Werewolf

When you think of the Sega Genesis, you likely think of Sonic the Hedgehog as its flagship title. But before Sonic was bundled in with the system at purchase, it was Altered Beast. Summoned by Zeus, Werewolf must navigate treacherous realms to free Athena from the Underworld's grasp. Well, sort of. Zeus recurrected a Roman centurion to rescue Athena, and the centurion has to change into several different were-animals along the way to beat the demon who has her. Why a Greek god would get a Roman warrior, when they wouldn't even have lived at the same time, is a question best answered by a comparison: remember when World of Warcraft's Pandarens were going to be dressed like samurai, and why that was a problem? This is the same thing, just from the opposite starting point. According to lead designer Makoto Uchida (who later went on to create the classic Golden Axe), the idea for Altered Beast came about after he watched The Howling and Michael Jackson's Thriller video, which is why the werewolf's transformation is animated so nicely, while all the other animals are just a back-and-forth dissolve between two static pictures. The body is big and furry, with both hands clenched into fists. The fur on his waist and shoulders is done separately from the rest of the sculpt, which doesn't strictly seem necessary - it doesn't match the game sprites or anything - and looks minorly weird, like he's wearing fur underwear and a shawl. Altered Beast's werewolf design feels a lot like the one in Van Helsing - kind of funny, since Jakks Pacific were the ones to make the Van Helsing toys two decades ago. The head sculpt is wide and blocky, with narrow eyes under a heavy brow and the mouth open just wide enough to show his teeth. And tongue. This is very specifically an Altered Beast character, not just some random werewolf, and that's good work. The figure is, unsurprisingly, entirely brown. Well, the eyes are yellow and the mouth is pink, but the body is all brown. There are shadows painted in the sculptd musculature, and the claws on his feet are black. The underwear and shawl are darker than the rest of the body, presumably because it's so hard to color-match ABS and PVC plastics. At least the head matches the neck, so it doesn't look like he's wearing some kind of silly collar. The werewolf is done in the same 4" scale as Jakks' other videogame action figures (I almost said "other Nintendo figures," but these aren't Nintendo, they're Sega; I should know better). There was a time when Hasbro was the undisputed king of small-scale action figures, but they've been back-sliding in the quality department, so this figure's articulation is highly impressive. It moves with swivel/hinge ankles, double-hinged knees, swivel thighs, balljoint hips, a balljointed chest, swivel/hinge wrists, double-hinged elbows, swivel biceps, swivel/hinge shoulders, pectoral hinges, and a barbell head. Pec hinges on a 5" tall figure? Astounding! Each of the were-beasts had their own unique special attacks; the werewolf's were basically a hadoken punch and a Cannon Drill/Psycho Crusher kick (despite the fact Altered Beast came out only a year after Steet Fighter; not Street Fighter II, the original Street Figher). This figure does not come with either of those as an accessory. Rather, it's a Spirit Ball, a blue-silver orb with a red-orange bolism swirling around it. Those are the things that let you change into the beast form in the game: collect one, and your shirt rips off; collect a second, you turn into that Rob Liefeld Captain America drawing; and collect three, and you turn into that level's monster and are now able to fight the boss. There's a hole in the bottom of the ball, but no stand or anything to hold it up. I nearly missed out on this figure. Oh, I had no trouble finding it, I saw it on the peg at Walmart a bunch of times; no, the problem was that I am quite stupid, and for some reason thought it was made by Jazwares instead of Jakks Pacific (otherwise you'd have been reading this as a Horror Month review last year). Jakks is fine, there's nothing wrong with buying from Jakks; Jazwares is the one you should be avoiding. Fortunately, I figured out I was wrong before it was too late, because this little guy isn't the most exciting action figure around, but it's really good for 10 bucks, even if you've never even seen the game. Possibly especially if you've never seen the game. -- 08/21/25 What could have been done to make Altered Beast less boring? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.