A new patch has been issued for the Genesis / Mega Drive version of Altered Beast which allows you to retain your high score between sessions.
Created by BillyTime! Games, the patch introduces a simple SRAM saving mechanism, which captures your score after a Game Over and loads it up again the next time you boot up the game.
"If [the] checksum fails or it is your first time booting, default scores are loaded," says the patch's page on ROM Hacking.
Like many games released during the 16-bit era, Altered Beast lacked a battery backup for saving data, which meant that scores were only saved while the console was powered on.
Originally released in arcades, Altered Beast would find fame as a pack-in title for the Genesis in North America and Europe. It never got a true sequel but was disastrously rebooted for the PS2 in 2005.