Reviews | Arcade

Rastan Saga

By Alex Kierkegaard / April 03, 2006

The protagonist of Taito's 1987 hack and slasher is Rastan, a barbarian warrior modeled after Robert E. Howard's iconic Cimmerian hero. During the game's attract mode we see Rastan as an aged king sitting in his throne, who tells us that he "used to be a thief and a murderer", and asks us to sit beside him as he relates a story of adventure from his youthful days. After inserting a coin and pressing start, we see the young barbarian setting off on a mission to kill a dragon and return his head to the princess of the kingdom of Ceim. Rastan's exuberance is understandable, given the fact that the princess has promised to reward him with all the treasures of the Empire.

From that point the player takes control of Rastan and guides him through a number of fantasy-themed stages, on the way fighting hordes of mythological creatures and overcoming various obstacles and guardians. Each Round (i.e. stage) starts off with an outdoor area, followed by a castle area and then a showdown with the castle's master in the throne room. The outdoor areas focus more on combat, while the castle stages primarily test the player's platforming skills. The boss fights are quick and simple affairs, though by no means easy.

The game gets off to an impressive start as the player finds himself traversing a rocky canyon on the way to the first castle. As you run forward killing various lizard warriors, hydras and giant bats, the sky turns from light blue to maroon purple to gold-tinged pink, at times resembling a 16-bit rendition of early impressionist paintings. It's a stunning effect. The controls are simple and precise, the action is fast-paced, and the enemies never stop coming. Although you have unlimited time to complete the stage, there is an undeniable sense of urgency in the air. Together with the truly epic score (composed by Naoto Yagishita and Masahiko Takaki, who scored Darius two years before) this mad dash to the castle gates helps to create one of the most vibrant and energetic opening stages to ever grace an arcade monitor.

Once inside the castle, the enemy attacks become less ferocious and the music assumes a more subdued tone, reflecting the nature of the challenges that lie ahead. Spikes and falling doors, giant fire-pits and more bar your way to the throne room. As you progress, the tests of agility become tougher and more intricate. At first, all you have to do is jump over a chasm, or avoid a set of spikes protruding from the floor or coming down from the ceiling. A few stages later you are expected to jump from the fallen trunk of a giant tree, grab hold of a vine, swing across the screen and land on a moving raft, all the while fighting off enemies both in the air and on the ground. Needless to say, it can get tricky at places.

The boss fights are not particularly enthralling, but they are welcome as a change from the endless popcorn enemies that populate the stages. The throne rooms of the various castles are shadowy, menacing places, and the excellent music that plays during the confrontations only serves to heighten the mood.

Rastan Saga features everything we've since come to expect as standard from a hack and slasher. There is a nice selection of weapons (including a flaming sword that shoots fireballs), as well as items that restore your health, give increased protection against enemy attacks, or confer specific benefits. Of particular note is a magical rod, which, curiously, hasn't been copied by any other game I can think of. If you kill an enemy while carrying it, all enemies of the same type on screen are also killed. Quite original, although it's not really that useful during the game. Actually, the same can be said about most other items in Rastan Saga. Some of them are even cursed, and will have a negative effect on your health and performance, but even after several days of playing the game I still don't know which item does what, nor have their effects become noticeable at any point. I do know that the blue potions replenish a tiny bit of health and, apparently, that's really all I need to know.

You lose health even if you lightly touch enemies -- which is not only unfair, but also kind of silly. Rastan also seems to be deathly afraid of liquids of all kinds (except mud), because the moment he steps foot in even the most shallow body of water he utters a desperate cry and immediately drops dead. On the other hand, he has the uncanny ability to fall from unimaginable heights without suffering any wounds at all. Which comes in handy.

Rastan Saga is not, for most of its length, a very tough game. The difficulty curve is reasonable, and the enemies and platforming challenges can be overcome with enough practice. A significant problem, however, is that there are not enough health-restoring potions scattered around the stages. Moreover, the amount of health those potions replenish is negligible, to the point where it doesn't make a huge difference whether you pick them up or not. This makes some of the latter stages (as well as most of the boss fights) pretty damn hard, because you'll find it nearly impossible to get through them unscathed. A few 1UPs, or some more potent potions, would have gone a long way towards remedying the situation. Needless to say, only those who fall in love with the game get to see the ending. Given how masterfully designed and perfectly executed it is, that should be quite a few.