My idea of Ristar on Wii and DS

If you never heard of this classic platformer, here's a few tidbits from Wikipedia:

"Ristar the Shooting Star (known as Ristar outside Japan) is a platform video game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Sega Mega Drive in 1995.

The game stars a cartoonish humanoid star who uses his hands to both move and combat enemies. It was originally released on the Sega Mega Drive, and was also included as an unlockable in 2002 on the Nintendo GameCube's Sonic Mega Collection, in 2004 on the Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation 2 and in 2006 on the PC as part of Sonic Mega Collection Plus. A Game Gear version which features different levels to the Mega Drive/Genesis versions was also released. Sega has announced that Ristar will be available on Wii's Virtual Console service."

The game being on Virtual Console is very good news for a possible sequel or remake made from the ground up for the console and possibly DS as well. Here's how combat went in the game:

"Controlling Ristar is fairly simple. He is unable to jump as high as most platformer "stars" do, but his jumps have a bit more hang time, meaning he stays in the air longer. By pressing the "grab" button, Ristar will stretch his hands forward, grabbing whatever is ahead of him. The player can make his hands go in any one of eight directions by combining the attack with any direction on the control pad, except downward while on the ground. When Ristar grabs an enemy, he will continue to hold it until the button is released, causing him to collide with the enemy and destroy them. He can also grab walls and obstacles this way and it is possible, albeit time-consuming, to climb walls by continually grabbing diagonally up a wall."



This game could see a pseudo-3D cel-shaded sidescrolling sequel (try saying that five times fast) akin to Sonic Rush on Wii and DS with grabbing being done with their unique features.

On Wii, the controls would involve use of the Nunchuk and Wiimote. Moving Ristar on-screen uses the analog pad, while jumping is done with the Nunchuk trigger. Holding down the A button "readies" the Grab ability, but doesn't activate it. When flinging the Wiimote in the direction of a target, Ristar will grab. While he is grabbing on to something, such as an enemy or a swing pole, letting go of the A button will either launch him towards the enemy or send him flying in "shooting star" (cannot be harmed and destroys enemies) mode. 

On a DS version, Ristar could be moved with the D-Pad, with Jump being mapped to the L button. Tapping the touch screen with the stylus could designate grab targets. Lifting the stylus could cause Ristar to let go. Letting go after a swing will launch him in the proper direction.

I can already imagine swinging on poles with the Wiimote, I don't care if my arm gets tired! This game needs Wii revival! Wii need Ristar!

For more on Ristar go here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ristar