Welcome to another edition of For What it’s Worth where bargain titles are examined to see if they really are worth your bottom dollar. Tonight we take another look back at gaming’s past with a vintage Genesis title that can be found on numerous Sega related collections, as well as the Wii Virtual Console. Created by the developers of the infamous Sonic Team, this is Ristar.

Ristar was released in 1995 during the dying days of the Genesis when the war between Sony and Nintendo was just about to get kick off with the Nintendo 64 and the PlayStation and of course Sega was ready to move with the Sega Saturn. With this in mind it is quite easy to understand way this game didn’t exactly set the world on fire but it has now been given new life thanks to the magic of the Internet and retrospective collections.

Some would call this a cult classic, others would say they haven’t heard of it. The question is, is it worth hearing about?

Story: When an evil force named Greedy threatens the Vladi System, the son of the lengendary hero is called upon to save the day after hearing the prayers of the people of the planet Neer before Greedy had taken over their minds. This hero is Ristar. He must save the Vladi System as well as resuce his kidnapped father from Greedy's clutches.That is pretty much it. You travel from planet to planet, defeating each boss along the way. Not much in terms of story but this is Genesis era Sonic Team so you would come to expect as much. Actually the game really is almost like a Sonic game considering how each world has three acts or (rounds in this case) before the boss fight. I guess Sonic Team knew they already had a winning formula and didn’t want to deviate to fair from it.

Graphics & Design: It is possibly one of the most visually pleasing games to ever grace the Sega Genesis and likely pushed the system to its graphical limits. All of the character’s in Ristar’s universe look wonderfully cartoony and are each unique and diverse in their own ways. The layout of each level is wondrously designed to match the theme of each planet. From a vibrant Forrest filled with gigantic trees and flourishing plant life, to wacky land where there are musical instruments as far as the eye can see, you can tell that Sonic Team really put a lot of time into making each of the seven landscapes stand out. Ristar himself also has some really clever and to be honest, cute subtle touches to him. These subtle touches are his animations. When he stands still for a few seconds, Ristar begins to move around but his actions differ depending on which level he is in. Sometimes he will do a little dance, in the fire world he will sit down and roast a marshmellow, in the snow world he'll build a snowman and etc. It is the little things that make Ristar really stand out from other titles on the Genesis.

Sound: Not exactly the best soundtrack and it isn’t exactly in the same quality of the Sonic games of the day but there are a few gems hidden in the mix.
 

Gameplay: In terms of gameplay, there isn’t really a whole lot to say other than it is a standard platformer but with a few unique elements mixed in to make it interesting. Like for instance, the ability to send enemies flying off the screen with your face! I got to admit that is pretty damn cool. How does he do it? Well Ristar has super extending arms, which he can use to grab enemies. Once he does this, you can have him launch himself at his enemy like sling shot and deliver a fatal headbutt. His ability to extend his arms will come in quite handy for other purposes like swimming (he can use this ability in order to gain speed while he’s under water) climbing, and swinging from one place to another for travel and avoiding obstacles. The game may seem pretty easy at first but it will get plenty harder as you progress but don’t worry, the controls work very well and you earn a good number of continues. And you can always put it on an easier difficulty or use a cheat code to skip the trickery levels. Either way, it offers a fair challenge and it even offers a helping hand if you so chose. If I had but one complaint I would say that it can feel rather slow at times and it wouldn’t have hurt things if the gameplay had a faster pace to it, after all it was developed by Sonic Team but for a first outing, the gameplay mechanics were really good.

Extra Features: Other than a password function that can be used for activating cheat codes, none.

Replay Value: It is a fun game that has some great little and subtle touches and some challenging gameplay, so I would say that it is one of those games that you would come back to every now and again.

Over All Value: Download Price: 800 Wii Points (Virtual Console)
                           What it's Worth: $15  
 

This is on of the most original games to hit the Sega Genesis but unfortuantely it was a victim of poor timing and was ultimately lost in the shuffle. But with its recent exposure thanks to various Sega collections hitting home consoles and being available via download on the Virtual Console, maybe Sega will bring back this brave little star child for another round. Here's hoping.

Next on the Docket: Super Street Fighter IV