Video Game / Rastan

"The story of how I become king is so long that I can't tell it in one night."
"But, I'll tell you as long as I can. About those days filled with danger and treasures..."

Rastan Saga is a series of Arcade Games released by Taito.

The first game is released in 1987, where players assume the identity of the eponymous Barbarian Hero, Rastan, on his quest to become a king as he travels the lands, slaying various evil-doers, undead, and other monsters using his trusty sword and an assortment of weapons and available power-ups.

A big hit upon release (being noted by Japan's Game Machine magazine as the second most successful table arcade unit of the month), the game received a sequel, Rastan Saga II, immediately a year later, which was more or less a rehash of the first.

Warrior Blade: Rastan Saga Episode III, the third and final installment, is an Arcade Game featuring a dual-screen display also used on one version of Darius II. It forgoes the platforming elements of the first two games, being a Beat 'em Up / Hack and Slash actioner instead (inspired by the then-recent Golden Axe franchise). This time Rastan has a pair of allies, his sidekick Dewey and a thief named Sophia, allowing up to two players at once, on a quest seeking the Jewels of Depon.

The unrelated fighting game Barbarian (Titus) is a Dolled-Up Installment of the series in Japan due to Taito being the publisher there.

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The Rastan trilogy contains examples of:

• Ambidextrous Sprite: The first game's Soldiers have exactly half their body armored. Which half depends on which direction they're facing.
• Anachronic Order: The second game is actually where Rastan's quest began—defeating Kahli is how he ultimately receives the name "Rastan".
• And the Adventure Continues: The endings of all three games have Rastan continuing his journey to become king after defeating the Final Boss.
• Assist Character: In the third game, you can obtain the assistance of Mahadidekardi the wizard, who assists you by casting a variety of spells, either by blowing up all enemies onscreen, casting a Medusa's Gaze and petrifying them, unleashing a freezing mist and turning enemies into ice, or turning them into frogs. But if he runs out of his Magic Level or if you lose a life, Mahadidekardi leaves.
• Attract Mode: The attract mode (in the first two games) covered the Excuse Plot in a few short blurbs and had a list showing what every item in the game did.
• Baphomet: The third game has a boss being a Living Statue of a demon modeled exactly like Baphomet himself, a goat-headed monster sitting in a cross-legged pose as he sics monsters on you. In the first game, Symplegades emerges from a doorway topped with a carving like Baphomet's head for the third boss fight.
• Bat Out of Hell: Giant bats are a recurring Airborne Mook in all three games.
• Battle Boomerang: The third game has boomerang-throwing mooks with no limit to their ammunition.
• Big Red Devil: The Final Boss of the third game, fought at the exit of the Temple of Gulestopalis. He first appears as a human, before casting a spell transfiguring him into a horned, red-skinned, winged demon which is as difficult to defeat as he appears. Kill him and he'll turn back to human form in his dying throes.
• "Blind Idiot" Translation: The second game suffers from this a lot, at least in the arcade version. So does the third game, with typos all around.
• Breath Weapon: A good number of bosses and lesser foes can breathe ranged attacks on the heroes. The Hydra and Dragon from the original game breathe fire, unsurprisingly, while King Zananstaff from the third game breathes blue flaming skulls which not only damage you when they hit, but generate a new hostile skeleton on hitting the ground.
• Classical Chimera: Chimaeras, resembling lions with goat and snake heads growing from their shoulders as well as having serpentine tails, are an enemy from the first game. She's not as tough as she looks though, as she'll be dispatched with one hit.
• Creepy Centipedes: The second game has giant centipedes several times larger than Rastan, crawling from underground and along walls to bite at the hero.
• Dem Bones: Skeletons are a recurring enemy in all three of the games, with the first game notably having Graton, a halberd-wielding skeletal warrior as it's first boss.
• Epic Flail: An available weapon in all three games. Rastan can collect a mace (in the form of a spiked ball on a chain) to use in place of his sword, which offers greater range. In the third game Sophia can collect a power-up that upgrades her whip into a flail.
• Evil Wizard:
  • Symplegades, the third boss of the first game. He attacks with wide arcs of energy orbs, while also teleporting (or feinting teleports).
  • The Final Boss of the second game, Kahli, who threatens the land with an army of monsters which Rastan must slay.
  • The third game has an unnamed, purple-clad sorcerer as a boss who seems to have Mind over Matter abilities, levitating rocks and blades to be flung at you. He can also cast fireballs and Teleport Spam all over the place until you kill him.
• Fish People: Fish men are another enemy in the series. Plenty of these show up in III's harbour stage.
• Flame Spewer Obstacle: Later rounds in the first game feature wall traps that emit blue flames at regular intervals.
• Flaming Sword: The Fire Sword is the strongest of the weapons Rastan can obtain in the first game, having the Axe's power and outdoing the Mace's range with fire projectiles. Rastan Saga II turned the flames into an add-on power-up instead of a weapon in itself.
• Flunky Boss:
  • The Final Boss of the second game, Kahli, alternates between blasting you with projectiles and casting summoning spells bringing mooks to fight you.
  • King Zananstaff from the third game, being a Stationary Boss as a skeleton on a throne, can't move about, but instead will repeatedly summon skeletons while shooting blue fireballs at you from his throne. You'll need to bypass his attacks, fight off his skeletons, and hit him on his throne until he goes down.
• Gashadokuro: Two of these show up in III. Pas de Deux, a two-headed giant skeleton with scythes for arms, is a boss of the harbour stage, and must be killed twice, while the boss of the Spiral Tower is a gigantic, ox-headed, flaming skeleton monster.
• High-Altitude Battle: The third game has a level where the heroes ride a winged lizard and fly up a canyon, while battling enemy soldiers on their own steeds.
• Horseback Heroism: The third game has a stage where the heroes ride across a forest while fighting enemy bandits, similarly on horseback. Said stage is fittingly called "Horseman's Forest".
• I Cannot Self-Terminate: King Zananstaff from the third game, when you confront him, is revealed to be cursed by a spell reducing him into a skeleton, incapable of even leaving his throne, and must attack literally everyone who enters his throne room. For the entirety of the boss battle, as you cut down his skeletons, King Zananstaff will repeatedly plead, "Help me... kill me... help me..."
• Interesting Situation Duel: The third game has a stage where Rastan, Dewey, and / or Sophia slide down a steep, ice-covered hill, just as they're pursued by hostile Gigas on their own sleds, at which point the heroes must fend off Giga mooks while skidding downhill all the way. Every now and then there will be crevasses halfway through, that the players must jump over (while Giga enemies not killed by the players will instead fall into the cracks en masse to their demise), only for more lizard-men to appear. The entire stage keeps sliding downhill until the player reaches the foot of the hill.
• Later-Installment Weirdness: For the third game, at least. It ditches all the single-player platforming elements from the previous two and turns it into a Hack and Slash brawler emulating Golden Axe. Also, Rastan now has two companions, which the game treats like they were there all along, despite the first two games having Rastan going on his quest alone. Given the Anachronic Order of the series—the second game is actually Rastan's first quest, chronologically speaking—it's entirely possible that Dewey and Sophia joined Rastan between the events of I and III.
• Lizard Folk: Armed lizard men known as Gigas are a recurring enemy in all three games, which Rastan slays by the ton.
• Medusa: Medousa Ney shows up as a boss in the second game. She isn't depicted as a half-snake half-woman monster common in various media (and the Sega Master System version of the first game), but instead follows the more classical depictions in myths. She also has a Teleport Spam ability making her difficult to hit.
• Multi-Armed and Dangerous: The wizard Final Boss of II grows extra arms when Rastan confronts him. He wields swords on two of his arms, and uses the other 4 for casting attacking spells or summoning mooks on Rastan.
• Noodle People: The monks, an enemy in the third game, are groups of impossibly skinny mooks who look almost boneless when they're walking. They naturally have pathetic health, but can be quite fast on their feet as well as attacking with ranged projectiles.
• Our Centaurs Are Different: Centaurs working for the forces of chaos are an enemy in both games. They're usually armed with lances and despite their size, go down as easily as any other mook. The Master System version of the first game replaces Graton with a centaur boss, while the second game has Hal Kentauros as the third boss.
• Our Dragons Are Different: A red, fire-breathing dragon is the Final Boss of the first game.
• Our Gargoyles Rock: Gargoyles appear in all three games as an Airborne Mook enemy.
• Our Hydras Are Different: A green, five-headed hydra shows up as a boss in the first game. It can shoot fireballs from all five of its heads, and Rastan must decapitate all five of them to defeat said hydra. Interestingly, the Hydra Problem is averted, as the monster dies once all five heads are cut and they don't regenerate.
• Point of No Continues: You will not be able to continue in the first game after slaying the Hydra and entering the final stage.
• Shield-Bearing Mook: Human warrior enemies tends to use shields and swords in tandem. It offers them slightly more defense than the lesser monsters, but they still go down without too much trouble.
• Slave Mooks: In the Japanese version, the original between-stage texts are left intact (in their original English). After defeating Slay at the end of Stage 2, Rastan notes that his foes' extreme aggression towards him is an effect of a curse instilled by the Dragon.
• Smashing Hallway Traps of Doom: All three games in the series have these in the castle areas, in the form of spiked platforms lowered from the ceiling.
• Spikes of Doom: Spikes make a regular appearance as jutting spears. They are also found on Smashing Hallway Traps of Doom. In more natural environs, stalagmites will sometimes stab upwards at regular intervals.
• Standard Hero Reward: The Sega Master System version of Rastan (first game) ends with Rastan saving the princess and being offered her hand in marriage by the king of Chamois, as well as a large amount of treasure. However, he declines it on the grounds that "she's not the person to be the wife of a thief like me."
• Sword Beam: One of the recurring power-ups in all three games, which allows Rastan to shoot fireball attacks from his sword with each swing.
• Tentacled Terror: The captain of the pirate ship from the third game initially appears humanoid, but as you confront him, he reveals the multiple tentacles tucked in his back. And then the ship collapses, dropping the captain into the sea water and revealing his true form as a gigantic kraken demon.
• Throne Room Throwdown: King Zananstaff from the third game is fought in his throne room. Zananstaff, though, can't actually leave his throne due to the curse placed on him, meaning you have to wade through his "guardians" until you can finally end his misery.
• To Be a Master: Rastan narrates at the end of the arcade version: "This is only part of my long story — only a part to become a king."
• Two Guys and a Girl: In the third game, Rastan is joined by his sidekick Dewey, and Sophia, the token female joining them, makes them a trio.
• The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: The final stage in the first game makes this very clear in the exterior area. The sky completely occluded by angry red clouds that only change color, to black and grey, during a thunderclap. You can't continue. Large boulders drifting in the background. This is definitely the Dragon's home stomping ground.
• Vine Swing: For the first two games, swinging on conveniently placed vines or ropes help Rastan cross pits of obstacles. It's not quite clear what they're hanging from in some outdoor areas.
• Winged Humanoid: In addition to the Gargoyle and Harpy enemies, the first game's second boss, Slay, will sometimes deploy bat/demon wings to quickly charge Rastan.
• Wolverine Claws: The second game introduces clawed gauntlets Rastan can use instead of his sword (it's in fact proudly depicted on the game's cover). These claws are among the fastest weapons in the game, though it's predictably limited in range compared to swords or axes. These claws return in the third game.

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