After that goofy VS. Super Mario Bros. post (which was a joke by the way) I felt I owed everyone a real post so let’s discuss Rastan for SEGA Master System…

I was nervous to play Rastan. I got the game over a month ago at the Classic Gaming Expo but refused to touch it.  I was afraid that if I played it and it didn’t live up to my expectations I’d be disappointed.  When you enjoy a game so much and have an unrecognized world record for it, situations like these are stressful.  Rarely do arcade ports look, feel, and sound like their coin-op brothers, but in the case of Rastan, this isn’t a bad port.

Those expecting it to be arcade perfect will probably be disappointed.  There are some very noticable changes including:  A.) You get 1 life only; B.) The world and the castles are laid out differently; C.) You can fall on fire and not dissolve; D.) The enemies act a little differently; E.) You have a health bar instead of the ‘heart bar’;

But these changes do not make this version of Rastan bad at all.  Everything is in there from the arcade version, it’s just a little bit different.  The music is close enough and the graphics are fantastic – but a little small.  The best comparison is to suggest that this is a ‘lite’ version of Rastan. 

I’m not sure why the programmers opted for a one life scenario and removed the instant death.  It makes the game a little easy but there are some people who say the arcade version is tough (I do not agree).  Perhaps this was to balance it out.

Unfortunately I didn’t get to play much of Rastan prior to writing this, but there was something I was curious about in the manual.  Under the section for tips and tricks it recommends clearing the stages before nightfall or you’ll be pestered relentlessly until death (or something like that).  I know in the arcade version if you hang out in an area for too long the bats will come after you.  But the ‘before nightfall’ remark makes me wonder if the lighting actually changes.  In the overworld levels of the arcade game the landscape does change colors to simulate evening coming, but its not based on time so much as its based on how far you’ve progressed.  Does the SEGA Master System feature the same thing?  I don’t know yet, but if it does thats pretty cool!