Prerelease:Ristar (Genesis)
This page details pre-release information and/or media for Ristar (Genesis).
 | To do: * Cover the main differences for the Sega Handler build.
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Ristar went through some interesting changes during development, most notably that Ristar himself originally wasn't a star.
Contents
Concept
When development on the game itself began, Ristar was a spherical creature named "Feel" who didn't even look like a star. Multiple different designs were made for this creature, with in-game sprites created for both of these along with many other designs, as can be seen in development footage.
The same creature, only without the gloves and two points instead of a hair-like design. Matches design #6 in the development footage.
A variation of the same create, with gloves, shoes, and hair(?). Matches design #8 in the development footage.
Around late 1993, the decision was made to redesign the character. The redesign resulted in the creation of Ristar. This design is near-identical to the final save for the lack of gloves and shoes, and matches the one seen in the New Player Basic-Action. 1993 11-15 segment of the available development footage.
Feel Prototype
During 1994, Sega supposedly sent out prototypes of Feel for magazine coverage in Europe, even though the character's design had been more-or-less finalized by the end of 1993. For this section it doesn't really matter when the articles are dated for their coverage on Feel because it's evident they all use the same build, so all the screenshots will be grouped together and in order.
Title Screen
| Feel | Ristar (July 1, 1994 Proto) | Ristar (Final, Japan) |
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The title screen is completely different, though the basic concept is the same. Notably, the planetoid design on the Feel title screen matches the one seen in the July 1, 1994 Ristar prototype.
Also of note is how the shape of the metal plate behind the logo wasn't changed for the final game, which explains its rather unorthodox shape since it was made with the Feel logo in mind.
Round Title Card
| Feel | Ristar (Final, Japan) |
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The round title card had Feel on it. Ristar is apparently a little shy, as he doesn't appear here in the final. A bit of the bottom part of this screen also appears to be overwritten with garbage data for unknown reasons.
Planet Neer/Flora
| Feel | Ristar (Final, Japan) |
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The horizon is more yellowish, but other than that the game's first planet doesn't look too different from the final. Also note the HUD is a bit different: Lost health is represented by empty stars, the score counter has a different font, and the life counter doesn't have Feel pointing at it, instead using different graphics that can still be found in the final ROM.
| Feel | Ristar (Final, Japan) |
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Some of the background graphics seem to be arranged a bit differently.
| Feel | Ristar (Final, Japan) |
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Same here. The Orblet here appears to have a more neutral expression, compared to the final game's semi-angry look.
| Feel | Ristar (Final, Japan) |
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The camera appears to be set lower and more to the left during the Riho boss fight.
Planet Leatow/Undertow
| Feel | Ristar (Final, Japan) |
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The background originally looked very empty, the darker underwater palette for this stage was not implemented yet, and the buildings had more of a green/blue tint than the final's mainly-pink tint.
Planet Onaclove/Scorch
| Feel | Ristar (Final, Japan) |
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The ground appears a bit brighter than the final game.
| Feel | Ristar (Final, Japan) |
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The pully is on the right side in Feel, and there seems to be one less pipe in this section.
Planet Elykiki/Freon
| Feel | Ristar (Final, Japan) |
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The foreground elements are quite different visually, there are no ice flowers on the left and right, and the crystal is yellow here instead of green. There is also a hole shooting a jet of snow, which despite being removed in the final still has its graphics present in the ROM.
| Feel | Ristar (Final, Japan) |
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The ladder handles are absent in this section, and there is a spike ball seen on the right. The ball could be an early design for the enemy that would replace its position in the final, or an entirely unique obstacle that was removed from the final.
Planet Rewope/Automaton
| Feel | Ristar (Final, Japan) |
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Almost completely redone visually. The level design in this section is identical, though.
Later Feel 1993 Footage
On December 30, 2020, a VHS tape of Feel animations was shown off during a Hidden Palace stream. The tape was then later cleaned up and improved and released again on November 24, 2022 (and also includes a brief snippet of gameplay from Seima Densetsu 3x3 Eyes on the Mega-CD). The tape contains various sprite designs and animations for Feel from a couple different points in development, with one of them dating after the magazine screenshot build, and a title card precedes each section:
- Basic-Action. - Shows a design of Feel walking, jumping, and "launching self at enemy/object" animations, using a design similar to the one seen in the magazine shots. The red areas of the shoes are instead coloured blue, and the character lacks gloves, instead wearing golden-coloured wristbands.
- Player-Sample - Shows off various designs/outfits for Feel:
- Design #1 is the same as the one seen in the various magazine scans.
- Design #2 is the same one seen in the previous section of the video.
- Design #6 matches the concept art with the purple feet and golden wristbands. Design #3 is also similar and is possibly an earlier iteration of the same design, as the only major difference is the lack of the purple hoops around the shoulders seen in #6 and the matching concept art.
- Design #7 is the only one with the star-shaped yellow portion of Ristar's eventual final design. Unlike the concept art and the version seen later in the video, this one appears to have both gloves and shoes, albeit different from the ones seen in the finished game.
- Design #8 matches the concept art with the swept-back hair(?), blue shoes, and orange gloves.
- Hand-Color-Sample - Shows off various hand/glove designs. Feel otherwise has his design from the first portion.
- New Player Basic-Action. 1993 11-15 - Shows Feel's walking, jumping, and "launching self at enemy/object" animations, using a design based on #7 from the second portion. This variation has no gloves or shoes, matching the version of this design seen in available concept art. The title of this section suggests that this was the then-current Feel design, along with dating the tape to November 15, 1993.
- End - Marks the end of the tape, as you'd expect.
Sega Handler Video Build (March 1994)
| To do: List MORE notable differences AND PLEASE clean up!.. |
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Footage of a later Feel build. (Seen at 7:42 in the video.) Despite the title, his design is now finalized.
Title Screen
| Sega Handler Video Build | Ristar (July 1, 1994 Proto) | Ristar (Final, Japan) |
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Although he now has his final design, Ristar's left hand is making a peace sign consistent with the previous version of the title screen; this was changed to a single raised index finger in later builds. His eyes and eyebrows also appear to be drawn differently. The logo graphic still uses the Feel title, and appears unchanged from the earlier builds. Finally, there appear to be less large stars in the background, and the ones which are present are arranged differently to later builds.
HUD
| Early Lives Icon | Unused Lives Icon | Final Lives Icon |
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| Early Health/Stars Icon | Final Health/Stars Icon |
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| Early Points Icon | Final Points Icon |
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- The health icon still uses the older character design from earlier builds
- Lost health is still represented by hollow stars.
- The font for points is more basic.
Beep! Megadrive (August 1994)
| Prerelease | Ristar (July 1, 1994 Proto) | Ristar (Final, Japan) |
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The title screen now has it's final title and is closer to the July 1, 1994 prototype. Ristar is still performing a peace sign here like the the Sega Handler Video Build, and his eye brows were slightly tweaked. His arm also extends an unusual length to his back.
