Chimera Beast (Japan, prototype, set 1)

Arcade Video game published 31 years ago:

Chimera Beast (c) 1993 Jaleco.

A horizontally scrolling shoot'em up where 1 or 2 players control creatures known as 'eaters' which are capable of eating other creatures and taking their DNA, thus acquiring their abilities or characteristics.

Chimera Beast takes place on a planet which is described as distant and Earth-like. The planet is overrun by animals known as eaters, capable of eating other creatures and acquiring their abilities or characteristics. The player controls one of these eaters and progresses through the game by means of evolution, consuming microscopic organisms in the first stage, fish in the second, and so on. When the player's creature gets big enough to take on humanity, the goal of the game is revealed. The planet's humans have developed space travel, which the player must thwart, so as not to give the eaters a means of escaping the planet. There are two possible endings: one in which the player is able to stop the eaters from escaping the planet, and one in which the eaters do escape and, we are told, will eventually make their way to Earth.

The chief innovation of Chimera Beast is its power-up system. Instead of collecting gun upgrades as in most games of this genre, the player's eater enhances itself by eating other creatures and assuming their abilities and defenses. Instead of simply having various types of projectile weaponry, the game attempts to make these new abilities as varied as possible. Consuming a crustacean might give the player's eater a hard protective shell, for example, while an insectoid creature might offer a poisonous tail instead. The game even includes the ability to use cancer as a weapon.

Another difference from typical shooter mechanics is that the player's eater does not die after being hit. It has a life bar, which can be charged by consuming enemies. It is even possible to eat enough charge the life bar past its starting position, creating a larger eater which is not only more powerful but can take more damage as well.

- TECHNICAL -

Jaleco Mega System 1-C hardware

Main CPU : Motorola 68000 (@ 12 Mhz)
Sound CPU : Motorola 68000 (@ 7 Mhz)
Sound Chips : Yamaha YM2151 (@ 3.5 Mhz), (2x) OKI6295 (@ 30.303 Khz)

Players : 2
Control : 8-way joystick
Buttons : 2

- TRIVIA -

Jaleco never officially released this game to the market. A rare advanced prototype version (fully complete) was available in March 1993.

The enemies in Chimera Beast are mostly animals, some with equivalent Earth versions and some without. Some of the enemy creatures include jellyfish, an eel-like agnathan, clown fish, clams, flying squirrels, and moles. Once the player reaches the human stage, they will face war vehicles such as tanks and jets.

In Stage 6, destroying the jeeps that are on the ground makes a pair of humans appear. They are Allen and Rick, from Jaleco's 1991 release, "64th Street - A Detective Story".

- TIPS AND TRICKS -

Chimera Beast features both a Good and Bad endings.

- STAFF -

Developed by C.P. Brain.

Executive produced by : Tokuhiro Takemori
Directed by : Shigeru Hashimoto
Game designed by : Y. Hiroyama
Programmed by : Manbow
Bg designers : Helluder, Toukaidou Nozomi, Reiko Takano, Tutomu Rukada
Obj. designers : Sigeru, Toukaidou Nozomi, Nanae
Creatures designed by : Y. Hiroyama