Collection essentials #130: Ristar (Genesis)

When Sega plotted to create a mascot to rival Nintendo’s Mario, one of the things they considered was a character who would be characterized by reaching out and grabbing things. They decided against this idea at first, instead coming up with a certain blue hedgehog that I’ll be talking about pretty soon. But they didn’t totally scrap that previous idea, and much later in the Genesis’ lifespan they worked it into Ristar, starring as the eponymous character in a brand new platformer.

Ristar’s controls are pretty simple, he simply jumps and grabs. When he grabs, he reaches his arms out pretty far, and you can reach in eight different directions, allowing you to grab pretty much anything close to you. The mark of a great platformer is when the developers come up with a unique gameplay idea and then build the game around utilizing it to the fullest, rather than when they create a generic platformer and throw in some odd gameplay feature as an afterthought. Ristar is one of the great examples of how to do it right. Everything in Ristar revolves around the grab mechanic, from climbing to swinging to fighting and everything in between. Levels boast multiple routes and secrets, rewarding players who explore and use the grab to the fullest. The game gets quite challenging as you progress too, which will require you to master Ristar’s abilities, and it’ll feel really rewarding when you do. This is topped off with top-notch graphics and music for a Sega Genesis game. The only real complaint I have is the final boss, who has a VERY unfair attack and can be frustrating.

I don’t have a ton else to say about Ristar, since I didn’t grow up with it. It’s been rereleased many times, so I first became acquainted with it through those rereleases, and I sure was impressed when I finally fully dove into it and got to the end. Unfortunately the game was released right as the next generation of consoles was looming, so that caused it to be overlooked, and we’ve never gotten a sequel of any kind. Thankfully you can get it on modern platformers via Sega Genesis Classics like many other games I’ve covered in this series. If you have any affinity for 2D platformers, this is one you absolutely have to play, a true star (heehee) in the Genesis library.