COLIN BELL SLIPS ON HIS TRUSTY FURRY LOINCLOTH IN PREPERATION FOR A MAMMOTH SESSION ON TAITO’S RASTAN SAGA.
Rastan — the mighty, fearless, muscle-bound barbarian warrior and slayer of countless men, women, monsters, beasts, demons and dragons. His sword knows no equal, nor does he lust for wealth, fame or fortune.
My first encounter with this mighty warrior was on holiday in sunny Majorca at the end of the 1980s, where the hotel we were staying in had three arcade machines in the bar area. These were Rastan, 1942 and Operation Thunderbolt. A fine selection indeed, but for me it was Rastan that captured my imagination and had me hounding my folks for just one more 100 peseta coin. Since then, I’ve been hooked.
I have played through many of the Rastan conversions released, along with subsequent sequels. So come and join me now, as I take you on a journey through the chronological history of the ‘Barbarian who dared to challenge’!
Rastan first made his debut in the arcades back in 1987, in an upright cabinet by iconic Japanese video game company Taito. The game was a fantasythemed side-scrolling hack’n’slasher in which you take on the role of Rastan, a barbarian warrior inspired by and modelled on Robert E. Howards legendary Conan the Cimmerian.
As Rastan, you’ve been given consent by the princess to find and slay the evil
dragon that is terrorising the kingdom of ‘Ceim’. Return with its head, and all the treasures of the empire will be bestowed upon you. Standing in your way were six different stages that all featured an outdoor section and a castle section that ultimately led you to a throne room, where one of the end-level bosses would be waiting, each with a unique look and attack abilities. The stages themselves were chock full of various monsters and mythical beasts for you to dispatch with your deadly sword arm. There were also several other factors to contend with, such as falling rocks, waterfalls, lava pits, swamps, moving platforms and spike traps. Perfect timing was crucial, especially when you had to swing from rope to rope like Tarzan, usually over a pit of something deadly. Temporary weapon upgrades were available and included an Axe, Mace and Fireball Shooting Sword, which was the most powerful. Equipable power-ups and armour that help reduce the damage you’d take could also be found periodically but, like the weapons, only lasted for a short time.
Graphically Rastan was stunning, especially for 1987. The depth of colour was truly astounding, and the animations very fluid. The nowiconic musical soundtrack fits the game nicely, and the sound effects were also well done.
You’ll often find yourself humming the tune long after play has finished.
After the success and popularity of the first Rastan game, it wasn’t long before it was ported to other systems of the time. British software house Imagine Software jumped straight on the bandwagon, releasing ports for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64 in 1987. The ZX Spectrum port was praised
for its graphics and fast gameplay but suffered from a lack of colour and sound. The Amstrad CPC port looked great, making good use of the systems’ varied colour palette but sadly had no in-game music and suffered from a terrible drop in frame rate whenever there was more than one enemy on screen. The Commodore 64 port had the best music with its faithfully replicated SID soundtrack but featured painfully slow gameplay and poor hit detection. It even contained a glitch on one of the rope swinging stages that would crash the game, making it unplayable without a cheat or a trainer.
In Japan, Taito developed its own port of the game for the MSX2 in 1988, which played well but had shorter redesigned levels. The sprites were a touch on the small side and the game lacked any continuous scrolling, but thankfully that didn’t detract from the overall gameplay.
PC owners were treated to an MS-DOS version by Novalogic, which was very faithful to the original arcade version in its design and even featured the coin-ops attract mode. The gameplay was excellent, and the graphics were nicely detailed. The only thing that let this version down was the awful PC speaker audio.
Sega gave us the only console port of Rastan, released on the Master System. The plot was also different; you were on a quest to rescue a kidnapped princess rather than slay a dragon. Much like the MSX2 version, the game featured shorter redesigned levels but with excellent graphics and a faithfully recreated soundtrack. I have to give a special mention to this port as the gameplay is spot on; I would highly recommend playing it if you get the chance. This version of the game was also ported over to the Sega GameGear but was only ever released in Japan.
Regarded by many as the best conversion of the original game is the version released for the Apple II GS, a somewhat unusual machine choice to release this type of game on. This version was not dissimilar to the MS-DOS version and featured near-perfect arcade-style graphics and gameplay with a colour palette far superior to that of the MS-DOS version. The only minor criticism is that the game runs far too fast, making collisions with enemies all too
common. However, this version truly stands out with the stunningly recreated soundtrack, which is near perfect to the original.
Tantalisingly, there was also a version for the Atari ST that was rumoured to have been started in 1988 by Ocean Software, but was never released. However, the rumours were eventually found to be true when some twentyfive years later, one of Oceans programmers found the prototype and released some demo footage of it on the internet. From what little footage there is, the game does appear as if it could have been a great 16-bit port, but sadly we’ll never know.
Keen to capitalise on the previous year’s success of Rastan, Taito quickly followed up with a sequel titled Rastan Saga II, or Nastar and Nastar Warrior as it was known in Europe and North America respectively. This time Rastan is out to slay an evil Wizard and his ‘wicked group’ who threaten the lands of ‘Rastania’. Much like the first game, Rastan must battle his way through six stages that all feature an outside section and a castle type section before squaring off against an end-level boss.
The stages had been given an overhaul, more reminiscent of ancient Greece or Rome
than Rastania. Rastan himself had a makeover looks-wise, but sadly not for the better. His combat abilities also had a polish; they now enabled him to block low and high attacks. Various new ‘gladiatorial’ type weaponry had been added, as had new power-ups which could charge up your weapons, make projectiles rotate around you, killing anything they came in contact with, or everything on screen.
Where the game begins to falter, however, is with its level design. Unfortunately the horizontal and vertical scrolling aspects that were such an essential feature of the original game were gone; instead we were presented with a linear horizontal side-scrolling epic with the occasional block to negotiate or pit to jump.
While graphically featuring more colours than its predecessor, the sprites are much too large, suffering from poor animation and low frame rates, with the game moving along at what feels like a snail’s pace. A welcome addition is the ability to play cooperatively with a friend. No name or reference appears to be made to player two however and the character is simply a clone of Rastan with a different skin colour. The saving grace is the soundtrack, with a high standard of music and sound effects throughout, albeit not in the iconic realms of the original.
Rastan Saga II in the arcade feels and plays like a rushed, unfinished game. It never quite achieves the same high standards as Rastan, nor was it the same commercial success.
With Rastan Saga II failing to achieve the same popularity as its predecessor, only two ports were ever released. The first was for the Sega Genesis / Megadrive, which came out in North America and Europe. While decent in terms of graphics, the game suffers from a poor soundtrack and is missing the digitised voice effects altogether. It also inherited the arcade original’s woeful gameplay but lacks the twoplayer co-operative play option.
The second port was a Japanese exclusive for the PC Engine, which was produced by Taito. Sadly, it too suffered from woeful gameplay and had washed out looking graphics. And just when you thought the gameplay couldn’t get any slower, it even had to ‘load’ each time you picked up a new weapon. The level design was identical to the arcade version, and the soundtrack was far better than that of the Genesis / Megadrive version. Like the earlier port, the game had no two-player option.
Feeling somewhat dejected after the poor reception of Rastan Saga II, our ruthless sword-swinging protagonist had a quick change of career, turning his hand to a spot of professional wrestling. Under the guise of ‘Miracle Rastan’, he appeared alongside seven other muscle-bound characters as part of Taito’s 1989 arcade game Champion Wrestler. The game was your standard one-on-one wrestling affair with a lot of joystick waggling and button-bashing required to beat your opponent effectively. It also featured a tag-team option, colourful graphics and some okay digitised sound effects. Overall, it was a decent wrestling game that wouldn’t be surpassed until WWF WrestleMania’s arrival some six years later.
Still smarting from the poor reception surrounding Rastan Saga II, it was time for Taito to have a rethink. Fast forward three years, and what they came up with was the new and improved, Japan-only exclusive, Rastan Saga Episode III: Warrior Blade. Sadly, despite featuring text in both Japanese and English, it never made it across the pond to Europe or North America.
This was a real shame as the game differed significantly from its two predecessors; it was now more of a fantasy-themed side-scrolling beat-em-up, similar to that of the Golden Axe series from Sega. As well as Rastan, thankfully back to looking like his old ‘Conan’ inspired self, you could now also choose to play as one of his new friends, Sophia the Thief or Dewey the Ninja, who both came with unique weapons and attack abilities. Dewey the Ninja, though? Come on, Taito. The game could also be played alongside another player, but sadly never featured a three-player option.
What made Rastan Saga Episode III interesting was that the cabinet had two arcade monitors set side by side allowing for a much larger play area. Starting the game, you had the option of selecting which of the four stages you wanted to play first, making level progression non-linear. Stages were once again full of enemies and featured various locations spanning forests, swamps, castles and even a sinking ship. Additional stages also saw you take to the skies riding a dragon, racing through the forests on horseback and sliding down a steep rocky mountainside, all the while dispatching wave after wave of enemies.
A key feature was the new set of magic attacks that are very similar to those in Golden Axe. The most interesting came in the form of the ancient wizard ‘Mahadidekaradi’ who could be summoned by collecting a crystal ball. He would then follow you through the level and by ‘whacking him’ with your weapon would cast a spell which helped dispose of the screen’s enemies — a bit over-aggressive — I’m sure a simple ‘please’ would have sufficed.
Graphically the game was gorgeous, and the 16-bit backgrounds some of the finest you’ll ever come across. The sprite animations are a super smooth delight. The game also features a decent level of blood and gore, which was present but less pronounced in the previous two instalments. The music is rather generic, but good enough, as are the sound effects, although some of the digitised voices are difficult to make out.
Overall, Rastan Saga Episode III: Warrior Blade is a very polished and fun game to play. However, the only minor criticism is that it’s far too short and way too easy to finish. Sadly, it never received any direct conversions, but it eventually appeared on the Japanese-only release of Taito Memories II Gekan, a compilation released in 2007 for the PlayStation 2.
Rastan made one final brief appearance in 2002 when Taito, for reasons unknown, decided to pick up the rights to a head to head fighter called Barbarian. Originally by American game developer Saffire and published by Titus, which incidentally was one of their last ever games. Barbarian was a less than average game, set in a 3D arena where you squared off against varying 3D warrior opponents. The game was heavily influenced by, and created in a similar style to, the Dead or Alive franchise. As for the Rastan reference, Taito renamed the game to Warrior Blade: Rastan Vs Barbarian and renamed the generic barbarian character of ‘Dagan’ to ‘Rastan’. Apart from the above two name changes, no further attempts to link the game to the Rastan Saga were made.
Overall, I’ve found that the Rastan series, with its combination of excellent gameplay, gorgeous graphics and unforgettable soundtrack, has that magical something that always keeps me coming back for more. It remains one of my personal favourite arcade games of all time. There’s no doubt in my mind that being a child of the 80s whose love of sword and sorcery fantasy epics like Schwarzenegger’s Conan movies has had such a massive bearing on why I love this franchise so much.
Despite all the highs and lows, Rastan remains one of Taito’s best-loved and bestselling arcade franchises of all time, and it is very easy to see why. Sadly, there are no current plans to bring Rastan into the next generation. However, there is a fan remake called Rastan: Birth of the King in development by French games designer Philippe Berreur, based on the Master System version. So far, things look very impressive, and I can’t wait to play the finished game. In the meantime, if you fancy checking it out, the Beta version can be downloaded from: https://filoulefilou.itch.io/rastan-birth-of-king
The Japanese only Wonderswan handheld is a fantastic handheld with some great games, but it has one huge flaw, the screen. With its low viewing angles and lack of a backlight, it’s a constant battle to get the Wonderswan in precisely the correct position to see the screen. It would be fantastic if it were possible to replace the original screen with a modern brighter one, and thanks to a (relatively) cheap Aliexpress purchase, we can do precisely that.
HOW SIMPLE IS IT TO ADD A NICE NEW SCREEN TO A CLASSIC WONDERSWAN CONSOLE?
Unfortunately, giving either a link or price to buy this replacement screen on Aliexpress is a bit tricky because items tend to change pretty quickly. Luckily, I found the one used in this article by searching for Wonderswan IPS. Thankfully, it’s not an expensive mod, costing in the region of £36.
The new screen sounds like a dream; bright, clear images, rich colours and easy to view at most angles. Best of all, it can be installed with minimal soldering, it doesn’t require the case to be modified, and features touch-sensitive controls so you don’t need to patch into the existing buttons or cut holes for new switches.
Our first job is to open up the Wonderswan, but before we start, we remove the battery holder and any game cart that might be present. The six screws on the back require a Torx screwdriver, the kit does come with a tool, but this proved to be very poor quality and almost caused a stripped screw. After the screws are released, the bottom of the case will be clipped closed, so carefully free it to give a clear view of the motherboard, which must also be removed to get to the screen. Fortunately, this only requires us to disconnect the ribbon cable.
With this cable removed, the motherboard lifts out easily and reveals the original LCD screen’s reflective back. A little caution is needed to remove the old screen as it is stuck in and will require you to lever it out slowly.
The best way to do this is to use a plastic tool to apply pressure under the screen at the top slowly. Remember to be careful with the plastic case as you don’t want to damage it. Once you’ve released the top of the screen, it should easily come away from the frame.
Now comes a tricky part, fitting the new screen into the front half of the Wonderswan case. The kit includes a square of adhesive that will stick the new screen to the case’s inside. This needs meticulous placement to ensure the new screen will be held firmly in place.
Once the new screen is in place, its time to
do some soldering. The new screen will need power to make it work, and we can get this from the battery terminals on the Wonderswan PCB. We need to solder the included wires to the positive and negative terminals. Once soldered, the wires need to be routed inside the case carefully to avoid blocking any of the buttons. The other ends of the wires can then be soldered to the relevant points on the new screen.
The PCB on the back of the new screen has two connectors with flat ribbon cables attached; one of these will connect to the screen, the other will connect to the Wonderswan motherboard. Once connected, the last job is to position the two touch sensors that will allow us to change the colour tone and brightness of the screen without having to fit additional switches to the case.
The sensors are carefully stuck to the inside top of the case, making them as flat as possible, leaving a gap between them to ensure it’s harder to activate both at the same time
Take some time to verify no wires are
covering any button contacts or screw holes. Once you’re happy, it’s time to put the case back together again, and the modification is complete. The next time you power up your Wonderswan you should have a lovely bright screen. Once powered on, you should touch the sensor points fitted earlier to cycle through brightness options and change the colour tone. If they don’t work, check to make sure all the ribbon cables are connected correctly and the two red wires are soldered to the right points.
Comparing the new screen on the WonderSwan to the old is like a night and day; the difference is simply astonishing. It’s almost a crime that the original screen hid the beautiful visuals the little handheld was throwing around. Final Fantasy, for example, looks incredible on the modified WonderSwan; the graphics are a match for any version out there. It can sometimes be tricky to recommend any surgery on a retro machine, but in this case, the low difficulty, lack of case modification, low price, and incredible improvement this mod brings means I have no hesitation saying this is a must.
The early 90s saw companies bank on the convergence of gaming and set-top boxes in your living rooms — Philips with the CD-i (1991), Commodore with the CDTV (1991), and Panasonic with the 3DO (1993). These
Hi-Fi looking, black box units would sit below your television and provide you with music, movies, games, and more. 1993 saw Pioneer use its Laserdisc technology to manufacture the LaserActive CLD-A100, a hybrid laserdisc player and video game console. It of course played the giant LP Record sized optical movie discs, 12 and 8 inch. But with the addition of an expansion PAC you could have it play Megadrive games, (cartridge and MegaC), PC Engine games (Hucard and Super CD-Rom²) turning it into this modular behemoth. The main unit, released in Japan and USA only, cost an equally behemoth ¥89,800 / $970 in 1993 money, with the separate add-on PACs being ¥39,000 / $600 each.
It was however the only way you can play the 30ish games that came on actual Laserdiscs themselves, either MegaLD for the Megadrive
PAC, or LD-Rom² for the PC Engine PAC. A mixture of FMV rail based shooters, FMV quick time event games, FMV multiple choice games, or FMV based education titles. With laserdisc versions of Road Blaster / Avenger and Time
Gal being of note. Games were ¥9800 / $120 each, driving up the cost of ownership even further. The PACs did come with their own Laseractive branded Megadrive / PC Engine
QUANG TAKES A LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF ONE OF THE RARE ITEMS IN HIS COLLECTION.
controller which look great in the matching dark grey with gold accents. Additionally there was a karaoke PAC, to connect microphones to, then sing-along to backing tracks. Also a Computer Interface PAC, to connect a PC / Mac via a 25-Pin serial port. There were even 3D goggles available, so up to two people could watch 3D content using an active shutter 3D system.
Physically the Laseractive is a giant laserdisc player, at a hefty 25lbs (about 11kg), with a magical expansion port at the front. The disc drawer is an overly engineered, automatic powered, dual tray mechanism with a large tray for the 12” laserdiscs, and a smaller tray that pops out the middle for 5” compact discs. It kind of reminds me of the Xenomorph
Queen from Aliens, with the little mouth, inside the big one.
Front left, there is a satisfyingly large Power button, next to the expansion PAC release, and Play/Pause buttons. These sit above a power light indicator, green when on, and red when in standby. Below that you get the Control PAC slot, for all your expansion needs. Front and centre is an infrared sensor, trimmed in gold, with an embedded reset button, sitting below the previously mentioned dual disc trays. Two trays meant you got two open
/ close buttons, front top right, one for LDs and the other for CDs. Then front bottom right there is a headphone jack with physical volume knob, and a magical digital memory button with light indicator.
This allowed for clean pause and fast forward / reverse scrubbing — no idea why you would turn that off.
Around the back, you get the outputs. Mini-jack connectors for compatible Pioneer SR-Link equipment, 2 x composite video out, RF out through the use of an external modulator, 2 x stereo audio out connections, and an optical out for the digital sound. The power supply is internal and the cable is hardwired to the back.
Ultimately the Pioneer LaserActive was just too expensive, and did not provide any unique experiences that were worth the exorbitant price tag.
You were better off getting a Megadrive with MegaCD, and a PC Engine Duo separately, unless of course you had some money to burn.