Like the original,
Altered Beast: Guardian of the Realms draws heavily on both Greek and Roman mythologies. After the dark reaper, Arcanon, invades the realms of Olympus, the god Zeus resurrects a guardian to help protect the realms and defeat Arcanon. As a guardian, you will have to travel the game’s 15 realms, ranging from the ruins of Crete to the caverns of Dubari, fighting the reaper’s minions. During you quest, collecting spirit balls will allow you to transform into that realm’s guardian beast such as the winged dragon, rhino, weretiger, werewolf, and chimera.
If there’s a magical game that provides the deepest gameplay experience available, then Altered Beast has always been the thing farthest from it. While the recreation feels very familiar to the original, it feels like the developers at least tried to add a few wrinkles to deepen the game. The more noticeable is the inclusion of spirit orbs that will grant you additional powers such as limited invincibility, health, or increased power. Another addition is the ability to break parts of your environment, such as columns and vines. This is one of the aspects that I think could have been used to a much fuller effect. For example, with the exception of one or two boss encounters, breaking columns doesn’t do much to affect the environment. It would have been a real boon to the game if parts of the levels would collapse after knocking out their support, or if new areas were unlocked by clearing away some vines.
The game also offers a two-player co-op link mode as well as a four-player battle arena.
