You still swipe at enemies around you, and you still jump from platform to platform to pass over pits and other deadly obstacles. The gameplay follows suit, and there’s nothing about it that has significantly advanced since the original cut a swath through arcades in 1987.
Even the plot is bare bones: A “wicked group” has attacked the skyscraper, which is the center of power in Rastan’s world, and you must now go and cut them all to pieces in the name of justice. Rastan Saga II is a hack-‘n-slasher with some minor platforming elements, and there’s nothing complicated about it – just how I like my hack-‘n-slashers. Interestingly enough, the visuals aren’t bad at all, just… different from the rest of the series, and they actually hide a game that plays very much like the original I loved so dearly. That’s a good thing, at least, and it actually bodes well for someone who’s trying to get into this middle chapter of the Rastan mythos. The Genesis port was the same, and while nothing’s changed for me in this regard, I can at least recognize that the home version is pretty darn faithful to its arcade source. The main character doesn’t really look anything like the Conan-esque hero of the original, and the massive sprites seemed out of place. When Rastan Saga II first appeared in arcades, I was kind of turned off by the visuals. Being this the age of cheap Genesis games on eBay, I decided that it was time to right the situation.
#Rastan arcade ost series#
Ironically, I had never really spent that much time with the second game, Rastan Saga II ( Nastar Warrior outside the U.S.), the only one of the series that actually made it to the Genesis (I still think Warrior Blade would have made a great Sega CD or 32X port!).
Part three, Warrior Blade, is a game that I’ve finally been able to play thanks to MAME, and I’ve enjoyed it quite a bit. I used to plug quarters into the original like there was no tomorrow, and I still won’t rest until I’ve beaten the awesome Master System version. I’ve always been a fan of Taito’s Rastan games. Eyes on Me" was the first song in video game history to win an award at the 14th Annual Japan Gold Disc Awards, where it won "Song of the Year (Western Music)" in 1999Īlso Yasonari Mitsuda did in fact score chrono trigger and chrono cross as well.Genre: Action Developer: Taito Publisher: Taito Players: 1 Released: 1992 It was released as a CD single () in Japan, including an instrumental version and Wong's ballad "Red Bean". The song's lyrics, written in English by Kako Someya (), unveil the hopes of a night club singer for romance with a member of her audience. It was performed by Chinese singer Faye Wong () and composed, like the rest of the game music, by Nobuo Uematsu (). "Eyes on Me" is the ballad ((music)) that serves as the theme of the game Final Fantasy VIII ().
#Rastan arcade ost full#
The full orchestra version of Aerith's theme from FF7 is breathtaking, I really wish I could have seen the Tour de Japon liveĪs for FF8, who would have ever thought that a song from a video game could be awarded a "song of the year" nomination, let alone the award The Final Fantasy piano collections are fantastic listening. I mentioned this in the first music draft, that Nobuo Uematsu doesnt get enough recognition outside of Japan as a video game composer, but I do enjoy his work quite a bit. Not a big deal now, seeing as a real orchestra is commonly used for games now, but nine years ago it was a big deal! I also got the Tokyo Royal Philharmonic playing the FF8 score. Xenogears was simply one of the most beautiful scores I have ever heard. Yasonari Mitsuda, who did Xenogears I think also did Crono Trigger, but alas my work blocks some funny websites (compared to others, like CP for example) so I cannot research this fact.
That game had over 180 seperate compositions, and was the first to use character themes and locale themes along with battle music and other styles to create a cinematic feel. Final Fantasy VIII and Xenogears (both on PS1) were groundbreaking soundtracks that changed forever the way music was integrated into RPG video games.įinal Fantasy VI (III in North America) was the first glimpses of the true genius of Nobuo Uematsu.