Ristar

Ristar
Box art of Ristar
Developer(s)	Sonic Team
Publisher(s)	Sega
Director(s)	Akira Nishino, Takeshi Niimura
Producer(s)	Hiroshi Aso
Designer(s)	Takumi Miyake, Yuji Naka
Artist(s)	Yuji Uekawa
Composer(s)	Tomoko Sasaki Naofumi Hataya Masafumi Ogata
Engine	Proprietary
Platform(s)	Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Sega Game Gear, Virtual Console Compilation releases: PSP, PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Release date(s)	Mega Drive JP February 17, 1995 NA February 16, 1995 EU February 18, 1995 Virtual Console JP December 2, 2006 NA December 4, 2006 EU December 15, 2006
Genre(s)	Platformer
Mode(s)	Single-player
Rating(s)	ELSPA: 3-10 (Mega Drive)
Media/distribution	16-megabit cartridge

Ristar, known as Ristar the Shooting Star (リスター・ザ・シューティングスター, Risutā za Shūtingu Sutā) in Japan, is a platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis in 1995. A Sega Game Gear version, which features very similar gameplay in different level designs, was also released in the same year.

The game stars a humanoid cartoon star who uses his hands and long, stretchable arms to both move and combat enemies. Reception for the game has been generally positive, but the game's initial release was overshadowed due to the imminent ending of the Genesis's lifecycle and the beginning of the Sega Saturn and other fifth generation video game consoles.

Development

Conception

Ristar developed from an idea originally put forward during design talks for the character who would later become Sonic the Hedgehog. Yuji Naka, head of Sonic Team, recalled in 1992:

At first we used a character that looked like a rabbit with ears that could extend and pick up objects. As the game got faster and faster, we needed to come up with a special characteristic to give our character some power over his enemies. I remembered a character I had thought about years ago who could roll himself into a ball and slam into enemies. Hedgehogs can roll themselves into a ball, so we decided to go from a rabbit to a hedgehog.

Some years later, the game starring that rabbit-type character was developed separately from Sonic, and eventually evolved into a prototype called Feel. The rabbit resemblance in Feel was already lessened somewhat in the prototype, as the character no longer used his ears, but rather his arms. After some changes in the main character, and going through several names, that game eventually became what is now known as Ristar. The name also went through further changes during development of the Western versions, going from Ristar the Shooting Star to Dexstar, and finally to Ristar.

Back in late 1994, Sega was originally pitching Ristar to be the successor of Sonic the Hedgehog. However, the game never received a ton of exposure or sales, mainly due to being released just three months prior to the Sega Saturn, Sega's newest video game console, overshadowing it.

Localization

A number of small changes were made in localizing the version released for english speaking countries. The story was altered slightly; in the Japanese version, a Star Goddess, Oruto, summons Ristar's help, where in the English version, Oruto is omitted completely, and Ristar's father, a "Legendary Hero", is referenced instead.

The boss of the ice themed level was changed from a large cat robot to an ice monster type robot. In the game, Ristar must grab hot dishes of food, and throw it in the boss's mouth. In Japan, it was considered clever to use "hot food" to defeat a cat, due to a Japanese culture reference regarding a "cat-tongue" not liking hot food. In English-speaking regions, that reference is non-existent, so it was changed to a "cold ice monster" being defeated by being melted by "hot food".

The rest of the changes were very minor edits in effort to appeal to western audiences, such as minor graphical changes to make Ristar and other character's faces look more serious, renaming levels to names more descriptive of their looks, and adding a few non-interactive scenes to show more continuity in the game, such as a skiing sequence before the snow themed level, or putting on anti-gravity shoes to explain why Ristar is floating in a particular level.

In the Game Gear version, an entire level was removed from the English version. While usually each planet has 2 levels, the second level, "Fanturn", only has one level, the second was cut.

Story

Much like other games from the same timeframe, such as Gunstar Heroes, the game's story varied between the Japanese language release and it's english language counterpart. In all versions of the game, the events take place in the Valdi System, where an evil space pirate, Kaiser Greedy, has used mind control to make the planets' leaders obey him.

In the Japanese version, the inhabitants of Planet Neer (Flora in the English language version.) pray for a hero before Greedy's mind control snatches them. The desperate prayers reach the nebula of the Star Goddess, Oruto. She awakens one of her children, Ristar, with the sole purpose of granting the wishes of the innocent people. He must stop Greedy and the brainwashed leaders of each world in the galaxy, to restore peace to the galaxy.

In the English language version, Oruto is omitted altogether. Instead, Ristar has a father figure, the Legendary Hero, who is a shooting star that protects the Valdi System. Rather than Oruto awakening Ristar, the Legendary Hero was kidnapped by Greedy, and it is up to Ristar to rescue his father as well.

The Japanese version of the game ends with Greedy, and two underlings deserted planet or moon, with a picture of Ristar appearing in the space, while Greedy simply stares at it. The ending scene shown in the English shows Ristar being re-united with his father once again.

All versions of the Game Gear game feature the same scenario, involving Oruto, as the Japanese Genesis version.

Gameplay

Ristar is a 2D sidescrolling platformer. Similar to games in the Mario or Sonic the Hedgehog series, except for focusing less on jumping and speed, and more on Ristar's stetchable arms game mechanic. Ristar has very long, stretchable arms, that he uses to grab objects, throw objects, and climb or ascend/descend levels. This is also his main means of attacking enemies; he grabs them and then proceeds to pull himself towards them into a "headbutt" motion, to defeat them.

The game also features "cranks" (Referred to as "Star Handles") that, when grabbed by Ristar, spin him around and around until letting go, which shoots him off in a given direction. If he has enough momentum, Ristar will begin to fly with a trail of stars behind him,in a move called "Meteor Strike", which makes him invincible and able to kill any enemy touched. When enough momentum is lost, flight ceases, and he drops to the ground back into his normal state.

Every level possess two special cranks. Every level ends with a special crank that, based on how high Ristar is launched off screen, bonus points are awarded, very similar to Mario receiving bonus points depending on how high he jumps onto a flagpole at the end of his respective game's levels. Additionally, ever level also contains one hidden crank that sends Ristar to a bonus stage, which involve getting through an obstacle course within a given time limit. Completing the level in a particularly fast time will earn a continue, and after the game is completed, special codes are awarded depending on how many were completed.

The game contains six planets; each planet contains a 2 standard levels, with a mini-boss in the first level and a major boss after the second level. After all are completed, the game concludes with a final boss fight.

Ristar's health is shown as four stars in the upper-right corner of the screen. Taking damage removes one star, and losing all stars causes Ristar to lose a life. Stars can be found throughout the levels, which replenish his health.

The Game Gear version of Ristar largely played the same as the Genesis version, just with different levels to play through. The only major variation was that, only in the Game Gear version, Ristar collects many little stars throughout the levels, similar to the manner in which Sonic the Hedgehog collects rings, or Mario collects coins, in their respective games. Similarly, collecting 100 earns Ristar another life.

Reception

Reception for the game has been largely positive. While it didn't receive much attention upon its initial release due to Sega's shifting from the Sega Genesis to the Sega Saturn video game consoles, leaving the game behind, it did garner positive reviews in its later re-releases. IGN gave the Virtual Console version an 8 out of 10, praising the game's graphics, music, and gameplay, and closed with saying "platformer fans would do well to give this one a look" Gamespot praised the game as well, especially its graphics, stating, "Visually, the developers made the best of the system's limited color palette and employed every graphical trick they could to make the game look snazzy. Ristar and his enemies have a good variety of animations, but what you'll probably notice the most are the colorful, multilayered backgrounds that constantly flaunt animated details in the form of moving clouds, falling debris, and rampaging creatures that have a habit of hurling things at you from a distance."

Sega Official Magazine gave the game's original release an 87% rating, praising the gameplay, graphics, and music, but complaining that the game lacked some originality and borrowed a lot from other platforming games at the time, such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Dynamite Headdy, and Earthworm Jim. Sheffer of the First Battalion gave the game a fairly positive review mentioning it's "quite the hidden gem", and "they truly went the extra mile for the pixel art of this game".

The Game Gear version received even less attention due to the Game Gear system itself struggling in sales. Additionally, it has not received as many re-releases as the Genesis version. However, it has been described as "... not quite as fun or visually interesting as the original version but is still colorful and quite playable. Furthermore, enough new segments and features have been added that it feels significantly distinct from the original Genesis release."

Legacy

In a 2006 interview with Ristar designer Akira Nishino, he said of Ristar:

Will Ristar come back? Probably not. Of course, as a game developer, I would love to see it happen. At the time of the original, I was thinking of a sequel. It got as far as a character design for that sequel, but it didn't happen for various reasons. But since fans have a say in such matters, your input is greatly appreciated.

While Ristar has never received any sequels, it has received further attention in later years. The Sega Genesis version has seen re-releases in several compilations, including Sonic Mega Collection, Sega Genesis Collection, and Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection. It has also been released for digital download released for the Wii's Virtual Console service and Steam. The Game Gear version was released as one of twenty games on the "Sonic's PlayPal Plug and Play", a controller that hooks up straight to the television rather than a video game system.

Ristar, as a character, has only made a few minor cameo appearances outside of his two original games in 1995. He was featured as one of the collectible 'Gachapons' (capsule toys) in the 2000 Dreamcast release Shenmue. The next year he briefly appears in the 2001 Japan-only Dreamcast game Segagaga. The game parodied Sega itself during the timeframe, and Ristar was shown in the game's opening sequence. Ristar did not make any more appearances until 2010, where he makes a cameo appearance in a downloadable track for Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing due to the high demand for him to be in the game.

External Links

• Ristar Cluster
• Ristar Wiki