Side-scrolling beat-em-ups were a popular go-to in the arcade scene of the late ’80s and early ’90s, and one such game within the genre celebrates 30 years this month – Altered Beast. Developed and published by Sega, the game was an odd twist on Greek legends that proved to be popular both in arcades and on home consoles.

Altered Beast follows a nameless Centurion soldier who fell in battle and is resurrected by Zeus himself in order to defeat the demon god Neff and save Zeus’ daughter, Athena. The Centurion is granted incredible power, including the ability to collect “spirit balls” in each stage which allows him to transform into a massive and powerful beast (thus the game’s title). The Centurion’s beast forms included a werewolf, a werebear, a weretiger, and even a weredragon.

Though Altered Beast was popular in arcades, its various home ports – to the Famicom, Atari ST, Master System, Commodore 64, Amiga, and others – were less positively received. The lukewarm home console reception was likely due in part to how the game had to be watered down in order to run on the lower-spec systems; some ports had fewer levels or only one game mode available. However, the Genesis edition of the game ended up in the hands of many gamers, as it was the original pack-in game for the console in the U.S., which helped solidify Altered Beast’s legacy – for better or worse.

Two more games were made under the Altered Beast name: Altered Beast: Guardians of the Realm, a 2002 sequel published by THQ for the Game Boy Advance, and Juoki: Project Altered Beast, a 2005 standalone entry published by Sega for the PlayStation 2. The Centurion also appears in the crossover title Project X Zone 2 as a summonable ally.