** Monday MAME Club [10/13/08] - Rastan **

[Flack]

http://www.robohara.com/mameclub/mameclub.jpg

Stargate has selected Rastan (Taito, 1987). Download (http://www.robohara.com/mameclub), play, and discuss! (KLOV Info (http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=9266))

http://www.klov.com/images/11/1181242155354.png

Club Rules

01. You do not need to sign up for the club. If you want to participate, simply download the game of the week and post about it!

02. At the end of the week, I will randomly select someone who participated this week to select next week's game.

03. The current MAME Club Pick of the Week can be found every Monday stickied at the top of the Arcade Alley.

Previously Picked Games: Avenging Spirit, Violent Storm, Gaiapolis, Ninja Baseball Batman, Rastan.

Now, MAME ON!

[XYXZYZ]

I USED TO BE A THIEF AND A MURDERER. OTHERWISE, I COULD NOT SURVIVE SUCH DIFFICULT TIMES. SIT BESIDE ME AND HEAR MY TALES OF PLAYING RASTATN.

Rastan is a pretty standard side scrolling action game, a good arcade style "see how far you can get without dying" objective. The visuals really remind me of those old Edgar Rice Burroughs comics, John Carter Warlord of Mars in particular. (as opposed to some other barbarian comic, like Conan or Kull) The game moves along at a fast pace, most enemies are vanquished with one swing of the sword. So weapon upgrades are generally improvements on your weapon's range or speed.

My biggest complaint about Rastan is the player's reaction to being hit; he is shaded in blue for a second, and that's all. There isn't any physical reaction, he doesn't get pushed back, or pause in any way, nor do you get that second of "invincible flicker". So I can barge my way through an ambush of skeletons and lizardmen throwing rocks at me, and think I got lucky and didn't get hit when I actually lost half my life meter. (which was kind of off the screen on my monitor) So if you can get used to that, all that remains is to play Rastan a few more times and develop some good attack patterns.

In summary, Rastan is a good old fashioned arcade challenge. I found it rather difficult to begin with, but the hits weren't cheap or anything. This one is kind of like Ninja Gaiden (NES) in that you can memorize patterns and barrel through the game if you're experienced...

...which I clearly wasn't, I only did 68,800 on one credit, default settings.:embarrassed:

[stargate]

I chose Rastan because it was one of my favorite arcade games growing up. For some reason, nobody ever played it at the local arcade (too hard?), but I became addicted after a friend convinced me to give it a try. I remember staring at the dramatic backgrounds thinking, "wow, that's awesome". :)

The dark music combined with the ominous visuals really set the mood as soon as you get "dropped in from the sky". The game play is fast paced and gets pretty difficult really quick. However, the game is never cheap or frustrating and if you spend some time learning the mechanics, you can get good at working your way through the stages.

Overall, I just think Rastan is one of the better arcade side scrollers that is still a blast to play today.

Oh, and XYXZYZ, there ARE subtle reactions to being hit. Sometimes you do get pushed back, and then your head and shoulders shrug down, you turn blue, your heart starts beating faster...stuff like that.

[NipRing]

I loved this game when i as a kid. The music was great! I loved how i would get all tense when it reached a fevered pitch and then the bats would come from all directions. However, as the years passed and the span from teens to 30's increased i had complete forgot about it until i discovered MAME about 5 years ago. It was like a Kick to the head, the memories rushed back as soon as i heard that music!

[IronBuddha]

I love this game! One of my all time favorites! My most fondest memory as a kid was playing this game at the arcade and watching others play it. To me this is the greatest adventure game EVER!

The only con to the game I never liked was except for the energy potion, the power ups don't really do anything useful really..... oh and I fucking hate those bats!!!

Awesome pick this week! If no one suggest anything for next week, I'd like to. Let me know and I'll send a PM.

Just played it to get a score, 101,000 on first credit. I usually do better, most times I can pass the first castle on the first credit but tonight I didn't do it.

[stargate]

Has anyone here ever beaten this game? I never have. I believe the furthest I got was to level 4, but that was waaaaay back in the day when I was a teenager playing this in the arcades. I suppose with unlimited credits I could beat it on MAME, but I don't currently have the time to dedicate to it.

[Sotenga]

Man, I love Rastan. The straightforward fast-paced platforming combined with the barbarian atmosphere really makes for a winner in my book. However, this game kicks my ass a lot, and I'm usually good at action-platformers. The onslaught of enemies, the tough jumps to make, and the often-times hard bosses (the third one in particular REALLY sucks) often deter me from beating the game.

Oh, and... well, Rastan has a mechanic of certain 80's games that I am SO glad is dead now: Forbidding you to continue on the last (and by logical process, most difficult) level. I know Time Soldiers, Shinobi, and ESWAT did this, and though I like those games, that is just SO infuriating for them to pull that under your nose without telling you. Then for all the times you try it afterwards, it's REALLY tough to beat the game! Now if they had given you limited continues in advance, that'd actually give you a better chance of beating the final level if you do well before you get there. There's no excuse for such frustration, but it's really the only major gripe I have with Rastan.

... this is an ironic reversal of what I intend to do at my TMG panel. Sorry for the plug. :-D

[BHvrd]

I played this back in the day and the only thing that made me play it over the more superior games at the time was that funky music.

I remember hearing that music and just being attracted and had to at least play it for that alone. It was fun, but I never cared for it as much as my friend who loved it, I preferred Gladiator myself.

A great game nonetheless if for nothing else the catchy theme music, a game that should definitely be revisited.

[scooby105]

I just gave this one a go. Terrible. Maybe if I played it a while and memorized everything I could get throughit, but it's not really a pick up and play kind of arcade game.

[stargate]

I just gave this one a go. Terrible. Maybe if I played it a while and memorized everything I could get throughit, but it's not really a pick up and play kind of arcade game.

blasphemy. :)

[Captain Wrong]

Random thoughts cut and pasted:

Am I full of suck or is this game harder than I remember? That and I'm just not a fan of these side scrollers. (Used to love Altered Beast, but now I'm like what the hell was I thinking?) What are these fucking eyeball looking things that keep bashing me in the batch? Oy! Graphics remind me of the Genesis, but this predates it by a couple of years, I think. How many 80s games owe a debt to Conan? grrr...this game is pissing me off.

[scooterb23]

I always hated the fact that he could survive 30-40 foot drops into caves, get bitten by bats multiple times...survive brutal attacks from the undead. And yet, his toe dips in water, and it kills him instantly.

I think I've beaten the first level once in my life.

[Bloodreign]

Has anyone here ever beaten this game? I never have. I believe the furthest I got was to level 4, but that was waaaaay back in the day when I was a teenager playing this in the arcades. I suppose with unlimited credits I could beat it on MAME, but I don't currently have the time to dedicate to it.

Credit feeding won't work on stage 5, once you're there and you die, it's game over, no more continues from that point.

[stargate]

Credit feeding won't work on stage 5, once you're there and you die, it's game over, no more continues from that point.

wow, that's pretty cool. so it takes a certain amount of skill and dedication to actually beat this game. I may have to give it a shot.

[scooterb23]

So, ummm, this one's run a *couple* weeks... let's get some thoughts on what we could do next week!

I'll vote for Looping. It's one I've never given time to, but always looked interesting

[Cryomancer]

Sorry I keep flaking on getting around to playing these lately. I should know better too, I'm the one who restarted it.

[InsaneDavid]

I'll vote for Looping. It's one I've never given time to, but always looked interesting

While I love Looping (finally was reunited with an original cab at the last CAX), I remember something about it having random crash problems in MAME. Or at least it did somewhat recently. Hopefully not, if so, that would be a great choice!

[scooterb23]

Ah, I don't keep up with MAME too much, hard to know sometimes what games will give issues.

[scooby105]

How about an auto racing game? I don't play a lot of arcade stuff, so I dont really have any suggestions. But I could randomly select one if nobody comes up with something.

[bigdaddychester]

LOOPING!!!! sweet mother of pearl

[Flack]

I didn't get around to commenting on this one (which is sad since it ran for three weeks). Anyway, here are my thoughts.

I first saw Rastan at my local bowling alley which was notorious for picking up new games. I wasn't a big console person back then, but games like Rastan, Commando and Shinobi were the leap from essentially 8-bit graphics to 16-bit graphics. The colors, sounds and graphics on these games took things to the next level.

As most of you have noted, Rastan is pretty hard, and pretty pattern-based. I think a lot of games from that era were this way -- indirectly, they rewarded players who played the game over and over, because those players could memorize the patterns and get further. Some kids had natural talent (quick reflexes) while others had a good memory and could memorize patterns (I have neither, hah!).

I think a lot of people who remember this game fondly remember how good the graphics were at the time and don't necessarily remember how hard it was to get far.

If you like Rastan, check out the sequel, Nastar Warrior. I never did figure out why the sequel was called "Nastar" (which is Rastan backwards). It even takes place in "Rastania" for goodness sake.