Beast Rizer 8

Beast Rizer 8 (ビーストライザー8) is an adventure platform game developed by Burst Arts Inc. and published by Namco. Gameplay is split into two separate campaigns for the heroes, each of whom have their own unique abilities and must complete a series of levels to advance the story. The player also must explore hub worlds and fight bosses. It was released on July 26, 2003 in Japan and August 20, 2003 overseas.

## Story

Unlike the other games in the series, Beast Rizer 8 splits its plot into two chapters.

### Chapter 1

While studying the ruins of a fallen civilization, Neo Porter Tech learn of an artifact the latter had unearthed: a 4000-year-old sentient bioweapon called the Abnormal created by an ancient civilization. Xeros attempts to get the dormant Abnormal to work properly, but when it fails, he abandons the Abnormal at Teal Beach, where it is discovered by Ozzy Colemann and his buddy Theo Stormwald, developing a link with him after they demonstrate their abilities.

The Abnormal, numbered 395 (which Ozzy names Thomas Nathan Frederikson (in Japan, he is named Sandy Q. Gordon) after the three numbers in his code), demonstrates an ability to perfectly replicate any moves it sees and quickly gets wrapped up in the affairs of Theo and Ozzy’s friends, allies and rivals. Through his encounters with Atsuko, Toby, Tyson, Julie, Clawface, Samuel, Walter, etc., Thomas learns of the world and of concepts like friendship. As they venture together, the group discovers that Thomas becomes stronger and develops more sentience with each crystal shard that he obtains, and begin searching for the remaining crystal shards to help the Abnormal develop. While searching, they are repeatedly attacked by the forces of Porter Tech, who now wants to retrieve the weapon, including a series of imperfect Thomas duplicates under the name "395-ß".

In a last attempt, Xeros decides to lure him onto his new castle to capture him. The two battle, and 395 emerges victorious, but Ryder uses his new Chimeric Ray to force 395 to override his link with Ozzy with Xeros' own. However, this overloads 395, deleting his personality and causing him to go haywire. The rogue Abnormal then turns the ray towards the planet, and Ozzy and friends are sent to stop him before the islands are destroyed. Ozzy defeats 395, who briefly reverts to his previous personality and bids his friends farewell before overloading with energy and exploding, leaving the shards of the crystals he acquired behind. Ozzy returns home to his friends, who are saddened by the loss of 395 and ask if Ozzy believes he is truly gone, only to receive the answer that they will see him again someday.

### Chapter 2

Sometime after the events of the first chapter, a scientist named Rosetta builds a gargoyle assistant based upon 395's remains named G-65. G-65's designed to be a loyal, obedient copy of 395. As such, he can learn new attacks, and can meld himself seamlessly with special gemstones known as Meteostones. Rosetta has gathered nine other Meteostone for her experiment, but one of them was stolen by someone behind her back.

The thief, in question, turned out to be Norah, who ended up in the residence of the Beast Brothers. Ozzy and some of his beastman friends noticed his old partner injured and treated her injuries. After she was healed, Norah warned them about Rosetta about to unleash her army of mutants upon the islands. As if on cue, Rosetta begins to launch her attack on the Neo Islands, and Ozzy, Norah, and Theo outrun the mutants and hurry to find Julie. When they finally made it to her house, Julie analyzed the Meteostone Norah took from Rosetta and, after a few tests, deduced that these Meteostones are the creation of a unknown race that she believes is still around somewhere; a race which Ozzy and Norah share a connection to. Willing to learn more about these gemstones and their heritage, Ozzy and Norah begin to search for their friends and the source of the trouble (which is the separation of the Sacred Orbs from the Dragon Temple).

## Characters

### Chapter 1

* Theo Stormwald (Coyote)
* Ozzy Colemann (Tyrannosaurus)
* Atsuko Kinogami (Crow)
* Toby Tennant (Turtle)
* Tyson Kogane (Tiger)
* Julie Stemwell
* Samuel Connor
* Aaron “Clawface” Gerson
* Walter McDowell
* Kiba Lee
* Grace MacDouglas
* Stella Squarelight (Hybrid (eagle/gorilla/shark))
* Queen de Arch: A female bounty hunter who also doubles as a spy. She offers her services to the reformed GENUS in exchange for some riches. When she received intel of the Abnormal wandering the islands, she saw it her opportunity to claim the creature herself, hoping that she can make a fortune out of the capture.
* Bruce Gruder
* Whitney Larson
* Melvin Tides
* Tessa Gridlock
* Proton Hyatt
* Chuck Ryder
* Morton Heats
* Petrel Meisner
* Reese Hendricks
* Kari Amestris
* Jonny Bard
* Levy Harts
* 395: An abnormal with the ability called Skill Copy, which allows players to teach him different fighting abilities throughout the game. He was once claimed by Neo Porter Tech, but was abandoned later due to his disobedience. He was later found by Theo and Ozzy, who decide to befriend the Abnormal and introduce him to their other friends while also searching for crystal shards to complete him. Eventually, all the crystal shards are obtained and 395 achieves full sentience.

### Chapter 2

* Norah Velam (Fox)
* Kira Frost (Wolf)
* Gai Cheng (Lion)
* Michelle Springs (Eagle)
* Tonio Figone (Rat)
* Bryce Sokolo (Wolverine)
* Samson Crosser (Jaguar)
* Alicia Rose (Alligator)
* Pyro (Dragon)
* Lucky Gardling: A goth girl with a cool personality. She is the daughter of an archaeologist who recently studied about the Meteostones. She was sent to retrieve the Meteostones and send some of them to her father for research. Lucky uses her yo-yo to fight against the mutants.
* Rosetta: A scientist who used to work for Porter Tech. She was banished to the Ancient Isles due to her dangerous experiments. When she discovered the Meteostones and 395, she decided she can use them to create an army of mutants to take over the Neo Islands and vow revenge against Porter Tech. She even stole the Sacred Orbs from the Dragon Temples to further escalate her plan.
* G-65: A gargoyle who follows the orders of Rosetta. He is actually 395, but fused with one of the Meteostones from the Ancient Isles, which turned him into the being he is now. In the true ending (if the player collects all eight Sacred Orbs), after his defeat G-65 attacks Ozzy and Norah, causing the eight Sacred Orbs they have to scatter. He uses these orbs to fuse with the Ancient Isles and all of the Meteostones on it, becoming a fearsome monster. However, Ozzy uses the Sacred Orbs to transform into a light version of his Tyrannosaurus form and successfully defeat him with the help of Rosetta. Eventually, Julie finds G-65's damaged body on a tree and fixes the gargoyle. The game ends with the new G-65 playing with Shelly.

## Stages

### Chapter 1

* Cerulean State
* Citrus Beach
* Stemwell’s Residence
* Combat Street
* Arch House
* Steel Deposit
* Divine Summit
* Central Islands
* Moonlit Nirvana
* Porter Tech Towers

### Chapter 2

* Route X
* Applecrest Isles
* Undersea Fortress
* Volcanic Crater
* Magical Carnival
* Sparkling Winter
* Robotic Ruins
* Sacred Ancients
* Meteo Garden
* Despair