This game was pretty enjoyable, even with a few flaws. The grabbing mechanic took a bit to get used to, every instinct telling me to jump on enemies had to be thrown out the window lol, but I mostly got it in the end. The special stages were mostly pretty easy which was surprising, except for the very last one where grabbing onto the next walls felt a little random and out of my control. I also really liked that Ristar has different idle animations on each planet.
Honestly a little sad it never got a sequel, would have been interesting to see how they refined it.

Complete playthrough on hard difficulty, including all bonus stages completed. While I wouldn't say that I loved Ristar, it's undeniably impressive in a number of ways. A lesser-known 2D mascot platformer, it has some quite unusual mechanics, with the protagonist, an anthropomorphised star, using his extensible arms to help with navigating stages and basic combat through a grab move. Bright, vibrantly-coloured graphics across a range of creatively-designed environments are consistently attractive, and the levels themselves are each quite expansive in both dimensions. Sadly, some frustrations in controls hold the game back from true greatness, particularly so in the later stages and bosses - but at least with the benefits of emulation, those can be someone alleviated.

I love Ristar. I don't think you could make Ristar again. Part of what makes this one special is that there's only one of it. (do we count the 8-bit version...?) Nowadays, you'd probably get some 2.5D reimagining that mostly just recycles a buncha stuff from the original and calls it a day. And it'd be servicable for one playthrough, but I wouldn't come back to it like I would come back to this one over and over again.

Ristar, for its short length, emanates a level of passion and variety akin to something like Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Fitting, as the Ristar team would go on to join Sonic Team after this game released (which is why there's a misconception that this was developed by sonic team). Every world's broken up into two platforming stages and a boss, each with a new mechanic, a new bop of a song, rarely overstaying its welcome and always a marvel of spritework to appreciate. Controls are simple, you move and you stretch your arms out for a variety of context-sensitive acrobatics, including using enemies as climbable platforms, flinging yourself off poles/handles, and climbing up walls as one of the more advanced techniques. If that one small part of your brain lights up everytime a game lets you swing across something to cross a gap, then I'm happy to report that with some practice on hand, Ristar is a Tarzan game in disguise. But even without taking full advantage of these abilities, the game has plenty of mini-bosses and hidden nooks and crannies that reward you with lifes, or even extra bonus stages that feature unique mini platforming challenges for you to overcome, and perhaps take advantage of to practice your moveset.

Game only gets half a star off for the 1st music world stage, which has something akin to an escort mission that I personally found it went a little against the rest of the game's flow. Everything else points to Ristar being a sort-of hidden gem amongst the Genesis library. Coming out at the tail end of its life cycle, this is one of the games that understood the Genesis best. And in a way, as the Saturn approached and overshadowed this game's release, this might very well have been the last glowing star in Sega's track record that burned out.

About 15 years ago, I picked up a Sega Genesis at a yard sale from a mother who was selling her poor college-aged kid's childhood possessions. As part of getting the console, I also two controllers, the required cables, and four games. NBA Jam, NHLPA 94, Sonic 2, and Ristar. The sports games aren't actually half bad, and I've beaten Sonic 2 many times over the years, but for 15 years I've never actually finished Ristar. Until today. With copious use of save states. Ristar is a 2D platformer where you play as the titular Ristar, as he travels the cosmos, defeating enemies by grabbing and ramming his face into them. Aside from jump, this is Ristar's only move. He can stretch out his arms, grab onto things, and pull himself towards them. This can be used as an offensive move, for platforming, swinging around poles, picking up items, etc. It's a simple but neat mechanic, and it's used to its full potential in a number of interesting ways. The levels themselves are perhaps a bit linear, but structured well-enough, and the graphics are top notch. This might be one of the best looking games on the system. Really big, colorful sprites, interesting scenery, and cool looking enemy designs make the visuals this game's strength. So why the middling rating? I have tried many times over the years to get into this game, but at the end of the day, I find that I just don't like how it controls. The actual platforming isn't bad, but the grabbing mechanic, which is very heavily used, is very hit or miss for me. I often find myself missing my target, or performing the action slightly too late, or being unable to attack in the direction I want to. Perhaps it's just me, but after repeatedly becoming uninterested over and over for nearly two decades, it's enough of a reason that I never really bothered finishing the game. It's not terribly long, although if you find the controls as imprecise as I do, some of the later levels are an exercise in frustration. I've really wanted to like this game more than I do, and while I think the graphics do make this one of the more noteworthy Genesis titles, it's not one that I think about too fondly.

Ristar is a delightful game that took me on a 2.5 hour journey filled with vibrant vibes and captivating gameplay. The outstanding soundtrack was one feature that really stuck out to me. Tomoko Sasaki killed it with her musical style and it felt like a type of music I had never heard before. The music suited the gameplay beautifully and had me bopping. Ristar's artstyle has aged like fine wine, just like other games developed by the Sonic Team. The visuals were really charming and visually appealing to me and I vibed with the colorful environments and character designs. Gameplay is solid and holds up decently for a 1995 title, and for my first non-Sonic game by the Team, it was a nice change of pace for sure. This is definitely an underrated gem and needs more attention. Don't have too much more to say about this one but it was certainly worth my time!

This is a surprisingly beautiful little ol' game. There's a genuine sense of child-like wonder in exploring the world and the mechanics through Ristar's eyes and hands. In zoomer words, it's one hell of a vibe.

There isn't much to not love here, it looks great, it sounds amazing, it plays well, and the difficulty curve is pretty fair all things considered. The final boss sucks, but Ristar's about the journey, not the destination, so honestly I don't think that really ruins the experience in the end. It's shocking that this game never got any sort of sequel, but honestly that's fine, cause it's the perfect experience in itself.