I'm not sure why, but this game actually used to frighten me as a kid. Maybe it was the dark visuals, the eerie ambient music, the vicious animals who attack the Beast for no good reason...whatever the case, I would shiver just a little bit while I played this.
It's a pretty decent game, I guess, but it becomes forgettable once its overshadowed by the Aladdin and Lion King 16-bit adventures that followed. I think the overly serious tone is what kept it from being a classic; this game didn't feel like it was targeted to little kids at all (maybe that's what Belle's Quest was for?).
One thing I find absolutely hilarious: in the final level, the Beast punches torches. Yeah. You didn't read that wrong. Angry villagers throw torches at him, and the Beast just punches them. That's badass.