is floating in a particular level. Reception In 1994, Sega was originally pitching Ristar to be the successor of Sonic the Hedgehog. However, the game never received massive exposure or sales, mainly due to being released just three months prior to the Sega Saturn, Sega's successor to the Genesis, overshadowing it. Reviews for the game were generally favorable. Sega Magazine gave the game an 87% rating, praising the gameplay, graphics, and music, but complaining that the game lacked some originality and borrowed a lot from other platforming games at the time, such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Dynamite Headdy, and Earthworm Jim. Sega Pro praised it for both its similarities and differences from the Sonic the Hedgehog series, stating "if you judged games purely by their visual looks, then you'd be forgiven for thinking that this WAS Sonic the Hedgehog. But when you actually sit back and start playing it, you'll discover that this is a much slower, strategic game. There is a big puzzle element here, which should make it stand out from the hundreds of other platformers in the market". Sega Power made a number of similar points, comparing the gameplay to a mix "between Sonic and Dynamite Headdy", but criticized its short length and lack of originality, and only gave it a 74 rating: "...if you like Sonic games, you will like this" but that "...it's not as good as Sonic either". GamePro likewise remarked that Ristar feels "sluggish" in comparison to Sonic, and criticized that Ristar has few animations compared to other platformer stars and that the game's low difficulty makes it suitable only for beginning gamers. Despite this, they gave the game an overall recommendation based on the colorful visuals and cleverly designed gameplay. Electronic Gaming Monthlys team of five reviewers gave it a 7.6 out of 10, with Mike Weigand summarizing: "An excellent new character, Ristar requires more technique than the typical run-and-jump action titles". A reviewer for Next Generation, while noting that Ristar borrowed heavily from Dynamite Headdy, contended that the player character has more than enough originality and versatility to go beyond being a mere clone. Citing the excellent stage design, "slick transparencies, original bosses, and great music", he deemed it "one of the best platform games to date". Despite this, he gave it only three out of five stars. Famitsu magazine scored the game a 29 out of 40. Ristar received considerably