Ristar

Ristar (Ristar the Shooting Star in Japan) is a platform game published by Sega and developed by Sonic Team for the Sega Mega Drive in 1995. Oh yeah Ristar, this one one of my favorites back in the 1990's. Playing as a star character go on an amazing adventure. Encounter fierce enemies and bosses along with fun unique levels that don't get boring! Created by SEGA and Sonic team back in the day, it does have many similarities to Sonic, Mostly with the nice graphics and smooth gameplay.

People say:

Ristar is a good game for the Game Gear. It's thankfully not Sonic, but looks just as good. Ristar adds a bit more technique to the genre. At times the action is hard on the eyes, but the colors and larger characters help it out a bit. It's a fun game to play, and remarkably it controls pretty good The audio is standard Game Gear fare, and is best left turned down. This is yet another decent GG cart.

This Game Gear version of Ristar loses practically nothing from its 16-Bit counterpart. The graphics and levels are, for the most part, identical. The amount of technique needed for each level is high, making Ristar more interactive than Sonic. Colorful and vibrant levels are a mainstay of GG games and Ristar doesn't hold any colors back. Another enjoyable Game Gear title.

Ristar for the GG follows in the footsteps of its 16-Bit counterpart as a portable that keeps the system above the rest. Like the Genesis version, this portable employs a new technique that enhances the game play above most platform games. As far as looks, the graphics are top-notch. GG music was never appealing, so I can't say much about it for this game. It's a good game!

I enjoyed the 16-Bit version even when everyone else was saying it's too similar to Sonic. Once again. I can't help but be taken in by the cute, little star and its bouncing action. The colors and sounds are good for a portable and the new rubber band arm techniques make it fun to play. Good game play and controls add to the enjoyment. This makes a great companion for some portable fun.

This is a sub-page of Ristar (Genesis).

• 7Stage Differences

Region Lockout

The Japanese version has a region lockout system. This was removed from the international versions, which are region free.

Intro

Story text was added to the intro sequence in the US and European versions. The Japanese version had no text at all.

This sprite of the Star Goddess, Oruto, only appears in the Japanese version's intro, and is used after the Elder's star reaches Ristar's planet. However, the Game Gear version still retains this character, regardless of the region.

Title

• The title screen was altered to remove 'the shooting star' in the US and European versions.

• Every gameplay demo in the Japanese version has a constant 'DEMO PLAY' graphic flashing at the center of the screen.

Graphic Changes

Ristar's default stance is more cheerful in the Japanese game.

His default idle animation (Used in Round 1, 7, and Bonus Areas) was also changed.

• In the Japanese version, it's a happier version of his boss stage animation. Occasionally, he'll either say 'Go!', 'Ehh', or giggle.
• In the localized game, his default idle animation is identical to his boss stage animation.

Most enemies with neutral expressions in the Japanese game are angrier in the international version. The enemies pictured here only had their eyes altered; Some of the other enemies have more elaborate changes.

This owl is angrier, but it also has a smaller mask in the international game. The shading on its tail and wings was also changed slightly.

The shading on the bagworm Orblets is brighter in the international sprite, and the string's palette was changed from blue to brown.

The flying squirrel in Round 1-2 was replaced with some kind of bat-thing.

The fire Orblets in Round 3-2 were given darker shading and a wider shine spot for the localized game.

This horn enemy, found in Round 4-1, has a second shine on its right side and some less sophisticated shading in the Japanese game.

The dancing birds of Round 4-2 have noticeable breasts in the Japanese game. The graphics were changed to disguise this; Now it just looks like a fold in the shirt.

Itamor's design was heavily altered:

• In the Japanese version, he's a cat monster. This is a reference to a Japanese idiom: A person who doesn't like hot/spicy food can be said to have a 'cat tongue', which is why throwing hot soup into his mouth hurts him.
• In the international game, he's a frost monster and lost his cat-like features. It still makes sense to defeat him with hot soup, since he's a frost monster and all. Despite this, Itamor still has a cat tail during the ending sequence, which was likely an oversight.

Additionally, the shading on the back of his tongue was changed, and the light on his stomach was shrunk.

The Japanese version has a Valdi System display in the Next Area screen. This was removed from the localized build, probably because some of the new planet names are too large to fit in the box.

Text Differences

• Every planet has a different name in the international versions.

• In the Japanese version, each name is based on an English word that describes the theme of the world. This word is then scrambled, and a letter is added, dropped, or replaced.
• In the localized versions, each name is a real, semi-obscure English word.

¹ The planet's name was romanized as 'Reatow' in earlier versions, making the connection clearer.
² This planet's name was romanized as 'Elycici' in earlier versions.

• In the Japanese game, each treasure has a name:

• 'Grab' in the control setup option is 'Catch' in the Japanese game.
• Beating a Bonus Area fast enough gives a continue. The message for this is 'CONTINUE UP‼' in the Japanese game, which was shortened to just 'CONTINUE‼'
• The text for beating a Bonus Area staff time or getting an exceptionally high Round score is 'GIVE UP' in the Japanese game and 'NO WAY‼' in the international game.
• The text after beating a Round is different:
  • In the Japanese game, the text is 'ROUND X CLEAR', where X is the Round number.
  • In the localized game, the text is 'Y CLEAR', where Y is the Round name.
• The two highest results in the post-credits Password screen were changed: 'WONDER‼' was changed to 'WONDERFUL', and 'MIRACLE‼' changed to 'GREAT JOB‼'
• The message in the credits after beating Super mode is 'YOU ARE RISTAR MASTER.' in the Japanese game, and 'YOU ARE THE MASTER‼' in the international game.

Passwords

The Japanese game has several additional passwords that were taken out of the localized version.

Stage Differences

Round 2

• At the beginning of Round 2, there is a hidden gem in the wall. In the Japanese version, hitting that spot in the wall won't raise the water right away, whereas the water will still rise in the international versions.

• The second half of Round 2 contains starfish-like objects that cling onto Ristar and slow him down. They don't appear in the Japanese version, although their graphics are used in the turbine sections.

Round 4

In the Japanese version, notes appear above a bird robot's head when they're about to slam down. These were removed from the international game.

Round 5

A short stage intro was added in the international build. Ristar rockets down a snowy slope before falling back..

..and reappearing with a set of skis. Ristar jumps off of the slope and the stage begins proper.

Round 6

Halfway through Round 6-1, Ristar enters a swimming section with invisible water. There's no explanation given in the Japanese version, so the international game adds a sprite for a set of anti-gravity shoes.

There's even a nice animation of Ristar admiring his fancy new footwear.

Ending

• Sega of America remembered to change Itamor's sprite in this picture, but left the tail in. Oopsy.
• Ristar has a five-fingered fist in the Japanese credits. However, the international credits have Ristar with a four-fingered fist. This changes seems awkward, given the next scene has Ristar with five fingers.

• What should be the brightest color in the Aurora Borealis is darker than the surrounding colors in the Japanese picture.
• The ending screens are starkly different.

In the Japanese version, Greedy, Inonis, and Uranim are stranded on an unknown planet. A contemplative Greedy stares at a distant flickering image of Ristar. In the international game, Ristar finally reunites with his father, the legendary hero. This ending was changed to fit with the new text in the game's intro. Also, Ristar has four fingers again, along with his father.

Miscellaneous

• Besides the additional SOA Staff credits, the international game also adds Ryoichi Hasegawa's name at the end of the Special Thanks section.
• The text '- RISTAR - THE SHOOTING STAR' was removed from the international credits.
• On Normal difficulty, the game starts with 9 continues in the Japanese version and with 5 continues in the international ones.
• The starting health for the Hard difficulty setting was changed from 1 to 2 in the international versions.