Game Review: Altered Beast (Mobile – Free to Play)

As part of the Sega Forever collection, the Sega Megadrive/Genesis classic, Altered Beast has been re-released on mobile devices under the free to play model. This works by being ad-supported & you can pay £1.99 to remove all non-Sega supported ads.

A port of the 1988 original, Altered Beast is a side-scrolling beat ’em up. A Greek warrior is resurrected from the dead by Zeus. He commands the warrior to save his daughter from a demonic God.

The warrior must make his way through five levels collecting spirit orbs that will transform him into a powerful beast. Beat the end level boss & eventually the warrior will face off against the demon god himself.

Simple side-scrolling beat ’em up elements mixed with light platforming, Altered Beast has been ported well to the mobile devices. The control options are unobtrusive on the screen & a decent size. Although the occasional slip will see the wrong button pushed at the wrong time.

Graphically it looks on par with the the original release & the frame-rate is nice & smooth. It’s aged well visually but not so much in the gameplay department. Altered Beast’s basic & difficult to master style is often frustrating. The limitation of 2 lives means you’re going to be starting the game over & over again.

This is literally a direct port with only a save option giving you some respite from the onslaught of enemy attacks. That being said though, it is fun to play & the transformation into a beast still looks great!

Being free to play with no actual in-app purchases, it’s hard to complain about the ads that pop up quite a bit. Paying £1.99 just to remove non-Sega ads is definitely a bit cheeky though. Is it worth it? For nostalgia purposes maybe but there isn’t enough new content or features to make it a bargain.