"Hey now, you're an all star..."

Introduction

Influenced heavily by Sonic the Hedgehog, Ristar was quietly released in 1995 in the days of waning popularity for the Sega Genesis. While Sonic focused on speed and racing through levels as fast as possible, Ristar is more about creatively avoiding obstacles and immersing yourself into a universe. This game is amazing and it is a shame it never received the fanfare it deserves. You're probably reading this after seeing it on the Virtual Console or noticing it as a selection in a Sonic Mega Collection game. You've noticed all of the glowing reviews for this game and are probably wondering…what makes this game so good? Read on to find out…

Gameplay - 10/10

As stated before, Ristar focuses more on puzzle-solving and getting past obstacles than simple running and jumping. For one, Ristar (the titular star you control) lacks jumping ability. Jumping on enemies only deals damage to you. He also casually strolls through the game like he doesn't have a care in the world. This may frustrate some players used to the speed the Sonic (or even Mario) games offer, but if you look closer, you'll notice that what the game lacks in speed it makes up for in innovation. Ristar navigates through levels using his arms that stretch out. You utilize his ability to grapple to overcome obstacles and defeat enemies. This allows for many virtuosic displays of skill for experienced gamers and is a joy to experiment with.

There is a bit of a learning curve in getting used to the controls and the overall gameplay, but thankfully the first couple of worlds are pretty easy and allow you to get used to the game's unusual yet fluid controls. They are well done in the fact that Ristar strays away from traditional notions of platform-gaming and tries to offer as much variety as possible to the player. A great example of this is the musical world, Planet Sonata. The world revolves around a motif of music and healing birds with metronomes. This opens up a myriad of puzzles and hazards to overcome as Ristar tries to rescue these birds. The game developers realized that there is only so much you can do with an ability to grab things, so they spice up the gameplay by placing Ristar in situations that require some thought and creativity to overcome. This allows for a very immersing gaming experience that truly was ahead of its time.

Challenge- 8/10

I miss the days of gaming when video games did not spoon feed you and required true skill and mastery to complete. Ristar is one of those games. The learning curve gently rises, but by the time you reach the sixth (and final) planet, the difficulty is through the roof. It is here that I find the game's only fault; the difficulty in the later levels (and especially the final boss) is just unbelievable. Sure, it isn't impossible (a la Battletoads), but the final boss has a plethora of instant kill attacks and is pretty cheap. Maybe that's how final bosses should be, depending on your tastes. But I will say that for the casual gamer (and perhaps the young audience this game was clearly intended for) the difficulty may just become too much in the last couple areas of the game. If you want a bit of respite, play this game on the Sonic Mega Collection; the save feature that can be used at any time will become your best friend.

Story - 8/10

The story on the surface isn‘t anything spectacular, but there are little touches here and there that really spice it up and make it come to life. It is a somewhat-trite story about an evil king aptly named Greedy who conquers several planets and imprisons the local inhabitants. Ristar, being the nice star that he is, is sent by his father to liberate each planet and defeat Greedy. If you look closely, there are environmental themes and commentary about the value of art in our society (Planet Sonata). Ristar is a celebration of life and peace and propagates themes of selflessness and redemption (for example, bosses usually are forced into their evil ways and beg for reconciliation upon being defeated). It is small touches like these that create a world that the player can relate to and perhaps find meaning in. Without this, the story would just be another throwaway plot that serves no purpose.

Graphics - 10/10

The graphics are beautiful. There is incredible attention to detail everywhere you go in this game and it really creates an atmosphere that is a true representation of art. Backgrounds are fully developed and are full of life and color. Sprites are fluid and smooth. Bosses are varied and skillfully drawn. The amount of detail injected into this game is astounding.

Sound/Music - 9.5/10

First, I will address why I knocked this down a half point. The voice acting is pretty primitive, even for its time. I really could not understand a word of the voice acting, just a garbled cute voice that sounded horribly distorted. Luckily, there is very little voice acting in this game, and Ristar never speaks more than a line or two. The game could have been just fine without it.

On the other hand, the music is superb. The tracks are varied and quite complex. The final boss music is so haunting and powerful that it really grabs you and makes you realize “hey, this is pretty epic!”. Planet Scorch has awesome techno music that goes very well with the fire you have to deal with. Planet Sonata places the game's soundtrack on center stage as the entire planet is based on a musical motif. Finally, the closing credits theme may just be the best song ever composed for a Sega Genesis game. Yes, that includes the Sonic the Hedgehog games. The soundtrack is beautiful and complements the game perfectly.

Play Time/Replayability - 10/10

The game is fairly short and on par with the length of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. It took me about 3 hours to beat the game, but I am a pretty experienced player and was able to breeze through the early stages with no problem. If you could beat every level in this game with little or no deaths, it would probably take about 20-30 minutes. One thing that adds play time/replayability is the quest to find the secret bonus stages. They are hidden in oblique paths throughout each level and Ristar is awarded a trophy for completing them. Upon collecting these trophies, new features and game modes are unlocked. This offers more and more challenge to the player and allows for hours of fun to be had with this game. It also helps that many levels are non-linear and have multiple ways to beat them, so you can get creative and experiment with different passages to complete a level. The game is a joy to play through and through and is guaranteed to offer hours of entertainment, even after a first run through.

Final Recommendation

Ristar is the best game you've never heard of. If you are a fan of 2D platformer games, especially the Sonic the Hedgehog games, then try this game out. There are small allusions to the Sonic games sprinkled throughout this game, making it even more fun to play. I also recommend this game to those who value video games as art and are seeking a game that has both style and substance.

Final Score: 9.25/10 rounded to 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/08/11

Game Release: Ristar (US, 02/16/95)