If you cringe every time you hear a powerful supernatural being command you to "Rise From Your Grave" then you know either one of two things. 1) You've been awakened from your infinite slumber to do some useless busy work for a mythical god too lazy to do it himself or 2) You've played the original Altered Beast (Coin Op, Sega Genesis, GBA) once too often. For me, it's a little of both.

Wow Entertainment is currently working on a 3D representation of the classic (that is subject to interpretation we understand) side scroller in which the main objective is to defeat hordes of enemies in human form, while collecting powerups that will allow you to change or "alter" as it were, into something far more dangerous such as a werewolf, dragon, yeti or chubby effeminiate fitness guru Richard Simmons.

From what we have seen so far of the game, it looks to be heavy on the mindless action and light on the depth - which could mean a bad spell on store shelves in 2004. Sega doesn't seem to have trouble when it comes to creating flashy button mashers that can captivate you for a few minutes in the arcade, but those same experiences don't translate well at home. We'll reserve judgement for the time being while you check out the movie.

Features:

• Change into 9 different beasts throughout the game including a werewolf, merman, wendigo (sasquatch thing) geruda, minotaur, grizzly bear, dragon, weretiger and an unidentifed weigtless human