Rastan Saga II

[Melf]

The name Rastan means something to arcade goers who are old enough to have played Taito's classic in the arcades. It was difficult, great-looking, and it's twin stereo speakers fired off an awesome soundtrack for everyone in the area to hear. Yes, Rastan rocked hard, and for that reason it's a shame that the sequel never quite lived up to its predecessor. The Genesis scored an amazingly accurate port, but all the bad came over with all the good, and the result is a mediocre product that fails to do the Rastan legacy justice. If you're up for some so-so hack-'n-slashing, read our full review of Rastan Saga II, and leave your expectations at the door.

[Joe Redifer]

I have an almost-interesting story about Rastan 2. It's not long enough to be its own article, so I'll post it here.

Back in high school, a friend of mine and myself were big Rastan fans, loving the arcade and the SMS port. There was a store a few miles away from the school that sold Japanese Mega Drive games, usually for around $70 or so. One day we found out that they had Rastan Saga 2 for the Mega Drive. My friend flipped. He wanted it BAD, but his parents were the type who forbade new purchases. So he brought the cash to school, gave it to me and told me to pick up the game after school on the way home and bring it to him the next day. I did so, played it, hated it and then it was time to give it to him. He axed (asked) me what I thought of it. Talk about an awkward moment. He had just shelled out $70 plus tax for this thing... should I tell him it didn't live up in any way? I just told him it was goofy, mainly because the character looks like a retard. I don't think he ended up liking it.

[KenshiroX]

I like this game. Some of the jumps are kind of cheap later in the game, and hits are spotty, but all in all, it's good for a quick run.

[Noiman]

Not what i expected. Average graphics and very uninspired level design, i haven't played this game more than 3 times since i bought it...

[Mamba Tabac]

After going through all the effort of importing the Japanese version of this, to say I was bitterly disappointed is an understatement. The SMS conversion of the original absolutely stamps all over this game in terms of just about everything bar graphics...

[TheEdge]

I tried really hard to get used to it but everything about the game is just bad. I mean they really dropped the ball on graphics, battle system, and even storyline.

[A Black Falcon]

5? You're being generous... I got this knowing nothing about the series, and hated it. So slow... so, so slow... the game really is absolutely no fun at all. The first one's good, but not this, that's for sure.

[Aarzak]

I have an almost-interesting story about Rastan 2. It's not long enough to be its own article, so I'll post it here.

Back in high school, a friend of mine and myself were big Rastan fans, loving the arcade and the SMS port. There was a store a few miles away from the school that sold Japanese Mega Drive games, usually for around $70 or so. One day we found out that they had Rastan Saga 2 for the Mega Drive. My friend flipped. He wanted it BAD, but his parents were the type who forbade new purchases. So he brought the cash to school, gave it to me and told me to pick up the game after school on the way home and bring it to him the next day. I did so, played it, hated it and then it was time to give it to him. He axed (asked) me what I thought of it. Talk about an awkward moment. He had just shelled out $70 plus tax for this thing... should I tell him it didn't live up in any way? I just told him it was goofy, mainly because the character looks like a retard. I don't think he ended up liking it.

LAWL.

The original arcade version of "Rastan Saga II" is included in the "Taito Legends 2" compilation for PS2 & PC, the PS2 version which I picked up for a measly $10 new from a clearance rack at my local Circuit City (seriously, I went back recently and they still have handfuls of copies of this, alongside other genuine clunkers like "Ford Racing"). Only that in "Taito Legends 2" the game is titled as "Nastar Warrior", which I assume was the retarded U.S title given to the coin-op, though whoever did it managed to slightly disassociate it from the "Rastan" name for whatever good it did.

Anyways yeah, the gameplay is very clunky, but the sprites are friggin' huge and detailed. It didn't look too graphically intensive so it was good to hear that they were able to translate it nicely for the Mega Drive. I should play it some more but yeah.........very clunky game. Try acquiring the long sword and doing an upward stab for innuendous hilarity.

EDIT: Woops, it was "Nastar Warrior" outside of the U.S. So it really WASN'T a "Rastan" game originally.

[goldenband]

Just beat this. As everyone else has said, it's super-clunky, with stiff controls and leaden gameplay. The dialogue between stages is hilarious ("Oh, here come tough enemies!"). The shield dynamic is interesting, especially since the bosses use it too, but it's not well-implemented overall.

Assuming there aren't any hidden extra difficulty modes I don't know about (I tried holding A at the title screen), then it's also pretty easy -- I started working on it yesterday, and was able to defeat it after only about 90 minutes of total gameplay. I found a viable pattern for one or two of the bosses, but with three continues, it's possible to just brute-force your way through the last couple of them; if you start with enough energy, you can kill them with no more than one life lost, and any additional damage is healed when you start the next stage (if applicable).

Anyway, I'd put it a notch or two below the review's evaluation: not totally without merit, but still a poor effort and a mediocre product, and one of the weakest games I've played on the Genesis. 4/10, and I wouldn't argue with 3/10.

[ELabit]

I haven't played the Genesis version yet but I have the PCE version. It's so bad it's good. It's the kind of game I make my friends play and we all have a laugh. I want to pick up the Genesis version so I can compare the two. I have heard the music and it seems to be a lot better the the PCE version but man it looks just as bad.

[Curryman123]

Why is the animation so bad in this game?

[The Jackal]

Dammit, I liked the game. it's sluggish yes, but it has a certain charm to it. It's not a great game or even a good one, but nor does it suck; it's average.

[Crazy Climber]

Woah, 4 year old topic
I absolutely hate Rastan saga 2, I am damn tempted to get rid of mine just because I am worried it will infect (with it's suck-ness) all the other games that share a shelf with it. I'm glad I never saw this one back in the day since I was a huge fan of the arcade Rastan and the SMS one. At least I didn't get the bad news until a few years ago...Taito...what the F were you thinking!

[Cucollins12]

this is one of those "guilty pleasures" it has his charm n_n