Sheff's Nostalgia Reviews: Ristar

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Sheff's Nostalgia Reviews: Ristar; How many Sonic-like things can you find?
Topic Started: Jul 18 2009, 07:55 PM (267 Views)
Sheff	Jul 18 2009, 07:55 PM Post #1
One two punch Posts: 1,013 Group: Master Sergeant Member #6 Joined: Nov 22, 2008	Overview To tell you the truth, I didn't know much about this game when I decided to play it. I've heard it mention over time and such, so I decided to do a little research after I played through it. Here's what I DO know. Apparentely, Ristar was intended to replace SEGA's mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog... or at least be a notable video game character that is. The problem was, when Ristar was released for the Genesis, it was overshadowed by the brand new Sony Playstation, which became available only a month or two later. Unfortunately, Ristar was barely noticed in the 3D gaming console's shadow, and was wiped from most gamers minds at the time. Here I am now, fourteen years after its release, to see what Ristar could have become if it gained more popularity. Story The story begins before the starting screen, represented with a pretty good cinematic. (Something not found in most games of the time.) It starts off with a short narrative explaining that an evil tyrant, named Greedy, has used his power to corrupt the planet leaders, enslaving the people under his rule. Even the legendary hero of these worlds has been kidnapped himself. When all hope seems lost, the people send out one last, desperate plea... which is answered by the hero's own son, Ristar. This sets up the game quite well, giving explanation to what the heck is going on. Gameplay This game was actually created by the people of Sonic Team, and hoo boy can I see the similiarities between this and the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Not necessarily the speed, but more of tiny things, such as level titles and areas. Anyhoo, the main gimmick of this platformer is Ristar's trait of having stretchy arms. This allows him to grab enemies, then ram into them with his own face. Also, he may use his grabbing ability to climb ladders, swing across pits, climb walls, and many assortment of things. This ability works well throughout the game; the levels are pretty much designed around using it. Talking about that, every level is unique in its own way. The game is split into seven planets, or rounds for other words. Each planet is a different enviroment, ranging from a planet overgrown with a large forest to a large volcano infested land. Each has its own seperate enemies and gimmicks, and unique ideas revolving around Ristar's abilities. One of my favorite levels happens to be on one that reminds me of Music Factory from Sonic Advance 2. The main goal in this level is to deliver a metronome-like object to the citizens of the planet in order to continue. They use some pretty neato ideas to move this item around throughout the level, adding puzzle qualities to the game. Also, there happens to be a mini-boss in the middle of each round; yet another Sonic trademark added to the mix. Now that we've got all the platforming goodness out of the way, lets move on to bosses.... and boy do I hate them! This seems to be the only bad part of the game to me. Yes yes, the first one or two are easy to beat, but later on the game, MAN these things can get tough. I find most of them memorization or just hoping you don't get hit while throwing yourself at them. Most of these bosses are helluva hard thing to beat, going by the fact they sometimes take up one-fourth of the screen plus move around pretty fast for some. This is the only downer of the gameplay I can think of; quite a shame since there's nearly a total of 8 to fight. Sound & Graphics As said for other things before, the music of this game is reminiscent of the blue blur's soundtracks. As usual, SEGA has managed to make tunes that fit perfectly for each stage, making some quite space-like due to the premesis of the game. Overall, the music is great in my opinion, some of the songs even getting stuck in my head right now. One word for graphics: AMAZING. They truly went the extra mile for the pixel art of this game, most of it looking quite 3Dish. The best looks come from the previously complained bosses, all with amazingly good detail for this kind of game. The look of the game is colorful and fresh, but keeping a realistic setting. (somewhat) I truly think these are the best graphics I've seen on the Genesis next to the Sonic franchise, yet again hinting at the workers behind this game. Replay Value Even though Ristar can be quite short once you know what you're doing, they still threw in plenty of things to go back and look for. For starters, there is a ton of hidden treasure chests throughout the level, testing your skills to find them. Most just contain a Chaos Emerald-like jewel that'll raise your score by a hundred points or so. Also, there's a bonus stage somewhere in each level, usually in a hard to reach place. Once you arrive in one of these stages, you are given a set time limit to find a treasure chest, then retrieve whatever you may find inside. These are good additions to the game, plus the fact there may be multiple routes through each level. Overall This game is quite the hidden gem if you ask me; quite a shame it did not recieve as much attention as it deserves. Besides those anger-inducing bosses, this is a great platformer overall, deserving a much needed sequel if someone can pull the right strings at SEGA. But we all know it'll probably never happen. Anyway, I recommend for anyone to play this game. Its quite a treat.



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