Ristar

Synopsis

by Scott Alan Marriott

The evil space pirate, Greedy, has decided to conquer the solar system to use as his own private headquarters. To make things easier for his army to settle in, he managed to brainwash all of the planets' leaders to follow his command. Someone must free the planets from Greedy's tyrannical power! Fortunately, there's a little yellow star named Ristar who can help rescue the leaders. You see, he has a special motivation: his father is among the people under Greedy's control.

Ristar is not your typical character -- he has arms that can stretch to great lengths. Use them to grab onto enemies and bash them against his face, climb walls or ladders, swing from poles or throw various objects. You'll also be able to swim, activate pulleys, hang from objects or creatures, and use your special move: the Meteor Strike. This involves twirling around a Star Handle and shooting away in any direction to reach new areas or defeat enemy creatures.

Besides defeating enemies, Ristar can also collect yellow jewels for points, gold stars to add to his life meter, and two forms of little stars to make him temporarily invincible or grant him an extra life. There are seven worlds in total, each spanning three rounds: Planet Flora, Planet Undertow, Planet Scorch, Planet Sonata, Planet Freon, Planet Automation, and Greedy's Space City. In between rounds are bonus stages which have you trying to collect as many pieces of treasure as you can within the time limit. Progress can be resumed through passwords given after completing certain stages.