Game:

Ristar (1995)

Category:

Discussion

Duration: 2:44:57

37 views

0

Originally Recorded/Aired on December 4th, 2021

We're into the last month of 2021 and #SuperOldGameSaturday is ending the first full year of the show right, starting with a deeply underrated game that's deserving of more attention, and I should know, because I didn't give it the time of day I should have when it came out back in 1995. Ristar came from Sonic Team near the end of the life of the Sega Genesis and Game Gear and, in its 16-bit incarnation, it's a beautiful, polished, clever, fun and at times, very hard platforming gem with great music by Tomoko Sasaki (as well as great remixes of it from Jahn Davis here: https://soundcloud.com/jahn-davis/ring-rink-planet-freon-round-5-1-remix-ristar-the-shooting-star-ost) and a soul that, to me, all of Sega's first party efforts on this system that year were lacking. So, of course, we gave the game a full play as I explained why I love it so much and as the chat shared their experiences this this and their insights about its difficulty, its artistry and even how it's kind of a religious experience with its main character being a possible parallel to Jesus Christ and the Star of David (and I thank ElecVerse for being astute to that and adding such a unique deep-dive into the game that way). However, since I don't own a physical copy of this game, we used the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack to play this and, given how contentious a service this has been since it's $50 price point was announced and since it launched with serious issues with its Nintendo 64 emulation (but not its Genesis emulation, as you'll see), I figured we should have a 30 minute overview before playing Ristar about the service, what it currently has and where it currently stands, on both its US and Japanese sides. That also led to a great discussion about the Aleste series, developer Compile, differences between positioning and naming of entertainment in different parts of the world (including a nod to the 2005 film, Rory O'Shea Was Here, speaking of underrated gems) and a look at what Sony is planning to counter this service (which was recently unveiled here: https://www.siliconera.com/sony-to-merge-playstation-plus-and-now-into-a-tiered-subscription-service/amp/). This was another great show in what's been a year of great shows thanks to all of you watching and I hope you enjoy this one (and if you like what you see here, stop by https://www.twitch.tv/captainditrag each Saturday at 7 PM EST to see these streams live, and join/help drive the conversations on what we play each week)!

Other Statistics