Topic: Ristar the Shooting Star (MegaDrive)

_{[Why do I have the feeling that some games I'm not ready to share my thorough thoughts about?]}
Ristar [is it pronounced "wrist are" or "rye star"?] the Shooting Star is a 1995 platformer made by Sega's Sonic Team for the MegaDrive. It also happens to be one of the greatest platformers as well. The first time I had played this game was when I got Sega Genesis Collection for the PSP on Christmas of 2006. I liked the game from the very moment I first played it.
Greedy, the main antagonist, has attacked the planets and taken control. Many have cried and prayed for help. A star, appearing from a shrine, appears and goes to awaken Ristar, the rotund-shaped star, from his slumber. It is up to you (Ristar) to save everyone and defeat Greedy once and for all. You have to go through seven planets, each with a couple of level portions before facing the boss. All seven planets have a lot of variety when it comes to the graphics department. I also love the stage designs. The first planet has a lot of green foliage, to name an example. Another example is how the snow planet is really wintery and snowy. This game has some of the most dazzling parallax scrolling I've witnessed in a video game. In fact, I think this game has one of the best graphics from the MegeDrive. The animation is also very well-done, especially the idle animations your character displays during certain points. The gameplay is responsive and great. You can extend your arms, so you can grab hold of anything (whether it be enemies or rungs (of walls) or a sling pod). If you hold down the button while you're on a sling pod long enough, you'll soar through the skies or ricochet from the ground or the walls, which is awesome. This game also has an impressive, well-composed soundtrack. It's very catchy and atmospheric, especially during the water, music and snow planets (which are some of my favorite songs). I also like the sound effects, they're nice. There are even a few voice sample in the game (the title and ending portion comes to mind), and it sounds decent. The bosses are creative, and this game has a lot of character and personality. This game gradually gets more challenging, and I love a good challenge. In fact, Greedy, the final boss, is quite challenging, but he can be easy to beat once the pattern is solved. This game has two difficulty modes: Normal, and Hard. What's different about Hard is that you now have two health stars instead of four, which may make it a little challenging. I'm one of those gamers that likes to discover as many secrets in games as possible, and this game has a lot secrets. If a secret sling pod is found, you'll be transferred to a Bonus Room where you could get a chance to grab a treasure before the sixty seconds run out. There are more than one secret sling pods, and they are fun to find.
I like this game. It's one of my favorites from the MegaDrive, and a good, underrated platformer. It's a lot of fun.
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Peace!

I really liked Ristar. Took a while to get used to the mechanics, but once ya did, it was a blast. Sonic Team was at their finest at that time, IMO. That and NiGHTS into Dreams make me really wish they would make more than just Sonic games.

I guess I felt a little too guilty to make a thoughtbox of this game months ago.
Ristar was my very first avatar. I played through this game again recently, and I still think it's good.

I'm aware of the existence of the Game Gear port of Ristar, which I haven't played. The MegaDrive is one of the best 16-bit consoles, along with SNES.

This game also has one of the most rewarding ending scenarios plus songs ever in a game. As does Chrono Trigger with its numerous amount of endings.

Since I have no idea how Ristar is pronounced, I've always pronounced it "wrist are". But I'm starting to wonder if it's pronounced "rye star".

Its like 32X game... to many colors at once..........

I thought Ristar displayed an amazing amount of color palettes. I also like the color-layering effects during some portions of the game.

I don't know but the number of colors probably its more than 64 on this game ,have i right?

It's probably the most colorful game on the console. I've never seen greener foliage than in that of Ristar (although Hook had a nice amount of green).

I hate that game so much. Nah, not really, its great and an excellent addition to Sonic Mega collection.

Its like sonic failure clone Yes its more colofur game ever in mega drive (after the sonic cd)

I used to feel guilty to be associated with Ristar being my first avatar ('cause I felt I made a bad first impression when I joined).
Now, I feel not guilty (I hope).

I can see why it's on Sonic Mega Collection. Very, VERY Sonic-y.

I knew prior to getting Sega Genesis Collection on Christmas '06 that Ristar MD was an unlockable in Sonic Mega Collection (which I've had since the summer of '03). But I couldn't be able to unlock it. Someday I will in that compilation.

Ristar is one of Sonic Team's greatest treasures.

Quite, its a Sonic Team game. Unlocking it on Mega Collection is a pain, but worth it if you've only got Nintendo consoles.
Glad you feel you can bring him back StarBoy and no longer feel guilty! I recall you said you were born in '91 - I aint actually 42 by the way, that's just a geeky reference to The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy...
I always say 'rye-star' btw.

_{I'm a nice guy. I guess I chose Ristar to be my first avatar 'cause I liked the character. Still do. In a way, he's a type of boy star, and I suppose he matched my username (in a way). When I joined this website, it was an unforgettable experience. When I typed a comment for the first time, I was amazed that my actual words were on a website. I guess I was enthusiastic, 'cause the experience was all new to me. At the time, I had no idea of forum rules (regarding threamaking). Now I do. This was the very first (and only) website I participated in.}

I'm sorry, I went offtopic. A couple days ago, I found some very interesting research. Remembering what I looked up about the Western and Japanese versions were different, I decided to browse on Wikipedia again, and saw the differences. But then, I clicked on a link, Ristar Cluster, and I was surprised to see how different it was (visually).
From the Info page on Sega Genesis Collection, it said that Ristar originally was gonna be a rabbit that attacks with his ears before being turned into a star that extends his arms. There's even a rabbit enemy in the first stage that attacks with his ears.
I also had looked up on the site that this game was originally gonna be called Feel, and I found it very interesting.
I also looked up that Ristar made cameo appearances in Shenmue and Segagaga.
I still like the game so much. I don't know if it was necessary to say all that [ ], but I felt like sharing what I had found out.

Its fantastic game you have right starboy,is the big answer to snes about color palette capabilities of megadrive

I sometimes wonder how this game would've looked like on the SNES. But, a starboy can dream.

I first tried it out when I unlocked it in Sonic Mega Collection and found it to be a great game. Wouldn't it be awesome if Ristar is in Sonic and Sega All-Star Racing?

Yes, it would, Bulbasaur.
What's funny is that, in one of the interviews in Sega Genesis Collection, one of the poeple that worked on Ristar considered a sequel for it, which unfortunately was not to be. I'll bet if a sequel existed, it would've been a good one.

I forgot to mention this earlier, but I like how after each boss is defeated, and when you launch yourself between planets, there's an encouraging rank depending on how you did on each stage; like "Unbelievable!!!!" or "Fantastic!!!!".

I was impressed when I heard the Stage Clear song for the first time.