Beast Rizer 9

Beast Rizer 9 (ビーストライザー9) is a 3D platformer video game developed by Burst Arts Inc. and published by Namco. It was released in Japan on September 10, 2004 and then ported overseas on December 4, 2004. It is centered around Theo and his friends as they deal with a mysterious organization who plans on making their own versions of the Lightbeasts, using Ozzy to do so. Made to celebrate Beast Rizer franchise's 10th anniversary, as well as the 10th anniversary of the Rizer franchise overall, it is available for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and Xbox.

## Plot

Six months have passed since the events of the last game. No one has seen Ozzy after Rosetta's plan to unleash the power of the Meteostones to the world had failed. One day, Theo was tending to his forest home until he was called by Atsuko to have a personal talk with him. As they were starting to talk about the possibility that Ozzy could be dead, a group of chimeras started to invade Eight City, prompting the two beastmen to fight them. That was when a young man appeared in front of the two and claimed that he can take them down on his own. At that point, he used a device that transforms him into a cybernetic version of Ozzy's dinosaur form, leading Theo to question him about who this man is and the whereabouts of Ozzy. The young man reveals his name to be Kane and that he was sent to collect Atsuko and Theo for reasons he will reveal once he sends them to the corporation he works for.

The two did what he ordered him to and are sent to an underground fortress, where they encounter an agent named Valdin, who states that he is the member of Hybrid, a corporation that plans on releasing an army of artificial Lightbeasts made from the DNA of Ozzy's Lightbeast form after the Ancient Isles incident. Angered that they would tamper with the body of his brother figure, Theo attacks Valdin, only to learn that he has been analyzing the capability of the beast forms since the corporation's formation. Kane decided the finishing attack, defeating Valdin. His higher-ups have left Valdin to die in the crumbling fortress as the three heroes outrun the Hybrid agents, all while they learn that Kane is a test subject designed to copy the abilities of Ozzy.

Their battle with Hybrid had just begun...

## Playable Characters

* Theo Stormwald (Coyote)
* Atsuko Kinogami (Crow/Phoenix)
* Norah Velam (Fox)
* Tyrone Kogane (Tiger)
* Toby Tennant (Turtle)
* Kira Frost (Wolf)
* Gai Cheng (Lion)
* Michelle Springs (Eagle)
* Gloria Glass (Snake)
* Paulette Nicollier (Ladybug)
* Oscar Crosser (Jaguar)
* Ozzy Colemann (Tyrannosaurus)
* Kane: A young man who was infused with the DNA of Ozzy by the corporation Hybrid in order to harness the power of the Lightbeasts and the Meteostones. Eventually he rebelled against the organization and sided with Theo and Atsuko in hopes of finding the man he was based on, as well as his past that has been robbed by Hybrid. Kane can activate his Cyber Watch, which sends a signal to a special satellite (and later, a drone made by Julie) that fires a beam onto him, transforming him into a cybernetic version of Ozzy's Tyrannosaurus form.
* Melvin: A robot styled after a cartoon character. He used to be a dedicated and passionate animator before he was captured by Hybrid. Some of the scientists reconfigured Melvin's body into what it is right now. He eventually partnered with Kane in rebelling against this cartel and destroying it once and for all. Melvin is a Metarizer with access to a mech that is also based around a cartoon character.

## Bosses

Valdin: The first villain of the game. He was designed to be the ultimate Lightbeast, suited with power armor designed to absorb data of beastmen into his body. He ordered Kane, who was also an artificial Lightbeast, to send him the subjects of their originator, them being Theo and Atsuko, and wanted to test his newfound power onto them. Valdin's artificial beast form is a cybernetic Carnotaurus.

Ronnie Russell: A headphone-wearing boy whose beast form is the mongoose.

Grant Crawford: A large violent man whose beast form is the rhino.

Wendy Widows: A stoic girl with the ability to transform into a tarantula beastman.

Dolly Cross: A quiet young woman whose beast form is the jellyfish.

Kohaku Muramoto: A mysterious young man whose beast form is the tanuki.

Yin Lien: A nature loving girl whose beast form is the praying mantis.

Olivia Reed: An artificial intelligence computer program contained in a satellite who eventually began projecting the holographic form of a young girl. In the past she was the terminally ill daughter of Albert Reed. As she was dying Albert tried to save her by uploading her mind in a computer program. It failed and resulted in an initially emotionless AI. Hybrid eventually claimed her for their experiments after Kane went awry. She eventually regained her memories though, and gained better control of her powers before siding with the heroes.

Gate: The second antagonist of the game. Gate is one of the higher-ups of Hybrid, acting as the project supervisor to monitor all actions done by Valdin and also analyzed the performance of Kane. After he neutralizes the artificial Lightbeast and terminates Valdin, he begins to secretly build his own weapon from Hybrid's technology called "Hell's Gate" (renamed *Gate of Doomsday* in English releases), setting it to operate with the same technology found in Valdin's power suit.

Gordon: The top-ranking elite of Hybrid. He was chosen specifically to bring out the potential in Hybrid's latest subject, the "Ultimate Lightbeast" known as Leon, to hunt down the three Lightbeasts. What resulted was a strong friendship between Gordon and Leon. When all of Hybrid's Artificial Lightbeasts perished thanks to the heroes, Gordon has been transferring their data to Leon to further their plans. Gordon's beast form is the deer, although he is revealed to be an Artificial Lightbeast, who sacrificed himself trying to calm the berserk Leon.

Leon: The final antagonist of the game, as well as the final boss of the game. He is Hybrid's latest project: the ultimate Lightbeast made to surpass others. Using the body of an orphaned boy, they subjected him to several experiments until he is capable of wielding different abilities from the three Lightbeasts they know (Ozzy, Samson, Stella). When Hybrid learned of their other subjects' deaths, they did not want to waste their data and instead had Gordon install it all into Leon, thus transforming him into the very Lightbeast they have longed for creating. Kane, Melvin, Theo, and Atsuko fought against him first, but because of his almighty strength, they almost failed. Ozzy, Stella, Samson, and Olivia all stepped in to destroy the false Lightbeast for good and, along with it, all of Hybrid, while recovering Leon.

## NPCs

Kristine, Topper, and Grinder: The bumbling trio of Porter Tech agents that have always gone after the Beast Brothers.

York Jones: One of Theo's close friends since elementary school.

Carmen Montana: A girl who has been Theo's friend since elementary school.

Edward Violet: Another friend of Theo's since childhood. Unfortunately, he was one of the casualties of the Gate of Doomsday incident.

Mint McLeod: A young assassin in training who was also a friend of Theo's since childhood. She has been doing more tasks since becoming a part of the assassins' ranks, and was responsible for saving Carmen and York.

Ryobe Sakurai: The caretaker of Atsuko. He was put in charge of the Winter's Guard when his partner Ludomir was captured by Hybrid.

Zeus Stormwald: A coyote beastman who is Theo's father. Once believed to have died in the Vital Islands incident years ago, it was revealed that he is one of the few beastmen to actually survive the destruction of their home.

Yuri Frost: A wolf beastman who is the father of Kira. He is also a survivor of Vital Island's destruction, alongside a few others.

## Stages

* Eight City (Prologue stage)
* Valdin's Hidden Base
* Spiral Falls
* Pinball Court
* Clatter Resort
* Aurora Pass
* Squash Ridge
* Aerial Fleet
* Gate of Doomsday
* Glow Gardens
* Clocker Bros. Studios
* Hybrid’s Airship