| Crash reviewed the ZX Spectrum version in December 1989 among its Christmas line-up, crediting it to Activision/Software Studio at £9.99, on cassette only; the review opens with Zeus's command to rise from the grave and rescue his daughter. Nick gave it 74%, finding that the presentation "just knocks you back"; Mark gave 61%: "Altered Beast isn't dire, but Activision could have done better." Its ratings: presentation 79%, graphics 73%, sound 74%, playability 68%, addictivity 65%, and 67% overall. | image 1, coverp. 63 (image 63), review headerp. 63 (image 63), reviewp. 63 (image 63), Nick's comment, read on the page imagep. 63 (image 63), Mark's comment, read on the page imagep. 63 (image 63), ratings, read on the page image | Magazine |
| Period magazines treat the home versions as conversions of Taito's arcade game. Crash called the ZX Spectrum version Ocean's Christmas racing game and "the conversion of the brilliant Taito coin-op", and in December 1989 Famicom Tsushin announced that Chase H.Q., still popular in the arcades, had been ported to the Famicom. | p. 56 (image 56), Chase HQ review | Magazine |
| Crash reviewed Ocean's ZX Spectrum version in December 1989 as a Crash Smash, giving its authors as John O'Brien and Bill Harbison and its prices as £9.99 on cassette and £14.99, and gave it 95% overall (Presentation 89%, Graphics 89%, Sound 87%, Playability 91%, Addictivity 93%); the reviewers, Mark and Nick, gave 95% and 94%. The issue's mail-order page lists it among "The Smashers". The review describes five levels, each with a villain to catch, a turbo that can be used three times, and monochrome roads; Nick called it an accurate conversion "as playable as the real thing". | p. 56 (image 56), Chase HQ review, headerp. 56 (image 56), Chase HQ review, headerp. 57 (image 57), Chase HQ review, ratingsp. 57 (image 57), Chase HQ reviewp. 57 (image 57), Chase HQ reviewp. 57 (image 57), Chase HQ reviewp. 57 (image 57), Chase HQ review, Nick's commentp. 51 (image 51), mail order, "The Smashers" | Magazine |