Difference between revisions of "Ristar"

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Revision as of 21:08, 8 December 2013

n/a

Ristar final.PNG

Ristar
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear, Virtual Console, Steam
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Genre: Action

















Release Date RRP Code
CERO
Missing Parameter!

Ristar, released as Ristar: the shooting star (リスター・ザ・シューティングスター) in Japan, is a platform game developed by Sonic Team released for the Sega Mega Drive and the Sega Game Gear. It was one of the last Mega Drive games published and therefore never got much exposure compared to similar platform games released for the same consoles.

It was re-released in 2002 (JP, NA) / 2003 (EU) as part of the Sonic Mega Collection on the Nintendo GameCube and in 2004 (JP, NA) / 2005 (EU) as part of the Sonic Mega Collection Plus on the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox. To play Ristar in the GC edition, you must play Sonic 3 and Knuckles, Flicky, Blue Sphere, and Knuckles in Sonic 2 30 times each; in the PS2/Xbox edition, you must play them 20 times each.

Storyline

In Ristar, we follow the story of a far away solar system, Valdi, that was corrupted by an evil tyrant called Greedy. Greedy forced the leaders of each of the seven planets the system is composed of to work for him, enslaved the people and kidnapped Ristar's father. Desperate, they make a plea for help. It is answered by Ristar, a tiny humanoid yellow star with long, elastic arms. To free the population and liberate his father, Ristar must fight Greedy's minions throughout every planet, restore the leaders and eventually fight Greedy himself.

Gameplay

Ristar, unlike Sonic, can't look up nor down and can only jump about his own height (A or C). Ristar's main ability, then, are his arms. To kill enemies, you must grab them with Ristar's stretchy arms with B and after releasing B Ristar will headbutt the enemy. This is the only way to eliminate enemies as jumping on them will not work. Ristar's arms can also be used to ride spinners (these are used to move from one location to another without having to walk), climb walls, swing across poles and even find bonuses (health points, 1UPs, etc.) by stretching them into tiny breaches in walls. (You may also find them by headbutting certain sections of certain walls.)

Ristar is very different from Sonic in one aspect, however, and that is Ristar's ability to explore worlds underwater without needing to breathe. He can also swim underwater with ease.

The game has a simple health system: the player starts with 4 or 2 stars (depending on the difficulty selected), the max number of stars is 4. Every time you're hit, you lose one star. There are situations where you'll lose all your health, but these are rare. You may replenish health by getting the star pickups: a yellow star pickup will provide you with 1 star and a blue star pickup 4 stars. Ristar also has a very basic life/continue system: once you lose all of your lives, you'll be taken to a continue screen where you can choose to keep going with the game or give up. You may earn more continues by ending the special stages quickly and more lives by getting the tiny Ristar doll pickup. (Every 30,000 points you earn are also worth 1UP.)

Earning points comes mainly from toppling enemies (generally gives you 100 points) and yellow gems which are worth between 100 and 1000 points, depending on how hard they are to reach.

Levels

Template:Sections

Cheat Codes

Ristar allows you to input codes in the options menu, which can result in different styles of play, among other things. If a code is not 6 letters long like SUPER, then any character can be added after the password and it will still work. SUPERB is a very common example.

Code What happens? JP Only?
MUSEUM Boss Rush mode. No
MIEMIE Hidden items' grab points are shown with a blue star. No
MASTER Text that hints towards a sequel is shown. Yes
MAGURO Onchi Music mode and credits music in sound test. No
MACCHA Mentions Miyake color. The final boss stage palette changes to a golden yellow. Yes
ILOVEU Stage select. No
HETAP Reverses the High Score in Demo Mode. It becomes a Worst Score of 9,999,900 points. No
FEEL ILOVEU, MIEMIE and CANDY active all at once. No
DOFEEL Time Attack mode. No
CANDY Invincibility. Yes
AGES Copyright info is displayed. No
AAAAAA No Continue limit. Yes
STAR A shooting star goes across the background. Yes
SUPER Super Hard mode. No
VALDI Shows the Solar System. Yes
XXXXXX Clears/deactivates all current passwords. No

JP version secrets

JP version ending
JP version intro

The JP version of Ristar was not only released with a different title but with secret characters, among other things. One of the most well-known secrets was the intro: you can see a huge green star being—supposedly Ristar's father/mother just before Ristar is awakened by the plea of help from the populace. Actually, the green being is known as Oruto, who has a cluster of stars. She selected Ristar to fight Greedy. The ending was also different since you don't see Ristar running to his father's arms.

Connections with Sonic

Ristar's gameplay alone has garnered it lots of comparisons to the early Sonic games. The most significant link between Ristar and Sonic is the fact that Ristar was built on the Sonic 1 engine, including the level engine and music engine. Another strong link to Sonic was the prototype design of Ristar, named Feel — the character had a striking resemblance to Sonic, being a spherical yellow and black "rabbit," and even had identical shoes. Ristar also performed cameos along with other Sega characters in Shenmue, Segagaga and Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing.

Production Credits

Mega Drive Version

- Staff -
Game Planner: Akira Nishino, Takeshi Niimura
Chief Designer: Takumi Miyake
Character Designer: Yuji Uekawa
Planet Designers: Koki Mogi, Kazuyuki Iwasawa, Mikiharu Ooiwa
Character Voice: Eriko Hanada
Music Composer: Tomoko Sasaki
Sound Programmers: Hiroshi Kubota, Junya Kozakai
Boss Programmer: Hiromasa Kaneko
Player Programmer: Shigeru Yoshida
Enemy Programmer: Naomi Hirai
Effect Programmer: Takuya Matsumoto
Project Director: Atsuhiko Nakamura
Art Director: Yukio Sato
Manual Director: Hiroyuki Mitsui
Manual Designer: Yukiko Yahagi
Manual Writer: Chieko Nakamura
Test Players: Norihiro Sekine, Haruyuki Hashimoto, Hideki Yokaichiya
Special Thanks to: Osamu Hori, Kenji Morita, Naofumi Hataya, Masashi Ogata, Naoko Hamada, Toshiko Arisaka, Rica Terajima, Ryoichi Hasegawa
Producers: Hiroshi Aso, Makoto Oshitani, Yoji Ishii, Minoru Kanari

- SOA Staff -
Producer: Rhonda Van
Assistant Producer: Erik Wahlberg
Marketing Product Manager: Pamela Kelly
Lead Tester: Marc Dawson
Assistant Lead Tester: Lance Nelson
Presented by: Sega Enterprises, Ltd.

Notes: Osamu Hori may have either been the lead programmer or his code on Honoo no Toukyuuji: Dodge Danpei was used as a basis for Ristar's (Pyramid Magic needs to be checked).

Game Gear Version

Game Planner: Nencoo Gutoku
System Programmer: Alice Kagamino
Ristar Programmer: Mika Muraoka
Boss Programmer: Haruo Nakajima
Enemy Programmer: Ezachan
Effect Programmer: Masami Tezuka
Demo Programmer: Hanamogera.D
Character Designer: Francis.N, Pixy Monty
Planet Designer: Mauo.S, General Kusumi
Music Composer: LKJ.Chikayo, Tomoko Sasaki
Sound Programmer: Kazune Hiiragi
Project Director: Capt.Jinguji
Art Director: Nencoo Gutoku
Lead Tester: Matt Underwood
Assistant Lead Testers: Carey Camacho, David Dodge
Special Thanks to: Nag, Bryan.M, Wadachi, Tarachan, Chikyuchan, Tamachan, Nana Kusunoki, Ristar MD Staff and Genesis Staff
Producer: Rhonda Van
Assistant Producer: Erik Wahlberg
Marketing: Chrissy Huneke Kremer
Presented by: ©Sega 1995

Physical Scans

Mega Drive

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
89 №39, p92/93
93
79
89
92
84
90 №50, p68/69/70
73
74 №64
90 №41, p40/41
Sega Mega Drive
85
Based on
10 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
50
[1]
Consoles + (FR)
89
[2]
Cool Gamer (RU)
70
[3]
Computer & Video Games (UK)
83
[4]
Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) NTSC-U
67
[5]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
73
[6]
GameFan (US) NTSC-U
93
[7]
Game Players (US) NTSC-U
79
[8]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
80
[9]
GamesMaster (UK) PAL
73
[10]
Games World: The Magazine (UK) PAL
83
[11]
Game Informer (US) NTSC-U
81
[12]
Joypad (FR) PAL
85
[13]
MAN!AC (DE) PAL
81
[14]
Mega (UK) PAL
82
[15]
Mega Force (FR) PAL
92
[16]
Mega Fun (DE) PAL
84
[17]
Mean Machines Sega (UK)
84
[18]
Next Generation (US) NTSC-U
50
[19]
Player One (FR)
90
[20]
Play Time (DE)
83
[21]
Power Up! (UK)
84
[22]
Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J
69
[23]
Sega Magazine (UK) PAL
87
[24]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
74
[25]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
90
[26]
Sega Force (SE)
73
[27]
Sega Mega Drive Review (RU)
72
[28]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
75
[29]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
83
[30]
Sonic the Comic (UK) PAL
86
[31]
Super Juegos (ES)
93
[32]
Todo Sega (ES)
92
[33]
Top Consoles (FR)
65
[34]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
83
[35]
Última Generación (ES)
72
[36]
Video Games (DE) PAL
72
[37]
VideoGames (US)
80
[38]
Sega Mega Drive
79
Based on
38 reviews

Ristar

Mega Drive, US
Ristar-us-box.jpg
Cover
Ristar-us-cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, EU
Ristar-eu-box.jpg
Cover
Ristar-eu-cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, JP
Ristar-jp-box.jpg
Cover
Ristar md jp manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, BR
Ristar MD BR Box.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, KR

Game Gear

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
87 №40, p106
76
81
82 №29, p86
90 №50, p102
87 №65, p65
81 №41, p49
Sega Game Gear
83
Based on
7 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
Sega Game Gear
N/A
Based on
0 reviews

Ristar

Game Gear, US
Ristar gg us box.jpg
Cover
Ristar gg us cart.jpg
Cart
Game Gear, EU
Ristar GG EU Box Back.jpgNospine.pngRistar GG EU Box Front.jpg
Cover
Game Gear, JP
Ristar GG JP Box Back.jpgNospine-small.pngRistar gg jp box.jpg
Cover

External Links

  • 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 189
  • Consoles +, "Janvier 1995" (FR; 199x-xx-xx), page 92
  • Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 170
  • Computer & Video Games, "February 1995" (UK; 1995-01-15), page 66
  • Electronic Games (1992-1995), "May 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 72
  • Famitsu, "1995-02-24" (JP; 1995-02-10), page 1
  • GameFan, "Volume 3, Issue 2: February 1995" (US; 1995-xx-xx), page 22
  • Game Players, "Vol. 8 No. 2 February 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 52
  • GamePro, "February 1995" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 38
  • GamesMaster (UK) "Series 4, episode 15" (1994-12-27, 24:00) (+8:14)
  • Games World: The Magazine, "March 1995" (UK; 1995-01-26), page 12
  • Game Informer, "January 1995" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 8
  • Joypad, "Février 1995" (FR; 1995-0x-xx), page 106
  • MAN!AC, "03/95" (DE; 1995-02-08), page 68
  • Mega, "January 1995" (UK; 1994-12-30), page 32
  • Mega Force, "Février 1995" (FR; 1995-0x-xx), page 60
  • Mega Fun, "03/95" (DE; 1995-02-22), page 76
  • Mean Machines Sega, "February 1995" (UK; 1994-12-30), page 60
  • Next Generation, "March 1995" (US; 1995-02-21), page 103
  • Player One, "Février 1995" (FR; 1995-0x-xx), page 68
  • Play Time, "3/95" (DE; 1995-02-08), page 104
  • Power Up!, "Saturday, February 18, 1995" (UK; 1995-02-18), page 1
  • Saturn Fan, "1995 May" (JP; 1995-04-07), page 47
  • Sega Magazine, "January 1995" (UK; 1994-12-15), page 88
  • Sega Power, "March 1995" (UK; 1995-01-19), page 50
  • Sega Pro, "February 1995" (UK; 1994-12-29), page 40
  • Sega Force, "3/95" (SE; 1995-06-20), page 12
  • Sega Mega Drive Review, "2" (RU; 1996-01-03), page 109
  • Sega Saturn Magazine, "March 1995" (JP; 1995-02-08), page 130
  • Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85
  • Sonic the Comic, "3rd March 1995" (UK; 1995-02-18), page 11
  • Super Juegos, "Enero 1995" (ES; 199x-xx-xx), page 78
  • Todo Sega, "Febrero 1995" (ES; 1995-0x-xx), page 28
  • Top Consoles, "Mai 1995" (FR; 1995-0x-xx), page 132
  • Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 144
  • Última Generación, "Abril 1995" (ES; 1995-0x-xx), page 92
  • Video Games, "3/95" (DE; 1995-02-23), page 95
  • VideoGames, "March 1995" (US; 1995-02-xx), page 67