I love you, you're perfect, now change: Altered Beast for Smash

[Wonks]

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With a little help from the gaming gods, the Altered Beast centurion could be a wising star in the Smash Bros. roster. Let's POWER UP for a dame, and a beer following a job well-done.

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Ha! That's a joke right?
...Er, well....no--I'm quite serious. (That actually hurt my feelings a little.)

Wasn't his game mediocre?
Although many feel the game hasn't aged well, it's one of my favorites and cemented my love for Sega, and video games in general. (Plus, if there's anything cooler than transmuting into a werebear and turning underworld demons to stone with your breath, I don't want to know about it.)

Alright, well, who is he?
The Genesis manual states:
Summoned by Zeus, God of Thunder, you have been awakened from the dead to challenge the wicked Neff, God of the Underworld, for the fate of Athena. And Athena is no ordinary girl. She is the daughter of Zeus and must take her rightful place among the gods if only you can free her from place of imprisonment. Although you were once a brave and awesome Roman Centurion, the rigors of this journey demand a supernatural display of strength. And so you are bestowed with the powers of the Altered Beast. The power to transform your being into a part animal, part human creature of formidable force. . .


Wait--isn't Zeus the Greek name?
You got me. An error by Sega. If we really are playing as a Roman Centurion, Zeus' name should be "Jupiter" (however, Zeus is more recognizable).

What should his moves be?
Although there are many avenues you could take with this character, I think he should play as his normal centurion self and only have brief transformations that are accessed just by special moves:

Neutral Special
Fire ball - The Altered Beast centurion briefly changes to the werewolf.

Down Special
Laser barrier - A protective weredragon electrified shield that can connect on all sides.

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Side Special
Bear Breath - Breath so bad, it briefly immobilizes your opponent (just be glad you didn't turn to stone!).

Up Special
Pillar of Fire - A weretiger transformation for a recovery and to attack opponents above. This would have vertical recovery, but not much in the way of horizontal.

Final Smash
Golden Arrow - When the centurion grabs the spirit ba...er, Smash Ball, the transformation from human to werewolf flashes across the screen, and he does one powerful streak across the stage, knocking into anyone in his immediate path.

The Altered Beast in human form should have typical kicks and punches, however, smash attacks would display a blue energy "flame," that is represented in the character's "super man" stage.


Isn't Altered Beast...

?
Although only seeing two other adaptations (Altered Beast: Guardian of the Realms for GBA and Project Altered Beast for PS2), Altered Beast still carries a lot of name recognition. The final boss, Neff in rhino form, can be found in the Bad-a-non scene of Wreck-It Ralph, and also it seems Sega might have plans to release a movie of the series: http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/altered-beast-shinobi-sega-games-adapted-movies-series/

Yeah, but he's third party.
With Ryu's inclusion, Nintendo's demonstrated that a third party can have more than one character per game.

Smash Symbol:
Altered Beast never had a simple symbol, but probably the closest thing to it would be a version of the arcade cabinet artwork where you see a close-up of a human's face with one normal eye and one animal eye.

Introduction:
As in the game, a monolithic tomb will appear from the ground, quake, and the centurion will break free. (Thanks to Pascetty for the idea.)

Taunts:
Up taunt: A transparent image of Zeus will appear above the centurion.
Side Taunt: The centurion will briefly grow into a "giant man" with the sound effect of Power Up!
Down Taunt: The centurion will briefly grow into a "super man" with the sound effect of Power Up!

Character select SFX: Nothing but the infamous, "Wise fwom your gwave!" will do.

Trophies:

• Centurion/Werewolf
• Golden Werewolf (Final Smash)
• Zeus
• Neff
• Neff (Rhino)
• Aggar (Neff's form as the first boss)
• Athena
• Werelion and Wereshark (formations that were exclusive to the NES version...even though the wereshark was really just a regular-looking shark).

Support List:

• Pascetty
• Azure Warrior

 

[Passcety]

That's a cool idea! Creative move set too, gives a defense play vibe or for turning control around. I wonder how well it'd work if the power up balls were incorporated for non-special attacks to where after enough % dealt (100% each, 2 power up balls total) you'd POWER UP and get a damage/knockback boost of some kind for the whole round. Did you have anything in mind for grabs? His character intro with wising from his gwave and arcade ending for winning are perfect!

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

Just imagine the Rule 34 spawned for this guy when he's in Smash.

Sign me up! This was one of my personable favorite Sega beat-em'-ups along with Streets of Rage 2 and Golden Axe 2. Being able to play as an alpha male that transforms into a variety of powerful beasts would be the best thing in Smash.

 

[Wanderer from Roseyard]

I like the idea. I would say I "support" but there's also that part of me that's certain it'll never happen, so until then I will just say I enjoy the thought.

Anyone who likes to play as swim trunks Shulk will love the centurion's base form.

 

[Yomi's Biggest Fan]

Anyone who likes to play as swim trunks Shulk will love the centurion's base form.

Look out Shulk, there's a new sexy badass in town!

 

[Wonks]

Thank you guys so much for the support! I was concerned that this thread was already welcomed to its doom. Ha, because you see...the boss...always said that...uh, moving on:

That's a cool idea! Creative move set too, gives a defense play vibe or for turning control around. I wonder how well it'd work if the power up balls were incorporated for non-special attacks to where after enough % dealt (100% each, 2 power up balls total) you'd POWER UP and get a damage/knockback boost of some kind for the whole round. Did you have anything in mind for grabs? His character intro with wising from his gwave and arcade ending for winning are perfect!

I've added in a few new details/ideas (support list, trophies, taunts, and intro). I don't have any thoughts on grabs for the moment, but if you have any, I'd love to hear them. That's a cool idea, too, for the spirit balls.

Sign me up! This was one of my personable favorite Sega beat-em'-ups along with Streets of Rage 2 and Golden Axe 2. Being able to play as an alpha male that transforms into a variety of powerful beasts would be the best thing in Smash.

Those beat-em-ups were so 80s, weren't they? They were great--just tough knuckled men and women confronting whatever came at them.

I like the idea. I would say I "support" but there's also that part of me that's certain it'll never happen, so until then I will just say I enjoy the thought.

Anyone who likes to play as swim trunks Shulk will love the centurion's base form.

Regardless of full-on support or not, I appreciate the sentiment. (Lets just hope Wario stays out of Shulk and the centurion's wardrobe. )