Beast Rizer

Beast Rizer (ビーストライザー) is a platform game developed by Burst Arts Inc. and published by Namco. The first game in the Rizer franchise, it was released in Japan on July 28, 1995 and later ported overseas months later. It was originally released on the Super Famicom (Japan) and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Overseas). It is centered around Theo and Ozzy, two young beastmen in search of their parents, only to run into Porter Tech and its forces.

Story
The game takes place in the Pentastar Islands (ペンタスター諸島), a peninsula that is actually the remnants of continents. Alongside humans exist beastmen, beings with the ability to shift between humans and anthropomorphic animals who have lived in hiding among the Islands since an incident that occurred almost ten years ago. Peace lasted until Porter Technologies Inc., under the leadership of Christopher Karlos, started liberating most of the islands. Amidst the tyranny, Theo Stormwald, a young boy who is one of these beastmen in hiding, finds himself dragged into the battle against Porter Tech while searching for his “brother” and parents.

Playable Characters
Theo Stormwald: One of the five main playable protagonists. Theo is a boy searching for his missing parents, who he claims to be held captive by Porter Tech. He was originally from Applecrest Villa, a safe haven for beastmen in the Pentastar Islands, but had to live with his older brother in the woods when Porter Tech arrived and destroyed it. As one of the hidden beastmen, Theo can transform into a coyote, but he prefers not to transform too often since the incident, as he will lose control if he stayed in that form any longer.

Ozzy Coleman: One of the five main playable protagonists. The oldest of the trio by two years, Ozzy was the one who looked over Theo since the disappearance of their friends, creating a brotherly bond between the two. Ozzy is looking for his father, who Porter Tech is said to have imprisoned in their building. Ozzy is also a beastman, and his beast form is a dinosaur.

Atsuko Hirogami: One of the five main playable protagonists. Atsuko is a teenage girl who has been under the care of one Ryobe Sakurai, who she became loyal towards as time went on. Much like Theo with his parents, Atsuko is looking for her mother, who Porter Tech is said to have imprisoned in their building. Atsuko is also a beastman, and her beast form is the crow, but as the game progresses, she gains the ability to transform into the phoenix.

Tobias Tennant: One of the five main playable protagonists. Going by the nickname Toby, he is a street-smart boy who has been raised by a woman named Carline, who is against the actions of Porter Tech and is working on a way to counter their abominations. He dedicated his life to good deeds, which includes helping Theo. Toby can transform into his beast form, the snapping turtle, where he also possesses a snake for a tail.

Tyson Kogane: One of the five main playable protagonists. He is the heir to the Art of the Steel Will school, founded by his master Goro. The appearance of Porter Tech and his father's kidnapping convinced Tyson to search for them and take them down. Tyson is portrayed as a powerful and confident fighter, but is shown as overconfident in some aspects. His beast form is the tiger.

Side Characters
Julie Stemwell: A fellow teenaged girl who resides in the Western Islands. The daughter of a renowned inventor, she bears a huge grudge against Porter Tech for killing her father in order to steal his research. Julie is the first partner Theo meets while on his adventure, and she agreed to help him take down Christopher and Porter Tech. Using the prototype portal machine built by her late father, Julie allows the player character to transport to a certain location. She is also responsible for the Power Items used to aid Theo (and later the other characters).

Samuel Connor: An orphaned boy who used to rely on thievery to make himself a living. When he first saw Theo in the Western Islands with Julie, he went and stole his satchel, believing it contained money. However, he became ambushed by a Porter Tech worker, only for him to be saved by Theo. While also giving Theo back his satchel, Samuel agrees to help Julie with some of her experiments.

Walter McDowell: a wealthy young man who is the son of an entrepreneur. He hardly remembers what happened to his family, but he does remember owning a strange black crow he named Krow. After saving them from the plantmen, he invited Theo and Ozzy to talk about how to take down Porter Tech and planned to offer his services to their friend Julie. Krow has a unique ability that transforms it into a scythe, which Walter mainly uses.

Kiba Lee: An optimistic and rotund young man who plans on setting up his own restaurant in the Western Islands. He resides in the Southeastern Islands to learn some cultural recipes. However, when he was ambushed by a swarm of Porter Tech fighters, the heroes appeared to fight them off. Kiba promised that he will repay them by forming his own restaurant to honor their victory.

Grace MacDouglas: A timid girl who carries with her a dark persona: the Blade Empress. Catching wind of her other persona's evil-doings, she was captured by the Pine Wood Army led by Sergio. Grace was able to escape thanks to Walter and the beastmen, who were also captured due to their interference, and became the Blade Empress to help them escape. She agreed to help defeat Porter Tech under her own terms. Grace can switch between any of her personalities.

Denny Spinner: A toddler who was separated from his parents. He was found by Kiba while his friends were searching across the Northern Glaciers for Porter Tech’s base of operations. Amidst the reveal of the chimeras, Kiba decided to take Denny in as his adoptive brother and seek refuge.

York Jones: A chubby teenager who is a friend of Theo's from school. He and Theo had a rocky start on their relationship, but became close as time went on.

Edward Violet: An intelligent boy who goes to the same school as Theo. At some point, he was chosen by a "mysterious party" to participate in a new project. This new project ends up turning Ed into a chimera, thus revealing this mysterious party to be Porter Tech.

Carmen Montana: A kind-hearted girl who is also a friend of Theo's. Despite her other friends teasing her into being with Theo like a couple would, she still respects her friendship with him.

Mint McLeod: A high-spirited girl who is the fourth friend of Theo. Her family ties have been a mystery, so she tends to make up stories about her parents being heroes in the past. It is revealed that she is the daughter of assassins that usually take down corrupt corporations, and she is to be next in line as she comes of age.

Ryuji Takamoto: A young teenager who, like the four beastman heroes, is searching for his missing parents. He was originally taught under the teachings of the scientist Subaru Watagi, but once he started working for Porter Tech, he traveled to other islands in order to become strong enough to kill Christopher. Due to their interferences, Ryuji is considered to be the rival of Theo himself. Eventually, after Theo barely escaped Porter Tech’s building, he was rescued by Ryuji and the two agreed to kill Christopher for good.

Boss Characters
Kristina, Jesse, and Grinder: A trio of agents that follow Theo and his friends on their way to the Neo Syndicate’s headquarters. While not as threatening as they claim to be, they just feel an intense drive to prove themselves to their fellow Porter Tech members and their boss Christopher. Kristina is the leader of the trio, whereas Jesse is the mechanic and Grinder the muscle. They attack the heroes using specific machines sent by Porter Tech. The trio begins to question their allegiance to Porter Tech when the chimeras are unleashed.

Sabrine Beatrice: A beautiful woman who works as a singer in a run-down club at the Southwestern Islands. After Theo went missing for a while, Julie has Sabrine help her cross a blockade formed by Porter Tech workers. Eventually, she is revealed to be a worker for Porter Tech herself and attempts to kill Julie and the others before Theo, after reuniting with Ozzy, intervened.

Forrest Flytrap: One of the many plantmen created and grown by Porter Tech for their secret project. After Toby apparently attacked some of the plantmen, Forrest decided to punish him by trapping him in vines. However, the other beastmen sliced the vines and saved Toby. Forrest apologized and promised not to attack anyone and only follow his attended purpose. Later, the plantmen’s purpose is revealed: to create seeds containing chimeric acid for Christopher’s project.

Sergio Woodham: A tough man who is a corporal for the Pine Wood Army. He had his troops capture the beastmen to interrogate them on how they were able to reveal their beast forms without being killed. But Grace, as the Blade Empress, freed them and helped them escape, leaving Sergio furious and ordering his army to go after them. It is revealed that Sergio also works for Porter Tech, like Sabrine.

Suzukaze: An assassin hired by Porter Tech. He only joined because Christopher promised him the survival and safety of his wife Chihomi. When the heroes arrived at the Northern Glaciers to find Porter Tech’s headquarters, Suzukaze encountered them all with his assassin skills, but the beastmen were able to weaken him. Later, it is revealed Chihomi already became a part of Christopher’s secret project, thus causing the assassin to be heartbroken and risk his life to rescue her.

Blair McGuire: An eccentric man who works for Porter Tech. He had a close relationship with Ryobe, and to extension Atsuko, often visiting them for experiments. Later, it is revealed that he is assisting Christopher in the Beast Rizer Project, an attempt to create beastmen in their image, only for the test subjects to become chimeras as a result.

Subaru Watagi: An elderly man who wished to learn more of the beastmen. In the past he was a scientist, working on experiments that may create a healthy and strong beastman, but after several failed attempts, one of which led to the creation of the first chimera, he quit his position and ended up serving Porter Tech. He was also a sword master, teaching a boy named Ryuji most of his techniques during his off-time. Alongside Dr. Von Flesch, Subaru plans on taking his research to the next level.

Rudolf von Flesch: A  mad scientist who acts as Subaru’s partner. Like him, he used to be interested in the mystery behind the beastmen and performed several experiments, most of which are lethal. Once Porter Tech came into his life, he offered his services to him and created some chimera-related experiments, such as the plantmen.

Christopher Karlos: The main antagonist of the game. Christopher is an influential businessman and the founder of Porter Tech who shares his curiosity around the beastmen with several others. He started his new Beast Rizer Project and, with the teleportation research of Julie’s father and Subaru and Dr. von Flesch’s experiments, he aims to create his own beastmen and introduce them to the world. But these experiments led to the birth of the chimeras around the world. After his first defeat against the heroes, Christopher uses the Beast Rizer project to mutate himself into a giant chimera monster and spread the chimera seeds across the world to contain everyone inside chimera plants. But his efforts were stopped when Atsuko, who transformed into a phoenix beastman, destroyed him and saved Theo, who helped "powered" Christopher. Some of his body parts were later reformed into new islands.

Western Islands

 * Applecrest Villa
 * Pine Tree Forest
 * Flora Town
 * Porter Tech Headquarters

Southwestern Islands

 * Summer Circle
 * Growth Rainforest
 * Grain Trail (Porter Tech site)

Southeastern Islands

 * Wild Zone
 * Ancient Temples (Porter Tech site)

Eastern Islands

 * Sundial Town
 * Black Piers (Porter Tech site)
 * Harukawa Middle School

Northern Glaciers

 * Arctic Facility (Porter Tech site)