
The Genesis pack-in classic is a faithful but shallow arcade port that you can own cheaply.
On the Genesis, Altered Beast is the original pack-in game that came with the console when it launched in North America in 1989 and in Europe in 1990. It reached Japan first, on 27 November 1988, as a Mega Drive game. The Master System version covered on this page is a different, cut-down game.
ACE praised the Mega Drive conversion in 1989 as never having played better on any home system, and rated it the best Mega Drive game then available. Arcade lead Makoto Uchida was not directly involved in the port, and he had hoped to carry over the arcade's pressure-sensitive button, but there was no time and the Genesis hardware lacked one.
What the press said at the time
| MegaTech Issue 1 | December 1991 | MEGATECH RATING 67% |
| Sega Pro Issue 35 | August 1994 | 48% |
| Sega Pro Issue 36 | September 1994 | 48% |
| ACE | 940/1000 | |
| AllGame | 3/5 | |
| Computer and Video Games | 87% | |
| The Games Machine | 87% | |
| PowerPlay (DE) | 53% | |
| Sega Power | 2/5 |
“The gameplay is very samey, and it doesn't take long to get all A way through the game. It's okay as a freebie, though.”
“The gameplay is very samey, and it doesn't take long to get all the way through the game. It's okay as a freebie, though.”
“The gameplay is very samey, and it doesn't take long to get all the way through the game. It's okay as a freebie, though.”
““Free” with many ofical UK Megadrives, Altered Beast isa spot-on conversion of the coin-op.”
Undated scores are from the review table in the game's Wikipedia article, limited to reviews of the Genesis version.
How the Sega Genesis version differs
Mean Machines Sega called the Mega Drive game a spot-on conversion of the coin-op, though a simple beat 'em up with only five levels.
Also on other platforms
Master System · Arcade · Amiga · Atari ST · Amstrad CPC · Commodore 64 · ZX Spectrum · PC Engine CD-ROM² · PC Engine · MS-DOS · Famicom · MSX
| Arcade | Team Shinobi |
How the other versions reviewed
| Amiga | ACE | 825/1000 |
| Arcade | AllGame | 3.5/5 |
| Amiga | Computer and Video Games | 69% |
| Atari ST | Computer and Video Games | 68% |
| Amiga | The Games Machine | 69% |
| Atari ST | The Games Machine | 70% |
| Commodore 64 | The Games Machine | 64% |
| TurboGrafx-16 | The Games Machine | 60% |
| Arcade | Commodore User | 7/10 |
These are the other versions’ scores, not this one’s. Ports of this era were frequently built by different studios, so they do not transfer.
Before you buy
Among US carts it is about the median, with a risk tier of Low. The European cart usually costs about the same as the US one, and the Japanese cart usually costs more and has a different shape. Check the manual is present if you want a complete copy.
Altered Beast screenshots
Watch on YouTube
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