Altered Beast: Round 3 (Bear)
6After completing Round 2, another purple Oracle Eye image is displayed. Neff has successfully bound Athena to a cross to commence his beast ritual upon her.
Round 3 takes place in another cave, one that's much deeper underground than Round 2 was.
Watch out for the ant monsters known as Cave Needles that you find here. Also, this is the first level to have bottomless pits. You instantly die and lose a life if you fall in one.
This is also where I learned that you can jump higher by just holding Up before jumping. You'll need this to avoid the pits.
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This time, when you gain access to the...
ALTERED BEAST!
Your warrior will become a ferocious were-bear! The bear can use its breath to petrify nearby opponents. Its second attack is to...
Oh! Curl into a ball and jump through the air? Really? In this 1988 game? Hmmmm... I wonder how much Sega could've thrived off of that back then with a different animal. A blue one...
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For the boss battle of this Round, Neff transforms into the disgusting Moldy Snail. My strategy to beating it is to just Spin Attack into it again and again as the Bear. It will go down in no time, forcing Neff to flee once again.
This wizard will just not give up! Athena must be saved at all costs!