80%Sega Mega Drive/Genesis

8

70%PlayStation Vita

Thats a very interesting retro game.
Great ideas in gameplay and some nice bosses…
Aesthetic is nice and music is OK.
Good fun game.
played in the retro genesis pac on PSVita.

80%Nintendo Switch

Pretty damn good! The controls can be a bit frustrating at times but the presentation and music are superb.

70%Sega Mega Drive/Genesis

Wonderful late mega drive platformer, similar in ways to classic sonic games but at a slower pace, beautiful graphics and spin design, especially the OST which is one of the best 90s OSTs of all time. Top-notch presentation is slightly let down by some unfair level design in places, especially with the poorly designed final boss, but overall a charming and fun experience

60%Emulated

Ristar is a strange but otherwise well designed platformer that makes great use of its simple mechanics. Resembling Sonic’s visuals almost to a fault, Ristar is not the generic clone it appears to be. Gameplay is slower compared to other platformers and the lack of a time limit encourages the player to explore the levels, though I felt the lack of branching paths is a bit of a missed opportunity. It’s also really short. The simple controls make this game really easy to pick up and play, but the level design and some puzzle elements really compliment the unique grabbing mechanic. Having been released just before the launch of the Sega Saturn, Ristar’s sales were poor, but it is clear the developers were comfortable with the Genesis hardware as the graphics are incredibly polished.

90%Sega Mega Drive/Genesis

I'm generally not a fan of games from this generation, but Ristar is a nice surprise even for me. It doesn't have most of the annoying niggles that I hate about 4th Generation games; namely unnecessary time limits and cryptic level design.

It does get pretty hard, even ruthlessly hard if you're attempting it on Super Mode, but it is nice and rewarding once you figure out your own way how to beat things. And the soundtrack is excellent and all the characters are very cute and expressive.

If even I like this game so much, that's a true testament to this game's quality.

BEST PART: Sonata

WORST PART: Automaton

90%Sega Mega Drive/Genesis

RetroScore - 9/10

60%Xbox 360

Probably would not have had the patience to beat this one without save states that the Ultimate Genesis Collection offers. Game is fairly straight forward, although each planet does seem to have 1 or 2 unique (one-off) things that you aren't explicitly told you can do. The bosses and sub-bosses are mostly fun and creative. The stages are 100% Sonic inspired. My biggest issue was the core mechanic of grabbing things with the stretchy arms. It felt less than 50/50 to me, especially when reaching at a diagonal. It made for a trial and error style of play, which would be fine if not for a Lives and Continue based system.

70%Sega Game Gear

Game Gear version:

+Innovative game design concept for a platformer.
+Possibly the best graphics on Game Gear.
+Very pleasant OST.
+Crazy level designs with lots of variety.
+Unique from the Genesis version.

-Sometimes stage design is a little too gimmicky.
-Enemy placement can be outright trollish at times.
-There's occasional slowdown.
-The final stage is a series of tedious boss fights.
-There's an unwinnable scenario situation with the first boss of the final stage.

90%PC

-review coming soon-

80%No Platform Specified

Hold off on spending your 800 points for just a minute, and go check out your library of last-generation titles. Ristar was included as an unlockable in 2002's Sonic Mega Collection for the GameCube, as well as 2004's Sonic Mega Collection Plus on the PS2 and Xbox. And just last month, it appeared again in the PS2's Sega Genesis Collection. No sense using your cash to buy a game you may already own.