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Together Retro Game Club: Ristar

racketboy — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 23:01:50 +0000

Presented by: Fastbilly1, Marurun, & Racketboy
New To Together Retro? Check out the introduction to the club

Welcome to the second entry in the Together Retro Game Club. After the challenge of the first two club installments of Defender and Kid Icarus, we thought we would have something a bit more lighthearted but still full of fun. And now that we are progressing to the 16-bit era, we thought that Ristar would be a worth candidate that not everyone has played.

Ristar also ended up being one of the four choices in the recent forum poll to decide this installment’s fate. The Sega favoritism showed its dominance as Ristar and Toe Jam & Earl battled it out for the top spot. After a long battle, Ristar reigned supreme. (the others may be revisited later on)

About The Game

Ristar is a bit of an anomaly of a Genesis/Mega Drive title. Released near the end of the systems life in 1995, the concept of the game was one considered for what would become Sonic the Hedgehog( see quote from Yuji Naka). Even though the concept was revisited and Ristar received his own game, this shooting star was unfortunately overshadowed by the Sega Saturn and its platformers like Clockwork Knight and Astal (granted, neither of those series went anywhere either)

Taking place in the Valdi galaxy, Ristar must stop the evil Greedy’s minons who have kidnapped the seven planets leaders, including Ristar’s father. Running with the cliché, save the galaxy plot, as opposed to the simple “save the planet” or “save the girl” storys that were cliché at the time, Ristar delivers a fun and mind melting romp through varied locales.

Unlike the eponymous plumber of platformers, Ristar does not stomp his enemies to death. Instead the shooting star reaches out with his hands and grabs a hold of his enemies, then either throws them or headbutts them to kingdom come. This mechanic leads to some very interesting stages and puzzles. Ristar can grab onto many objects and enemies throughout each stage, some more obvious than others, so there are some very cleverly hidden special areas.

As Ristar, you must use your arms as your weapons, grabbing onto whatever you can — to destroy things, to advance to new places, to get cool secrets. You can grab onto flying enemies, who will bring you to previously unreachable places. You can nimbly swing from poles and branches, among other things, without your feet ever touching the ground for moments at a time. Needless to say, Ristar will keep you fascinated for quite a while if you give it a chance.

Difficulty is roughly standard for a platformer of the time. Starting with some mind numbingly easy stages, it ramps up to some dastardly factory complexes and sound puzzles that can seem impossible at first. However with a few tries most gamers should fly through 90% of the game in a couple hours. You will notice that even though you can take up to five hits, the bosses can be troublesome (especially Greedy). All seven of them are as varied as their worlds and make for a great way to end out each set of stages.

Ristar is pretty and fun, what more could you really want?

Recommended Ports

Genesis original is obviously the choice most people will go for (the Japanese and US versions do have several differences. However there are other options on a variety of modern platforms. Ristar been released in several compilations (Sonic Mega Collection, Sega Genesis collection) and is available on the Wii Virtual Console.

Keep in mind that on the Sega Mega Collections, Ristar needs to be unlocked to be played. So the Sega Genesis Collection is ideal for PS2 owners. (This completion will come in handy for future Together Retro installments as well)

Genesis	PS2	PS2	PSP

Gamecube	XBox	Wii VC

Emulation for Ristar

If you don’t have an Sega Genesis/Megadrive or the compilations Ristar is available on, emulation is are very viable option. Genesis emulators are becoming quite common for most devices made in the last five years or so. Most emulators will also let you use “save states” that will allow you to save your spot in the game. If you need assistance setting up any emulator, please post your question in the Emulation section of the forum

How To Play / Controls

Like most platformers, the controls in Ristar are quite straightforward. The only real thing that you have to get use to is the reaching/grabbing mechanic. (Check out full Ristar Manual for the PAL release)

Directional Pad – Move (utilizes all 8 ways)
A – Jump
B – Reach

Together Retro Discussion

Instead of posting in the comments section of the blog, we will be using the forum for all of our discussion in order to keep things more organized. So play Ristar and talk to us about your thoughts and play experiences in the forums. We want to know your tactics, your strategies, your successes and your failures.

Additional Resources

Together Retro Game Club: Kid Icarus

racketboy — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 21:18:05 +0000

Presented by: Fastbilly1, Marurun, & Racketboy
New To Together Retro? Check out the introduction to the club

Welcome to the second entry in the Together Retro Game Club. For our first entry we featured the arcade hit Defender, one of the most challenging arcade titles around. We know we hit hard but we’re not quite ready to grant mercy just yet. This time around we’re offering up a much-neglected, oft-overlooked Nintendo classic, Kid Icarus.

History

Kid Icarus is the paternal twin of Metroid. Built on the same engine and released the same year on FDS floppy it was overtaken by Metroid in popularity and now, many years later, you can see what that popularity bought. Metroid has numerous sequels and updates while poor Kid Icarus has only a Gameboy follow-up and Game Boy Advance and Virtual Console rereleases.
Like Metroid, Kid Icarus allowed 3 saved games and used the extra FDS FM synth sound functions. When it was brought to the US it was switched to a password system and the music and sound effects were altered to fit the standard capabilities of the US NES. Unchanged is the challenge level. Harder than Metroid but easier than Defender, Kid Icarus is like many games of the early NES generation in that it is tough as nails.

Kid Icarus has some great atmosphere and an interesting theme inter-twined with elements of mythology. In Japan the game is called Hikari Shinwa: Parutena no Kagami, or in English, Legend of Light: The Mirror of Palutena, but the English name is almost more mood appropriate given the periodic Greek myth references. You, Pit the angel, set out to defeat Medusa to save the goddess Palutena.
Depending on the level the play area may scroll up (but never down, so don’t drop off the bottom of the screen and die), sideways, or room to room. As you extend your life, gain new equipment, and buy items you become better able to conquer what the game throws at you. And it’ll take practice and memorization just to make it past the first couple levels. But oh is victory sweet. There are multiple endings to boot, but we’ll leave that for you to figure out.

Recommended Ports

Now, Kid Icarus is actually pretty easy to get your hands on if you have a Game Boy Advance or a Wii, and it’s not exactly rare on the NES. This is a game worth owning and the price is pretty reasonable no matter what your path. As far as I know, the GBA version was only released in Japan, but GBA games are region-free and of course, you can emulate it. For those of you who have a Wii, Kid Icarus is also available as an inexpensive download on the Virtual Console service.

NES	GBA	Wii VC

Emulation for Kid Icarus

If you don’t have an NES, emulation is are very viable option. NES emulators are a dime a dozen and available for just about any platform. Most emulators will also let you use “save states” that will allow you to save your spot in the game instead of depending on the password system built into the game.

Another bonus for emulator users is that if you use the right emulator you can play the original Japanese Famicom Disk System version for the extra FM syth sounds. In addition to your normal Windows/Mac/Linux emulators, below are some NES emulation options. If you need assistance setting up any emulator, please post your question in the Emulation section of the forum

How To Play / Controls

The controls in Kid Icarus are pretty straightforward, but Pit’s jumping can take a little getting used to. You press A to jump and B to shoot arrows. You hold up to aim up or climb ladders. As expected, the directional buttons move Pit around the stages. (Check out full Kid Icarus Manual)

Left/Right: Run left/right
Up: Climb up, aim weapon up
Down: Duck, Climb down
A Button: Jump
B Button: Use weapon
Start Button: Switch to sub-screen
Select Button: Select items from sub-screen

Together Retro Goals & Discussion

Instead of posting in the comments section of the blog, we will be using the forum for all of our discussion in order to keep things more organized. So play Kid Icarus and talk to us about your thoughts and play experiences in the forums. We want to know your tactics, your strategies, your successes and your failures. We want to know how you feel about being squawked at by the grim reaper while his little mini-mes try to take you out, how you showed Mr. Reaper who’s boss. Heck, if you want you can even rant about how much cooler the Eggplant Wizard is in the game than in the old Captain N cartoon.

Additional Resources

Sega Master System/Game Gear Games Coming To Virtual Console

racketboy — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 15:42:01 +0000

8-Bit Sega fans may have another way to enjoy their classics. Master System and Game Gear games will be availible on the Nintendo Wii’s Japanese Virtual Console service in February and should also be coming to the rest of the planet soon after. Personally, I find it interesting that the Game Gear actually beat the Gameboy to the Virtual Console as the first portable system on the service, but I suppose that is due to the fact that the Game Gear hardware is essentially the same as the Master System.

Pricing for the games will be 500 points ($5 USD) or 600 points for licensed games. This pricing puts it on the same level as the NES, but it will be interesting to see how sales compare as the SMS/GG library is significantly smaller and not nearly as popular.

Personally, I can only think of a small handful of titles that I would pay $5 for a digital copy of , primarily Phantasy Star, Golden Axe Warrior, and Defenders of Oasis. (I’d pay more for the original, physical copies, and many Master System games are already cheap) But perhaps those that grew up with the Master System or Game Gear would have more nostolgic favortites that they would pick up.

The three import Shining Force Gaiden games would be interesting if translated to English, but I can’t help but wonder if the upgraded and localized versions would later show up in the form of Sega CD downloads via Shining Force CD (which would probably also be cheaper than three separate Game Gear downloads).

I guess I shouldn’t complain too much as an easy and legal way to play classic games on modern hardware should be commended. Keep it up Sega — I look forward to seeing 32X and Sega CD on the Virtual Console soon!

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Top-Notch Sega Genesis Games Finally Coming to the Virtual Console

racketboy — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 18:21:55 +0000

Over the last few months I’ve been complaining about the lack of interesting titles on the Wii’s Virtual Console — at least to the point of making them worth paying for them again. Well, for Sega fans, this drought may be coming to an end soon. OFLC has updated its website with some more Virtual Console games made up of these Sega Genesis/Megadrive games:

A release date is not yet known for any of these titles, but they are some of the Genny’s best games and are worth waiting just a little while more.

Neo-Geo Gaming Coming To Wii Virtual Console

racketboy — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 15:46:00 +0000

Even though, it is impressive the the Wii’s Virtual Console supports every Nintendo console in addition to the Sega Genesis/Megadrive and the TurboGrafx-16, you can’t help but admit that the Virtual Console hasn’t quite lived up to its hype just yet.

As I had suspected in the past, the Neo-Geo library will soon be added to the lineup to add a bit more punch. This was confirmed just recently on Nintendo’s Japanese site. According to Nintendo, support for SNK’s 2D powerhouse will make its way to the Wii Virtual Console over the course of 2007 and beyond. So far, this is only an official announcement for Japan — commitments for other countries have not been solidified quite yet. No game titles have been announced yet either.

One of the most interesting things about having the Neo-Geo library on the Wii is that, once much of the library is available, it will be the first time many of the games will be able to be legally purchased without paying a hefty chunk of change. (However, I’m surprised the Nintendo, Microsoft, and it’s partners haven’t published more rare and expensive games on the Virtual Console and XBox Live Arcade already.)

Also, maybe after the Neo-Geo support rolls out, we will see some good wireless Arcade sticks for the Wii. Having some of SNK’s solid fighters teamed with a wireless joystick would be a killer app for me. (Capcom is free to jump on the bandwagon with arcade-perfect ports as well)

Visual Comparison: NES, Virtual Console, and NES Clones

racketboy — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 21:22:00 +0000

Within the last year, the options for playing classic Nintendo games has multiplied via the Wii’s Virtual Console and a small handful of NES clones now available.

While all the options sound very nice on paper, Ben Kuchera from Ars Technica’s Opposable Thumbs has taken the initiative to actually try all the different retro Nintendo solutions on the same HDTV and see which ones hold up best. As Ben explains it,

“I tested an original NES, the Generation NEX system, the FC Twin, and lastly the Wii Virtual Console version of Super Mario Bros. Each system is hooked up to my HDTV via composite cables except for the Wii, which uses component. I took a picture with each system at three different places in the first level…

I’m convinced that tracking down a working NES is worth the hassle and cost. It just gives the colors and image a level of quality that the clones can’t meet. These sprites are so simple, you really pay attention to things like color composition and design; when the Generation NEX muddies the image so badly, you’re doing yourself a disservice by playing the games so compromised. The FC Twin does a very good job, and since it looks and plays SNES games pretty decently for the price, it may be a good investment (I might have been too hard on it in my original review). I’m going to add a link to that review post so people can see the followup. I know the Virtual Console pictures are unfair—it’s a $250 system hooked up through component—but if you have the means, this is certainly the way to go. It makes your NES games look beautiful, and that may help me justify the cost of buying the games again.”

You can read Ben’s complete comparison for more detail and screenshots in addition to reading his full review of the FC Twin NES/SNES Combo clone that I mentioned the other day.

As one might expect, the cheap NES clones just don’t seem to have what it takes to match a genuine Nintendo piece of hardware.

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Nintendo, NES, SNES