Ristar
Ristar is a platform game developed and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis in 1995. A Sega Game Gear game with the same name and genre, Ristar, was also released, which had a similar theme but a different level design and gameplay mechanics. The game's main character is an anthropomorphic cartoon star who uses his hands and long, stretchy arms to move and fight enemies. The response to the game was generally positive, but the initial release of the game was overshadowed by the impending end of the Genesis and the appearance of the Sega Saturn and other fifth-generation video game consoles. Although there was never a sequel, Sega re-released the game digitally and on Sega-themed collections several times, and gave Ristar himself an occasional appearance in other Sega products.
Story
Similar to other games from the same period, such as Gunstar Heroes, the game's story varied between the Japanese and English versions. In all versions of the game, the events take place in the Valdi system, where an evil space pirate, Emperor Greedy, uses mind control to make the leaders of the planets obey him. In the Japanese version, the inhabitants of the planet Neer (Flora in the English-language version) pray for a hero before Greedy's mind-controller Rhio usurps the planetary elder. The desperate prayers reach the nebula of the star goddess Oruto. She awakens one of her children, Ristar, with the sole purpose of fulfilling the wishes of innocent people. He must stop Greed and the brainwashed leaders of all worlds in the galaxy to restore peace to the galaxy. In the English-language version, Oruto is omitted altogether. Instead, Ristar has a father figure, the Legendary Hero, who is a shooting star protecting the Valdi system. Instead of Oruto awakening Ristar, the Legendary Hero has been kidnapped by Greedy, and it's up to Ristar to rescue his father as well.