2.5/5 ★ – Supergamerguy's review of Ristar.

What a disappointment! The love online for Ristar must come from some heavily rose-tinted nostalgia, because this game's quality is all over the place. For every rockin' piece of music, well-crafted level layout, or charming environment in Ristar, there's an equally annoying background song, tight corridor filled with spikes, or a garish neon nightmare presented to the player. The concept for this game is solid enough, but the execution varies wildly. It feels like a dissonant level compilation pack rather than an officially produced game (made by a major publisher at the time, no less). The Water Planet and the Ice Planet are a joy to play through, with endearing environments to explore, expansive level design (with their own fluid gimmicks), and some calming background music to boot. In order to enjoy those, however, you'll have to endure the slogs that are the Fire Planet and the Automated Planet. Along with the aggressively mediocre Forest and Music Planets, the overall Ristar experience averages out to, well...... average. Couple that with the brutally difficult boss fights, and you have a platformer that worth a lot less than its reputation may suggest. There are much better platformers you could spend your time on, even if you want to stick to the Sega Genesis alone. Try out the Rocket Knight Adventures games, Castlevania: Bloodlines, Castle of Illusion, Decap Attack, Sonic 2, or even Sonic 3+K (as obvious as the last two may seem). You'll thank me later.