10 Most Underrated Mega Drive & Genesis Games Ever

6. Ristar - Sega (1995)

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Sega

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if Sonic's lush worlds were slowed way down so that you were encouraged to explore, puzzle and pull yourself onto ledges with your extending arms? If so, we have some very good news. Sonic Team actually built another mascot platformer amid all of the Sonic-mania of the time that did everything mentioned above.

Ristar, so named because you are in fact an anthropomorphic star, is everything cute and charming about the Sonic games, but slowed way down with emphasis on long, stretchable arms that are used both to attack enemies and move about. The platforming itself wasn't quite as demanding as its speedier cousin series but tricky puzzles and enemy pattern memorization were crucial.

Ristar never achieved the same type of recognition as Sonic, but a part of this is surely a result of its release late in the life of the Mega Drive. It's another all but forgotten title that holds up well today.

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Jason Russell has been working in video game journalism since the early 1990s before the internet existed, the term "fanzine" had meaning and sailors still debated as to whether or not the earth was flat. The first time. More recently he has been the guy responsible for the Retrospective column for Old School Gamer Magazine, pens up a Game Skinny column on a plethora of video game topics. He's somehow managed to author nine novels, writes and runs the blog CG Movie Review, is co-founder of the science fiction publishing house Starry Eyed Press, and sometimes, when the planets align and the caffeine has fully left his system, it's rumored he sleeps.