Occasionally, Ristar can knock something down with his body, but the game is based around his grabbing and grappling things. Anything that’s useful, like an enemy, a ladder, or a treasure chest, can be taken through grabbing. Ristar’s arms elongate and come back to his body. The two things that become instantly clear about Ristar is that he’s a star and that his hands go every which way.

And grabbing things is exactly what Ristar does best. In the American version of the game, Ristar’s father is actually the big hero, but now the young child has to step up and grab the mantle for themselves. Ristar’s plot involves faraway galaxies and an evil space pirate named Kaiser Greedy who uses mind control. is Ristar basically just Pac-Man mixed with Sonic and Kirby? Sega Sonic development embraced the animal aspect of this early character.

Back in the early ‘90s, when trying to develop a new mascot, Sega had first considered a rabbit with ears that could stretch out and grab objects. In a way, Ristar is actually Sonic’s kid brother, or at least his cousin. It’s not the creative wellspring that other Genesis games aspire to become, but it is fun to play, and it's available right now if you’ve subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack. Ristar was released only three months prior to the sale of the next-gen Sega Saturn, and who wanted to be caught with a game whose obsolescence was already being heavily marketed? Not many people, that’s who.īut for the few who were curious, they found a fun platformer with easy-to-grasp mechanics. But Ristar got caught up in greater industry trends, namely Sega’s determination to not fall behind as consoles entered their fifth generation. The game starred a literal walking star with stretchy arms, and it could easily have been another Sonic. The star of Ristar is a literal star! What a star.

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