Ristar

"Simply put, Ristar shines"

I rented Ristar about 4 or 5 years ago back when I had my Genesis, and it’s safe to say that in many ways, Ristar is a better game than any of the Sonic the Hedgehog games. Unfortunately, it did not receive much recognition when it was released, and, unless you likes ROMs, it’s fairly difficult to obtain nowadays. As for the game itself, Ristar is a mascot-platformer starring a star named Ristar developed and published by Sega for its Genesis/Megadrive console in 1995. It’s phenomenal graphics, memorable soundtrack, and brilliant gameplay put it head and shoulders above virtually every other platformer I’ve played.

Graphics (10): Like practically any first party Genesis released between 1994 and 1996, Ristar looks incredible and has done thinks with the Genesis that Sega never thought possible way back in 1989, the year during which the Genesis was released. As soon as you fire up the Genesis and watch the opening scene, you know that you’re in for one hell of a visual treat, and a very colourful one at that, as Ristar really stretches the Genesis’ limit of displaying only 64 colours on the screen at once.

Ristar himself is a cute little star with arms and legs. He is very well-detailed, particularly his arms and his facial expressions. In fact, so much detail was put into designing Ristar that on each of the game’s six planets, as well as the final spaceship level, Ristar has a different animation for those times when you find yourself standing around and doing nothing.

As for the levels themselves, mere words cannot describe the amount of graphical detail put into them. Ristar is a 2D platformer in the vein of Super Mario Brothers or Sonic the Hedgehog, and each of the game’s six planets has its own look to it. One of the coolest looking levels is the second level of Sonata, the fourth planet in Ristar’s solar system. As you may be able to tell from the name, the level is musically-themed and sports nice little details like swinging metronomes in the background and even pianos where you have to avoid these cute, yet somewhat hip-looking dancing guitars that stand on the keys.

Finally, Ristar has some decent looking enemies, but sports some of the coolest looking bosses ever seen in a Genesis platformer. These bosses have much more graphical detail and variety put into them then Dr. Robotnik’s contraptions in Sonic the Hedgehog. Naturally, each of the game’s bosses has a theme and a style of attack that suits the theme of its respective planet. Overall, Ristar’s graphics are nothing short of 2D bliss. The character and enemy design is magnificent, and the visuals as a whole are extremely colourful and eye-popping.

Sound/Music (9.5): Let me begin my saying that despite not having played this game in nearly 5 years, I remembered every single one of the game’s songs, even before I heard them again in some cases. Ristar’s music consists of techno-pop tunes, but don’t think this means generic platformer music, because Ristar’s music is anything but. From the bouncy tunes Flora and Freon, to the mysterious themes of Undertow, to the heavier songs of Scorch and Automaton, to the frantic boss themes, virtually every one of the game’s songs is memorable.

Of particular note is the planet Sonata, where paying attention to the music is key to defeating the mini-boss at the end of the first level and to not getting hit by the second level’s dancing guitars. Additionally, the boss of Sonata will frequently distort the boss theme to add to the effect of the battle and as a sort of “psychological attack” against the player. The sound effects are above average and do a nice job, although Ristar’s voice is a little too squeaky and cute to add anything to the game. Overall, Ristar’s outstanding music is hard to describe in words, and the decent sound effects do nothing to detract from your gaming experience.

Story (8): Ristar’s story is not all that unoriginal or well-developed, but its pretty good nevertheless and does a good job of giving Ristar’s quest a sense of purpose. Basically, Greedy, an evil being from somewhere in the depths of space invades Ristar’s solar system, conquering its six planets, corrupting the leader of each planet, who become the six bosses, and enslaving the solar system’s population. Even Ristar’s father, the star that provides light for the solar system is captured by Greedy. The people of the planets call for a hero to free them from their misery, so along comes Ristar to save the day. Ristar frees the six planets and then goes after Greedy, who for some reason has been sitting on his fat ass in his spaceship. Like in the Sonic series, the story is narrated by the hero’s actions, rather than by a third-person narrator or by any sort of dialogue between characters. Overall, Ristar’s story is very well done compared to that of most 16-bit platformers. Just don’t expect a Final Fantasy or Lunar caliber plot, as you sure won’t get one.

Gameplay (10): Sega fans who are used to Sonic’s blazing speed will have to slow down a little to truly appreciate Ristar. Unlike Sonic, Ristar’s gameplay is centred around technique rather in speed. In fact there is not even a time limit, which is nice since many levels take over 20 minutes to fully explore the nooks and crannies and find all the treasure and bonus rounds. Like in most of its contemporaries, Ristar’s gameplay generally moves from left to right, with a few variations, such as vertical areas. What separates Ristar from the pack, however, is its unparalleled level design and it’s simple, yet enjoyable, control.

Ristar’s levels are both extremely fun to play and sport a considerable amount of depth and variety. The game, as previously mentioned, is divided into six planets: Flora, Undertow, Scorch, Sonata, Freon, and Automaton/Automation (The games uses Automaton yet the manual uses Automation. I will use Automaton.), and a final area that takes places within a spaceship. Each of the planets has two gameplay levels, the first of which ends in a mini-boss, followed by a level consisting solely of a boss battle. The spaceship is just one easy level followed by the final boss.

Unlike most platformers, where a change in area often simply means a few aesthetic changes, each of Ristar’s planets has its own little design and gameplay quirks to keep in mind. One of the best examples of this can be found, yet again, on the planet Sonata. Music plays such an integral role in Sonata’s gameplay, and battling certain enemies requires you to learn how they react to the music. Additionally, the second area of Automaton is basically a group of puzzles that lead in to one another by using teleporters, and the mini-boss at the end of Freon’s first area is a snowball fight with some punk kid who annoys you throughout the level. These are just a few of the many twists found in Ristar’s gameplay.

Ristar’s level design and control go hand-in-hand. As previously mentioned, Ristar has very technical gameplay, so solid control is a must. Fortunately, Ristar fails to disappoint. The controls are accurate and easy, with one button used for jumping and another is used to extend Ristar’s arms, which are used to attack enemies, latch on the objects, swing around the levels, and climb objects, in one of eight possible directions. The arms also have a few more level-specific uses.

Additionally, the levels contain various “star-swings”, which Ristar latches onto by holding the “extend arms” buttons. He speeds up and slows down depending on which direction you hold your controller as you swing, and if you’re moving fast he will fly high into the air, bouncing off everything he hits and not taking any damage. This is very useful for reaching high or hard-to-access areas. Each level also contains one secret “star-swing” which leads you to a bonus round, where you must use all your technical skills to find a treasure within 60 seconds, and one at the end which you use to launch Ristar up into the air as high as you can with a rightward tilt towards the levels exit. The higher off the ground your are when exit the level, the bigger your point bonus. Overall, Ristar’s phenomenal level design and spot-on control make for one stupendous gameplay experience you will not soon forget.

Challenge (9): What’s this? A challenging mascot-based platformer whose challenge stems from incredible level design rather than shoddy controls or frustrating play mechanics? Yes folks, you’ve seen it here first. A platform game that is challenging simply because it’s so well-designed, rather than because it is unfairly designed.

Ristar has a gradual but noticeable learning curve, and while the first planet is easy, it does sort of hint at you that this will not be nearly as easy as *insert Sonic clone here*. You are given 5 lives and 3 (?) continues at the beginning at the game, and acquire extra lives by finding them in treasure chests or by reaching certain score plateaus. You are also given a certain amount of health, indicating the amount of hits you can take before sucking the bag and shown by the number of stars on the top-left corner of the screen. The number of stars with which you start each life varies with the difficulty level at which you are playing. Normal gives you four stars, Hard gives you two stars, and Super, a secret mode, gives you one star, one life, no free men or star replenishment, but unlimited continues. Stars are replenished by finding them in treasure chests. A yellow star replenishes one star, while a blue restores your health to full.

My only minor complaint is that the character and the setting is aimed somewhat at the younger set, but even on the Normal difficulty level, the more challenging gameplay may cause them to burn out by around Scorch or Sonata. For most gamers, this should not be a problem, and the more difficult skill levels will definitely appeal to hardcore gamers. Overall, Ristar’s gameplay is challenging enough to appeal to virtually anyone, but may be a wee bit too difficult for young or inexperienced gamers.

Replay (8.5): On its own, Ristar would have decent replay value just because it’s so darn fun. Fortunately, Ristar does have a cool feature that makes it fairly replayable for other reasons. When you finish the game, you will be given between none and 6 passwords based on the number of treasures you obtained in the bonus areas. Completing both bonus areas in a planet nets you an entire password, while you will earn part of a password for completing one bonus area on a planet. These passwords are entered in the option screen, but unlike most games, where passwords are used to replay the game from a point other than the beginning, Ristar’s passwords open new modes such as the aforementioned Super mode and the Boss Rush mode, where you battle each of the game’s bosses, trying to defeat them all as fast you can. This password feature, along with the enjoyment offered by the game itself, greatly increases Ristar’s shelf life.

Whoo Hoo!

-Outstanding character animation
-Vivid, colourful levels
-Memorable music
-Fun, varied gameplay
-A lot to explore on in the game’s levels
-A good level of challenge
-Password feature

Doh!

-Ristar’s voice is sickeningly cute
-May be too difficult for younger gamers for which Ristar’s setting is most suitable

Legacy

-As sad as it is to say, absolutely none

For Fans: There are no web-based Ristar resources of which I know. I don’t even know if a soundtrack was released in Japan.


Judgement Day(10): Ristar is one of the best, if not the best, mascot-based platformer I’ve ever played. It’s very disappointing that Sega didn’t hype this more, as it could have become a very strong brand-name, rather than fading into that obscure “best game you’ve never played” category. But, enough about what might have been. Just buy, rent or emulate Ristar. You won’t regret it.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 02/02/01, Updated 04/24/03