Ristar (Character)

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Ristar
Vital Statistics
Gender	Male
Race	Shooting Star
Status	Hero
Location	Valdi System

Ristar (pronounced as Rye-star, Wrist-ar, and Ree-star) is a young, but highly intelligent humanoid shooting star. He appears as the main character in the game Ristar, and has a slightly different story depending on the localized version. In the Japanese version he is awakened by Oruto to save the Valdi System from Kaiser Greedy, and in the US version, he is awakened by the Forest Denizens in lieu of his father being captured by Greedy and is on a quest to save his father and the galaxy. While there's no hint of the alternate story being canon, there's no contradiction between the two versions.

Development

During the development of the game, Sonic the Hedgehog, SEGA held an eternal contest to create a main character for the game, and in turn, a new mascot for the company. One of these concepts, drawn and created by Naoto Oshima, was a blue rabbit that would pick up and throw around objects using its ears. This idea was rejected for the "rolling hedgehog" idea.

Development Rabbit Design

While not confirmed, it is assumed this idea was repurposed for what would become Ristar, instead being one where a character would stretch their arms in order to grab and throw objects. Being designed by Yuji Uekawa, this character would be known as "Feel", who was a yellow, non-star shaped, sphere-bodied creature that would feel their surroundings. Feel would go through many name and design changes (some including "Volt" and "Dexstar") before eventually landing on "Ristar", an anthropomorphic shooting star with white gloves and lightning-bolt patterned shoes.

Involvement

Ristar is the main protagonist of the game. He is summoned by Oruto for a wish made from the plead of the elder and the tribe of Planet Flora to save the six main planets, Planet Flora, Planet Undertow, Planet Scorch, Planet Sonata, Planet Freon and Planet Automaton and defeat the evil Kaiser Greedy and his minions to save the Valdi System.

In the US version, there is no mention of Oruto though it can be implied she may have still summoned him. Ristar instead is awoken to rescue his father from Greedy. With the ending showing him jumping in his father's arms. It's also noted that Ristar's father attempted to stop Greedy but was stopped somehow and had to rely on his relatively newborn son.

Strategy

Ristar is vulnerable to natural hazards like spikes and lava. He can also get hurt by enemy contact and by projectiles. Using his arms, you grab on to the enemies and send yourself onto them to knock them out. You can also use the Special Stage spinners to get to the Special Stage and collect the treasures or use the normal ones to turn yourself into a shooting star (press the direction Ristar is facing without letting go the Grab button). He can also climb ladders and climbing up or down on baskets. He does not drown when in water, unlike Sonic, he has a unlimited supply of air.

Trivia

• Most of Ristar's animations have been altered in Western versions, giving Ristar an angry or more serious appearance, though his idle animations showing him reacting to the environment (e.g. dancing in Sonata, building a snowman in Freeon, and sweating in Scorch) remain unaltered. This is based on the "American Kirby is Hardcore" concept where Japan wasn't confident in characters being cutesy for the more hardcore US audience and thus he was changed to appear more serious.
• As we currently know, his full name is PJ Ristar.
  • Ironically, in the US version it's implied he's an infant as his father was attempting to save the galaxy but failed and had to call his young son to save him instead. The JP version makes no mention of his implied age.
  • Similarly, despite the US version attempting to make him more serious, he still has english voice acting that makes him sound really young, such as "Play with me?" which he opens the game with. Kirby who had a similar treatment never had a voice until Kirby 64 (barring the occasional mike ability) and just speaks in coos and yells anyway, despite speaking fully in text boxes before.
• In the Western versions, Ristar had a Skiing Segment at the beginning of Planet Freon, this was due to sport cutscenes/gameplay was popular to American audiences. The same sprites are in the Japanese Version, only unused, proving that there was going to be a Skiing cutscene in the Japanese version as well.
  • Sprites for a skiing Ristar can be found when hacking the Japanese ROM. However, they go completely unused in the final game.
  • Ristar’s skiing segment is reminiscent of the start of Ice Cap zone in Sonic the hedgehog 3 and Knuckles
• In the Western versions, Ristar puts on Anti-Gravity Shoes in the English version in Planet Automaton. The same "Swimming in Midair" scene is in the Japanese version, only lacking the shoes. The shoes were added to the American version to make it make the "Swimming in Midair" scene make sense.
• Ristar makes a cameo appearance in both Segasaga, Shenmue II (along with other famed SEGA characters), Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (in Death Egg Circuit from download content) where he's standing idly on the sidelines, and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed where he replaces NiGHTS as the flag carrier since NiGHTS is now a playable racer.
• Due to the US version having the story in game while the Japanese version does not, the removal of Oruto may be due to the fact that it doesn't make sense without context why she sends Ristar to save the world. As she only appears as a short flash (with a depressed looking expression) before Ristar is awoken. The US version updates the story to explain that Ristar's father was meant to answer the call but was captured thus justifying why Ristar himself had to be awoken. Though only through inference can we be sure Oruto was calling Ristar as if he was the legendary hero to answer the call while she herself is just a queen or sage. Given this isn't the only thing the US version "corrected" (the anti gravity shoes), and the english text in the Japanese version, it could just be a change of mind for the story overall.
  • As she appears in the later released Gamegear version, she wasn't meant to be removed from the story despite the change.