You would think that just beating the game would give you a normal ending... and you'd be partially correct, this ending does give you a staff roll. But remember, your character is a diabolical Eater. So what exactly happens?

....wow. That's right, by finishing the game, you single-handedly doom Earth and the rest of the universe to a fate of destruction. I know it's just a game, but... this sent freakin chills down my spine when I first saw it. It's such a nice change of pace from the regular endings you see in video games, ya know?

(as for those weird discolored parts of the background in outer space... I'm not sure if it's an emulation issue or Jaleco being lazy. It IS a prototype, after all...)

So that's the BAD ENDING. How do you get the GOOD ENDING? There are two ways, actually. The first is to get to the last boss, lose all your lives, and then let the continue timer run out. Yup, you'll be treated to an ending even though you didn't finish it (and it ONLY happens if you let the timer run out on the last boss, won't work at any part in the game). The other is to take too long in the last duel and not defeat the last boss in time... the last boss just self-destructs if it goes on for more than a few minutes. This ending doesn't make much sense since you don't actually see your own Eater die, but hey whatever...

So what went wrong with Chimera Beast that would cause it not to see the light of day in arcades? It's hard to say, as there is no information anywhere that I can find about the game regarding this.. It's my personal theory that players were turned off by the ugly player sprite and perhaps the ugly graphics in general... or they didn't grasp the concept of eating the enemies. Who knows? If the game had actually been released though, I don't think it would've been too big a hit, so maybe Jaleco was right in cancelling it after all. But I'm glad they took a chance in developing the game, for even though it may not have ever officially seen the light of day, emulation has provided us the opportunity to forever preserve this gem and see what could have been.

The game certainly isn't perfect though... truth be told, it's really not some of the best gameplay ever to hit a shoot-em-up. So why DO I like this game so much? Truth be told, I think it's that wonderful "bad ending". God, what a delightful twist... of course I realize that I have completely blown the surprise if you've read this far, but... chances are you were never going to play the game anyway if I hadn't told you about it personally, so... yeah. If you're in the mood for a "different" type of shooter though, I highly recommend giving the game a chance in MAME or RAINE (since you'll never be able to play the game otherwise), you might be pleasantly surprised.

In the Mankind stage (Stage 6), destroying the jeeps that are on the ground make a pair of humans appear... they don't really do anything, they're just fodder to be eaten.

But wait... they MAY look familiar if you're well-versed in the ways of shitty arcade beat-em-ups!

That's right!!! It's Allen and Rick, from Jaleco's obscure 1991 release, 64th Street: A Detective Story! How fucking cool is that?!?

....oh, that's right, it's a reference that pretty much nobody would catch or ever care about. Still though, it makes for a fun trivia fact, doesn't it? Not surprisingly, a lot of the same staff that worked on 64th Street went on to create Chimera Beast, too. It all comes full circle!

And on one final note, I'm also proud to present the world's only piece of Chimera Beast fanart! (click on the picture to enlarge) That's right, ACTUAL FANART! Much luv to Zerochan for making this creation of awesomeness for me. Of course, if anyone else wants to make fanart for a beyond-obscure shooter that was never released, then by all means feel free to send it to me! I'll love you forever, and stuff.