Rastan Saga II (Genesis) Playthrough
186A playthrough of Taito's 1991 action-platformer for the Sega Genesis, Rastan Saga II.
The follow-up to Taito's popular 1987 coin-op Rastan Saga hit North American arcades in late 1988 under the name Nastar Warrior. Two years later, it was ported to the Sega Genesis and released under its Japanese name, Rastan Saga II.
Serving as a prequel, Rastan Saga II depicts how the barbarian rose to power and ultimately became a living legend. An evil cult has taken over a holy temple, "Skyscraper," and they now use it as their base as they attempt to seize to control of Rastania. Playing as the yet unnamed hero, your job is to take the tower, save the people of the land, and claim your rightful place in history. (This sounds awfully similar to the plot of Conan the Barbarian, doesn't it?)
On paper, Rastan Saga II sounds like a sure-fire way to capitalize on the enormous success enjoyed by the original. The presentation has seen a major overhaul - the character sprites are massive and the backgrounds are much more colorful - while the gameplay retains much of what made the first game stand out. The combat revolves around carefully timed blocks and strikes, weapons and armor can be upgraded, and the level layouts emphasize hop-and-dodge platforming challenges.
But Rastan Saga II wasn't a hit, and all of those things that made it sound like a solid follow-up mattered naught in light of the execution. The graphics, though technically impressive for their time, are ugly. The thick lines and bold colors are completely at odds with the grim Conan-like tone the designers were striving for, and the stilted animation gives the controls a sense of clumsiness. The levels feel claustrophobic thanks to the size of the characters, and the timer and the collision detection are needlessly punitive. The game is slow, frustrating, and boring, and the music grates on my nerves.
It's a solid port, but like the arcade game it's based on, Rastan Saga II for the Sega Genesis doesn't deliver any of the appeal or fun that drew people to the first game. If you're looking for more quality action after playing Rastan on the Master System ( • Rastan (Master System) Playthrough ), you'd be better off skipping straight to the final game in the trilogy, the excellent Rastan Warrior: Rastan Saga Episode III.
Then again, if you're fresh off of Sword of Sodan and looking for something more playable, this might suffice.
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