Altered Beast/Round 1

Stage description
The first stage takes place in the graveyard where Zeus has resurrected you. Tombstones will actually rise out of the ground, lifting anything underneath them up with them. Later on in the stage, the tops of walls become platforms which wolves may appear on. Most of the threats in this stage come in the form of undead warriors who try to stop you from advancing to Neff.

Transformation
The werewolf is very fast compared to the human Centurion. He can cross the length of the screen in very little time. His two attacks are designed to either keep him a safe distance from danger, or to get him out of danger very quickly. His punch attack launches a fireball across the screen. It travels straight and explodes on contact with an enemy. It has the same power as a regular human's punch, but its ability to attack enemies from far away allows you to remove most threats before they get too close to you. The kick attack turns the werewolf into a living weapons. He launches himself forward at high speeds which send him almost half the length of the screen. His body will be covered in a force field, and this field deals damage to any enemy that comes in contact with it. Use it to safely escape when you are about to be surrounded, or to survive an unavoidable attack.

Shiny wolves
As mentioned above, you must defeat silver wolves in order to make power-up orbs appear. Knowing where and when the wolves appear will help you achieve the beast transformation as quickly as possible and cut down on the amount you have to travel through the stage before you encounter the boss.

Arcade version

 * Segment 1
 * 1) The very first shining wolf of the game remains motionless right near the beginning of the stage.  It is impossible to miss this one.
 * 2) A brown wolf will appear on the right side of the screen.  As Headless Horrors fall out of the sky, a shining wolf will appear as well.  If you stand a few inches away from the right side of the screen, you'll be just the right distance to kick both wolves before they have a chance to leap to the left.
 * 3) At a certain point, two gravestones will rise out of the ground, creating the perfect platform for a brown wolf and a shining wolf to land on as they appear from the left side of the screen.  If you manage to jump on the right gravestone before the first wolf lands on the left one, you should be able attack both the regular and shiny wolf.
 * Segment 2
 * 1) If you didn't collect three orbs before Neff appeared, you'll have to continue your hunt for power-up orbs.  As more gravestones rise out of the ground, you'll approach a wall.  A shining wolf will be perched on the wall.  He will leap to the left, and land on the gravestones.  You can attack it there to obtain an orb.
 * 2) Before the wall even disappears, a brown and a shiny wolf will appear on top of it from the right side.  Stay on the wall, just slightly left of center, to be in a good position to attack them both.
 * 3) Before the wall is gone, two brown wolves will leap across it from the left to the right, dropping down to the ground as they go.  A shiny wolf will appear behind them, leaping a little more slowly, and giving you an opportunity to intercept it before it leaves the wall, or after it lands on the ground.  If you're not sure you can hit it in time before it leaves, try to get in front of it so it's forced to bounce back to the left a bit, giving you more time to defeat it.
 * Segment 3
 * 1) If you still haven't collected three orbs before Neff's second appearance, you still have one more chance.  The first shiny wolf of this segment is perched motionless on a section of wall, directly above a brown wolf.  Neither one will move, although two more brown wolves will appear on the screen from either direction.
 * 2) While that section of wall is still visible on the screen, two brown wolves will leap onto it and then down to the ground, followed very quickly by a shiny wolf.  Get in front of it to slow it down if you have to.
 * 3) Two brown wolves will appear from either side of the screen and attack.  Shortly after that, a shiny wolf will appear on the right, and stand motionless for an easily obtained power-up orb.
 * 4) As series of wolves will appear, from the right and the left, as well as down on the ground and up on the wall.  A shiny wolf will appear from the left up on the wall.
 * 5) While this same pack of wolves continues to appear, a second shiny wolf will appear from the left on top of the wall.
 * 6) Before you finish the stage, a final shiny wolf will be standing motionless on the ground.

Boss: Aggar
If you have collected three power-up orbs and undergone beast transformation into a werewolf before you meet Neff, he will transform into the boss Aggar. If you have not collected three power-up orbs before the third time you encounter Neff, he will transform regardless, and this battle will be much harder without the special abilities of the werewolf

Aggar remains stationary on the right side of the screen. He attacks by ripping off his own head (which he regenerates almost instantly) and tossing a series of them up in the air. Each head will stop and descend straight down. Your best defense against them is to use the werewolf's kick attack, and crash through them with your force field. To defeat Aggar, you must hit him with enough fireballs or force field attacks until he is defeated. He will vibrate more and more, the closer you are to defeating him. The best strategy is to stand close to him and rapidly pelt him with fireballs, and then use the force field attack to the left, and back to the right while the heads are falling to the ground.

On the Genesis version, you can simply kick dash back and forth through the boss without any risk. This strategy does not work in the arcade.