Ristar

"Ristar is a masterpiece!"

In 1995, SEGA introduced a cute little star that would grace the Genesis. Ristar was such a name. With incredible graphics, music that lives up to one of the best games of all time, it seems like you should have heard of it. Well, its very unknown which is a shame, since this is SEGA's masterpiece.

Story 9/10 Well the story of this game is a little on the mediocre side, but still has a great storyline for a 16-bit platformer. The story starts of with an evil dictator named Greedy. He corrupts the Planet leaders to do his bidding (catch the pun), and now they have enslaved the populace. Even the main hero has been captured. The populace of Flora has only one chance, and it is to call the hero's son, Ristar. With Ristar in play, he must stop the leaders from all their corruption and Greedy.

Graphics 11/10 Yes folks, this game definetly deserves an 11 and you will find out why. Ristar gives graphics that are unimaginable on any 16-bit platform. It is a visual masterpiece. The backdrops in the levels are intricatley detailed, you may sit and stare in awe of the gorgeous backrounds that are in Ristar. When you go to the second part of the world the backdrop changes so you won't get the same backround from the previously level (ala Sonic which had the same backround in both Acts). What is even more unbelievable is Planet Undertow. When you swim under water the background changes when you are not in the water and vice versa. Now obviously lighting effects were never thought of on a 16-bit game, but Ristar puses the envelope. When your about to battle Riho in Planet Flora, you can see the lighting on Ristar change when he is in the light or under the shadow of a tree. Whats even cooler is in Planet Undertow, when you swim deeper in the water, it gets darker. Fantastic job to detail on this. Well we can't forget about Risar can we? The animations are smooth and nicley done. His facial expressions are great as well, but when you sit around and do nothing Ristar will do a specil action. This is notice able in Planet Scorch, where if you don't move Ristar will sit down on use his hand as a fan becuase it is so hot. Many of the enimies are nice and colorful, but all of htem are very weird looking too. This is a good thing, since this is a nicer change than earth animals. Overall I was astonished that Sega could shell out the graphics on an old 1989 gaming system. Kudos SEGA!

MusicSound 10/10 Wow! This soundtrack boasts some of the greatest tracks in gaming history. Form the beatiful underwater music in Planet Undertow, to Planet Scorch's High paced techno beat, Ristars music literally shines. Also listening to the music is key in Planet Sonata. This is very unique, but don't worry the music is so good you'll be humming the tunes when you finish playign Ristar. It's that good. Besisdes that incredible music is the sound effects. Yes the sound effects are perfect for this game. Every time you kill an enemy it will have a nose that is great with the action. There is one downfall though, Ristars voice. yes it is a little childish, but ''Play with me?'' and ''Come on'' is a little on the weird side.

Gameplay 10/10 Excllently done! Ristar has very unique moves, such as grabbing enemies and hitting them on his head to kill them. Also swinging from tree trunks to get to the other side. The contorls are very well setup for the gameplay too. There is a slight bit of learning involved but you'll get used to it. There are some nasty puzzles along the way in Ristar which will be quite confusing. There is never a dull moment in Ristar, your either swimming,hanging,jumping,paying the toll (in planet Sonata), and much much more to do.

Control 10/10 Perfectly done for the Genesis controller. It is easy to perform jumps attacks and special moves that Ristar to his usage. You won't get fustrated with using the controls since it is all relatively simple. There is also a good thing for the contorl as well, such as learning new tricks while moving along the planets. Using these tricks are essential to beating this game, but the controls are easy to get used to but do not require a steep learning curve.

Challenge 10/10 Don't be fooled by the kiddy like grpahics, this is one tough game to master. there are some levels that require more thought than needed until passing the area which can get quite fustrating at times. The bosses are hard as well. This isn't Robotnik as the bossevery time, there are unique bosses which have to use special attacks to beat. Espically Itamor in planet Freon, which you must throuw plates of soup in his mouth to destroy him. It took me awhile to figure out his patterns then its quite easy. Also the last boss of the game is super extremley hard, no doubt about it. This will take you along time to figure out to beat him.

Replay Value 9/10 Yes Ristar is a great game with cheats to use in the game. Although it is a fun game it loses a point for being very fustrating. Near the end of the ame it is nearly impossible to beat. I twill take luck and skill to pass it. Once you beat the game you might not want to play it again until after awhile, maybe to hear the awesome soundtrack that Ristar delievers. There are many codes to use like Level skip and Boss Arena. Don't worry its worth the money for a masterpiece of a game!

Overall 10/10
Pros:
+State of the art graphics, unimaginable of the Genesis.
+Perfect soundtrack for this game, stands up to one of the all tiem best soundtracks
+Incredibly hard game, which will keep you hooked for a long, long time.
+Story is fantastic for this platformer

Cons:
-Too hard for the unexperienced games and kids.
-You'll want to play htis game again after you beat it, well after awhile

Buy or rent?
This is a definete buy. Absouloutley. If you find this game I highly ssuggest you get it, it is very rare and very good too. If you don't own a Genesis, SEGA released Sonic Mega Collection which includes Ristar in the disc. So what are you waiting for, go right now to your nearest gaming retailer and buy this game now!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/15/03, Updated 01/15/03