Ristar Review

Ristar
System: Sega Genesis, Game Gear
Release: 1995

Let's take a trip back in time to the late 80's. Nintendo was dominating the gaming world, yet Sega had what it took to battle the big N itself. The Genesis had better graphics, better sound, and a made up form of power- I-I mean Blast-Processesing... But Nintendo was two steps ahead; it had a huge collection of titles to offer and a face to help give the system an identity thanks to Mario. Now, Sega did have a mascot of their own, but Alex Kidd just wasn't catching on and was hardly a match for Nintendo, so Sega decided on a new mascot to help sale their company... the question was, "who?"

A number of ideas were thrown around, they thought of using a dog as their character, or an armadillo, a rabbit and even a certain mustached scientist... but another idea that they had to work on was what the core gameplay would be like. Eventually, they decided on a speed mechanic, a character that could blast through stages and attack without having to slow down, and so Sonic was born.

By now I bet you're wondering where I'm going with this. Well, as it turns out one of the earlier designs wasn't exactly abandoned. At one point, the main hero was going to be a bunny who could extend their ears and grab on to items in order to progress through the game. Years later, the idea was brought back for a new game and at some point down the road, the character turned from a bunny with magical ears into a star with stretchy limbs. This, my friends, is Ristar. An interesting look at just what could have been the face of Sega had things gone a little differently.

STORY

The game starts off by introducing us to the Valdi System, an area out in space that's accompanied by seven home planets with their own crazy themes going on throughout (who wants to bet one of them is fire themed?). Everything is peaceful, which means something bad is guaranteed to happen... and wouldn't you know it? Space Pirates! The evil Kaiser Greedy has taken over the planets and now rules over them. The beings of these planets pray for a hero to come and save them, Ristar gets the message and comes to save the day, one planet at a time.

The story is corny, yet at the same time it's got a bit of charm to it. In fact... didn't Mario Galaxy have a similar idea of flying though space and exploring planets? I must say though, I love the originality thrown in.

SCORE: out of

DESIGN

The point of the game is to guide Ristar through the planets, each one has two acts followed by a boss battle. It's 2D side scrolling at it's finest, with some fun levels to explore and some secrets along the way. Of course, there is always room for improvement. The game felt way to linear at points, some more alternate paths and hidden goodies would have been most appreciated. Though, one thing the game could have really used were power ups of sorts. Even the most basic games have an invincibility item or something. The only thing you will find are extra lives, health, and objects used to set off traps and stuff.

SCORE: out of

GAMEPLAY

If any of you have played a 2D Sonic title, only to move on to this... it will take a little while to get used to the gameplay. First off, the game is a little on the slower side. To my knowledge, you can't run which would normally be annoying, but here it kind of helps. Ristar's method of attack is to grab his opponents with his freakish arms and bop them with his freakish head, causing them to soar all over the screen. Now, maybe I just suck at the controls (this was on the Game cube), but sometimes I would miss the mark and as I'm stupidly grabbing into thin air, but bad misses the palms and just bops me in the head, taking a piece of my precious life. But I guess that adds to the challenge of the game. Personally, I would love to be able to jump on an enemies head so I could stun them, but I guess you can't always get what you want... but for the most part, the control was fine... Though, I noticed a bit of a difficulty curve around the third world. It went from being simple as can be to lose all your lives in a split second hard.

One thing I would have loved to see would have been whenever you launch an opponent, any other bad guy they would collide with would instantly knock them out... maybe have a combo system or something. Maybe they could do that for the none existent sequel.

SCORE: out of

PRESENTATION

As always, Sega gives the fans some grade A visuals. Everything from the forest levels, the instrument levels, and even the much expected element levels boast some beautiful designs. Though, it's not just the levels that shine, but the characters as well. The characters just feel so lively, from the bosses and their unique move sets to the basic grunts and their facial expressions. But the one who really steals the show is Ristar himself. Everyone thought it was adorable how Sonic would give us a glare and eagerly tap his feet if we put the control down for too long, well Ristar is just full of life. He'll start dancing on the music planet, or while visiting a fire themed planet he'll have to fan himself just to keep cool. These little touches just give him charm and in the end make him that more likable. Along with a unique set of music tracks that just fit right at home here, I say they did a great job here.

SCORE: out of

OVERALL

You know, I'm bummed... You see, the game wasn't bad. Sure, some tighter controls would have been nice, and the difficulty spike was a little annoying, but the game had an interesting idea, lovely visuals, fun gameplay and a creative main character that helps give the game a little shine.

I'm bummed because after one title release, he was never to be heard from again. Ristar is a great character that should really make a comeback! I would love to see a retro revival on the xbox live or Wiiware or something, give this star another chance to shine again! I'm aware of how lame that sounded, but really, Sega should hold off on another Sonic title and give this guy another go.

SCORE: out of