Rastan (ラスタン・サーガ ) Longplay on Original Hardware (Taito, Sega Master System, 1988)
5This game is pretty and lovely. It's an action platformer, with a focus on fighting bosses and conserving health around levels. I find the general atmosphere of the game really suggestive. It draws from sword and sorcery material, but manages to have a charm of its own. The original game is a Taito arcade, great stuff as far as the genre goes. This Master System port have some differences. I have played the MSX2 version as well, but on real hardware it has some issues, sound stuttering in particular. I will record it someday, mostly to preserve it. We really could use a remastered version of the original msx game, so msx modders be on high alert! It's a worthy mission.
The game has stiff controls, Castlevania style. Once you jumped, you are committed in a certain air time. There are 2 jumps: normal (short) and jump+ diagonal direction. The windows for certain passages, as you can see in level 5 and 6, are somewhat infuriating. It's easy to slip from a short to a long, due to the well known Master System controller diagonal unreliability (unless tape-modded). Be sure to clean your controller and fix them before attemptint to learn jumping patterns in this game!
My run has some good moves, but I derped very hard in the sixth level (during the stage and on the lovely big dragon boss as well). In order to mantain sanity, I used the code that gives me unlimited continue (not lives, but continues). I feel it does not remove the skill cap for finishing the game, it merely prevents frustration and speeds up the learning curve. If you want unlimited continues, start the game by pressing down left +a+b after the SEGA logo, up until the game starts. This is the way everyone played the game back in the day, and this is the way should be enjoyed now. 3 continues only, the game default, it's not really fair (even ninja gaiden or castlevania has unlimited continues, and Rastan on msx 2 got them as well...).
My ramblings aside, this game is a underrated gem on an underrated 8 bit lovely console. I'm obviously a NES guy, but I love my Master System.
As usual, this one (as all my playthroughs) use NO savestates. In my opinion, playing this way yields a footage more attuned to game and level design than save-state powered runs. When i feel like editing videos, i'll do a review, not a playthrough.
Original cartridge recorded on Master System Pal, with Retrotink2x and Avermedia Live Mini. Played on CRT with a original Master System controller.
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