The Rastan series had an unremarkable, yet still competent start with its original game, being a pretty generic medieval-themed arcade platformer that was fun enough for the time it lasted, despite having several shortcomings that did drag it down. Those shortcomings, however, didn’t even compare to what Rastan Saga II gave us, as not only was that game a steep downgrade from the original game in just about every way, but it was also a god awful game in general, with horrible gameplay, ugly-ass visuals, and design choices that frankly make me wanna chuck the game out of a window… even though it is in an arcade cabinet, which I can’t chuck out a window, so I will just stare at it with a feeling of utter disgust. There is a chance, though, that Rastan can redeem itself, as we are now approaching the final chapter in the series, which would annoyingly be known as Warrior Blade: Rastan Saga Episode III (you think you got enough words in that title there? You sure you didn’t wanna add any more to clutter it up even further?).

Unlike with the previous two games, which were both side-scrolling medieval platformers, this game was changed to a hack-’n-slash beat-’em-up, which was interesting to see, but at the same time, it made me extremely worried. It was already a big enough risk to completely chuck a series’s formula out the door for a sequel, but the last time I saw a series do this was with Ikari Warriors, and that ended up being a pretty bad decision, so I was expecting this to turn out the same way. However, in the biggest twist of the 20th century, the exact opposite happened, as not only is this a pretty good game, but I would even say it is the best game in the entire series. Sure, it is still pretty basic, and it has nothing compared to other beat-’em-ups at the time, but for a game that you can beat in around 20 minutes, I was pleasantly surprised with what I got here, and I would choose it over the other two games in a heartbeat any day.

The story is as generic as they come for one of these games, primarily being about Rastan and his two companions, Dewey and Sophia, going around the kingdom of Ceim and gathering plenty of treasured artifacts and killing Satan… that’s not the plot synopsis, that’s just what I got from the cutscenes, because there is no synopsis of the game online for some reason. Take my word for it, cause I’m only right 100% of the time. Anyway, the graphics are pretty great, being a massive step up from the last two titles, and having great environments to admire and great sprites for all of the characters, enemies, and bosses (especially the bosses, look them up sometime, they are rad), the music is good, having plenty of good tunes to accompany you as you go on slashing your way through enemies, but none of it stuck out as memorable to me, the control is what Golden Axe WISHES it could be, as it feels fast, swift, and responsive, making the combat actually feel satisfying and fun, and the gameplay is mostly typical for what you would expect from a beat-’em-up, but with a few hiccups that kinda drag it down.

The game is a weapons-based beat-’em-up, where you take control of Rastan, Dewey, or Sophia, go through a set of ten stages across the kingdom, most of which you can play through in any order you want, slash through many different foes that you will encounter using either your basic weapon or whatever else you can find, gather plenty of treasure, health potions, and additional power ups that can assist you in whatever hostile situation you find yourself in, and fight plenty of monstrous bosses that… you can easily eliminate with no effort at all……………… but hey, its the effort that counts! Most of this is what you would think a medieval-themed beat-’em-up would have, but hey, these games are all about grabbing a buddy (not literally, stop that), popping some coins in that machine, and just having a good time, which this game manages to do, again, for a short time, but an enjoyable time nonetheless.

If I were to describe this game in one sentence, I would say that it is essentially Golden Axe except if the devs actually wanted the player to have fun. You can go about the stages at your own pace, the combat feels restrictive, yet still swift and fast enough to where taking out foes feels satisfying, there is a tally for how much treasure you get at the end of each stage, which encourages you to fight with your friend over who can get the most treasures, an art of these games that is essential to having a great time, and the visual presentation that makes what you are playing through interesting enough to not drop it immediately after dying. Not to mention, the power ups and upgrades that you can get throughout the journey that much better, such as ones that let you shoot fire and lighting from your sword, one that upgrades it to an axe to deal more damage, and different types of medicine to heal you up. In addition, there is also a powerup that allows you to summon an old wizard man, who follows you around for a bit, and when you approach him, it allows him to cast a spell that will immobilize all enemies on screen, which is a real big help if you find yourself surrounded by too many foes at once.

Although, the chances of that happening are pretty damn slim, as this game, especially when compared to other arcade games, is pretty easy. Yeah, the bosses can be tricky, and there are plenty of enemies that will give you a hard time, but given the fact that you can kill most of them in a couple hits or less, it makes dealing with all of them not that much of an issue at all. Also, you remember how I said earlier that you can go about the stages at the same pace? Well, I meant that literally, since instead of having to fight all the enemies to progress forward, you can just run straight through the stages a lot of the time just to go straight to the boss, not needing to worry about anything for the most part. I guess that is good for those who wanna get a move on, but at the same time, that kinda defeats the purpose of a beat-’em-up if you have the option to… you know, NOT beat-’em-up. Aside from those issues, the only other complaints I have would be very minor things, such as the limited time use of the powerups and the game’s short length. Nothing much else to go on about.

Overall, despite the easy difficulty and the lack of care that a player can have when playing it, this game was still a fun surprise, especially when talking about this series, with it being a basic medieval beat-’em-up, but one that manages to provide a good experience for the short time it lasts, and one that I wish had more going on, just to make it that little bit better. I would recommend it for those who were fans of the previous Rastan games (yes, even the second one, if you are wrong), as well as those who are fans of medieval beat-’em-ups in general, because even if this one isn’t that much more complex or exciting as others, it at least manages to be just fun enough to where I don’t care about any of that. But with all that being said though, this would be the last that the world would ever see of Rastan, as he would fade away into obscurity forever… which kinda sucks, when you think about it. Just when he got a game that was actually pretty good, they just pull the plug on him, the bastards! I guess I will just go back to Golden Axe then, even though I won’t be happy about it.

Game #513

Off-kilter in many minor ways but also kind of a gnarly good time.

Number one, this has to be one of the easiest arcade beat 'em ups ever in that there's literally nothing stopping you from just running full speed past all the enemies straight to the end of the level, lol. Can't do it on the (quite good, settings-justified) vehicle/auto-scrolling areas, but still.

Graphics are very detailed and well-drawn but are overall kind of static and the backgrounds are too washed out, giving an odd feel. Likewise the music is kind of strange, with sparse instrumentation, and at times legitimately ... mellow? Which weirdly does work occasionally, but still, interesting choice. Also I don't know if I was playing a weird version or what, but there was an absolute eff-ton of spoken German dialogue throughout the entire game? Like basically nonstop? I don't ... I don't know, man.

For the fighting, most of your moves are context-sensitive rather than button combos, which I like less, but you can still just mash your way to victory and have fun doing it, so I didn't mind at all. The other two characters have some variety, but come on, you're playing as frickin Rastan. He has a sword that's like seven feet long, get real.

No luminary of the genre but it's an easy, good time with a bit of it's own personality. For a brawler that's a thumbs up.

After the failure of the poor Nastar Warrior or Rastan Saga II, Taito tries to veer the series into a different direction with Rastan III. Gone is the hack-n-slash with minor platforming gameplay, now it has been replaced with Final Fight/Golden Axe-esque beat-em-up action, which was extremely popular in the arcades till the mid-90s.

Rastan Saga III visually is absolutely fantastic. The game has a dual-screen layout with huge, gorgeous sprites in highly detailed screens ranging from forests to a shipwreck. Features quality Team Zuntata music as well, though not as instantly memorable as their output in Darius, Bubble Bobble and Rastan etc.

The game tries to be non-linear by giving players the choice in choosing which stage to tackle first, which adds some surface-level variety, though not sure if it matters much with the ending. Rastan also gets a personality change: in this game he's more Conan-like beyond just the visual likeness; he's more like a mercenary or a gun-for-hire where he chooses to destroy his enemies not to save his "Rastania" or homeland, but to get ALL the loot. He even brings two friends along to aid him in the quest to gain the ultimate treasure.

Don't go expecting a classic. It was not really pushing the brawler genre forward, rather just cashing in on the craze of the time. But if treated like what it is: a short romp through gorgeous fantasy vistas with great music, then there's a good chance of liking it.