Rastan
System: SMS
Release Date: April 1989
Developer: Taito
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Action
Rastan! The Barbarian. Rastan! Warrior without fear! Oh… wait… wrong barbarian… Taito debuts in the US on the Master System with this action platformer release. A princess has been kidnapped and taken to the farthest reaches of Semia. The king enlists the services of Rastan: barbarian, bounty hunter, thief.
There are seven rounds with an outdoor level, an indoor level, and a boss fight. Rastan can jump with Button 2 and high jump by holding up. Jumping doesn’t behave exactly as I’d expect, with Rastan suddenly losing momentum and just falling straight down. This can hurt you pretty badly if you misjudge your jump, as the water of Semia is poisonous. That explains all the grotesque creatures roaming around. You can also do a wall jump, which is very useful and even necessary later in the game.
Rastan attacks with his broadsword using Button 1. The range of this weapon isn’t great, but it can be upgraded with temporary boosts. The Axe grants an increase to reach as well as power. The Mace doesn’t boost power, but the reach is much longer. The Fire Sword is the strongest weapon and shoots fireballs. These upgrades don’t last forever, but they are nice while they last. Rastan’s best attack, however, is the jumping downward thrust. If you can get above your enemies, which isn’t too hard, you can press down and attack while in the air to bring down the pain.
The levels are full of platforming challenges as well as enemies. Water hurts you. Lava hurts you. Spears appear from the ground and walls to stab you. Spike ceilings drop on you. Boulders, stalagmites, spitting statues all out to kill you. If you take too long, the level goes dark! Enemies have a slightly longer reach than you and some can throw projectiles. Rastan may be a barbarian, but he doesn’t easily rip through his enemies. Some of the most annoying enemies are bees that fly around, you’d think you could poke them out of the sky by pressing up while attacking, but that doesn’t seem to affect them. So you take some damage before you can hack them to pieces.
The bosses aren’t terribly difficult, but you may have to try a couple times before you figure out what to do. This is a pain, because you are limited to three continues. A lot of times, you limp into the boss rooms and while you’re learning their pattern, you die because your life ticks away while fighting them. I got the dreaded game over a bunch of times before seeking out an unlimited continue code. After finding it, I plowed through the game dying about a dozen times. Most of that came from the Red Dragon boss, which I had the most trouble defeating out of anything.
Graphics: 2.0
The graphics aren’t great, but they aren’t terrible either. Rastan is probably the best looking sprite, which he should be.
Sound: 1.5
Music and sound aren’t impressive by any means. There’s a lack of variety.
Gameplay: 2.0
Things work alright, but the jumping is janky. The stun when getting hit lasts a little too long. Not every attack lands when it looks like it does.
Difficulty: 2.5
Three continues isn’t enough to beat this game unless you are a master. There’s too much clunkiness in the controls. At least the levels are short.
Fun Factor: 1.5
I had an alright time, but only because I had the unlimited continues turned on. I would have stopped playing by level three without it.
Overall Grade: 1.9
Rastan earns a C. It’s fine as an action platformer. Is it the greatest thing since sliced bread? No, but it’ll do for an hour of play.