Arcade Spotlight - The Rastan Saga 

I remember slapping quite a few quarters into this At the local Pizza Hut, They had this, golden axe, toki and rolling thunder. I wouldn't trade those pizza grease soaked memories for anything.

Rastan Episode 3 is such an under appreciated title. I discovered a while back in MAME, and play it a lot. The first title is such a classic. Great video.

Rastan is my all time favorite arcade game! I used to draw out that 1st castle board instead of doing schoolwork lol. The music is epic.The way it speeds up the closer you get to dying is something that should be utilized more often.

Rastan og theme is incredible, the Master system rendition is so haunting.

So that's where "Volgarr the Viking" came from.

I encountered a Rastan cabinet when I was very young and was mesmerized by it. I didn't do very well, but I probably ended up drawing things based on it afterward. Probably a year later, my mom surprised me with a Master System game and it was Rastan. I didn't know it was on or even coming to the Master System. And it was rare to see a third-party dev like Taito involved. It ended up being one of my favorites on the system. Last year, I watched Conan The Barbarian again(director's cut...I liked the added and changed stuff and thought it made the movie better overall). Afterward, I had the urge to play Golden Axe and Rastan. Rastan arcade is pretty tough, but I kept coming back to it. And it holds up well in its presentation. Rastan for the MS felt a little clunky at first, coming back to it after so long, but I finally got the feel for it back and ended up liking it a lot. It's the type of thing I go for in the 8-bit era. I love those action platformers. The Master System version was quite well done. I even thought it was improved in some ways. The wall jumping was nice and the level designs might have been tweaked for the better in some spots. But I ended up liking both versions after all these years and Rastan still remains one of my favorites on the Master System. Glad to see I'm not the only one that knew about it and still remains fond of it.

Looks like this game had a huge influence on Volgarr the Viking

There's also a fourth Rastan game on the PS2 in Japan, but it's a Doki Doki Panic-ed sprite swap of Barbarian 3 (possibly as none of the other Barbarian games came out in Japan) Also Rastan is a playable character in Taito's arcade wrestling game (forgotten the name).

I played this at an arcade as a kid and loved it. Never was able to play again until i got the taito great hits on xbox. Thanks for the video

I'm really surprised about Rastan III. I must play it! It looks amazing

Bro I was psyched when I saw you had done a video on Rastan, one of my all time favourite arcade games. The master system conversion is great as well, it was this version I played first round my friends house. We played it religeously, still do. We took turns doing a level each last week. The wall jumping in the master system version is a really cool addition to the game too.

The TG-16 had Legendary Axe played similar to Rastan with similar ideas.

Rastan was an amazing game. That classic, addictive Taito gameplay and soundtrack. I didn't get to play it often in arcades, but one of my childhood neighbors was the only one I knew who had a Master System and he had this game. I loved every minute of it. Those memories have stuck with me for over 30 years. I had no idea there was a Rastan III!! God bless you and your channel! If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have known about all these hidden gems. Kuri Kinton was another Taito hidden gem that I played for ONE DAY as a kid at a skating rink and I remembered everything about it and rejoiced when it was rereleased on the Taito Memories Pocket on the PSP! Taito truly deserves to be fondly remembered like Sega and Namco do for their groundbreaking arcade titles.

Your content is ALWAYS astoundingly good. You definitely deserve more subs! Keep up the great work and thanks for your videos!

9:39: Wait a minute, that's German! "Ich lösche Dich aus!" = "I'll annihilate you!" or (more literally) "I'll snuff you out!"

Awesome video! You're knocking it out of the park in terms of quality, and I have no idea how you're producing so many videos lately. For those who want more Rastan-style action, Volgarr the Viking is heavily inspired by the original Rastan arcade game... but it's brutally difficult. There's also a Commodore 64 homebrew that just came out this year called The Age Of Heroes. I haven't played it myself yet, but it looks and sounds great for a C64 game and includes levels selectable from a map like Rastan 3 as well as added RPG style advancement. It's also worth checking out the original C64 port of the arcade game - the game itself isn't great but the soundtrack arranged by Martin Galway is amazing, particularly for hardware with only 3 sound channels.

Funnily enough both Rastan on the MS and Rastan Saga 2 on the MD were amoung the last few titles i purchased for those consoles. I enjoyed the 1st but not so much its sequel. I'll definitely have to get my brother round for a 2 player game on Warrior Blade over the festive period.

Rastan. My God. I would play this when I was in Jr High (middle school). I would go during lunch and after school to this Mini Mart and play it. To this day the music still plays in my head. Find memories ♥️. Great video. Thank you.

Best home version of Rastan: Apple IIgs, bar none! My IBM, C64, and Amiga owning friends were amazed at how much better it was then their versions.

Wow! I am a huge Rastan fan and had no idea there was a third game! You rule SLX, now we just need modern port - the 2 screen thing could transform into modern HD aspect ratio nicely!

“Go, follow this path” Also...Rostan?

The only game that ever managed to feel like a real sequel to Rastan was Volgarr. The Dreamcast port is excellent too.

In Rastan (original) it was pretty much a feature having a huge , several screens tall scrolling background (also with clever palette swap to represent night), when you first reach a cliff edge and jump off it is epic, that feeling is absent in Nastar warrior , the sprite size and screen size are one of the magic elements of Rastan, it will never be truly repeated, Only us who played it at the time will really get how amazing a game this was.

The sound track is like you say one of those music that keeps in your mind. Thanks for this. I grew up playing Sega games!!!

I have a similar story- I found it at the back of a 7-11. The music was just so freaking amazing and being able to get different weapons was awesome!

Such an awesome game! Still remember hearing the music as a kid in a bowling alley. First time playing it - 😱🤯 Woh, blown away!

You should see the MS-DOS port of Rastan. They did an amazing job, especially when you consider that most IBM-PC ports of arcade games of that era were hot garbage.

I finished the rastan game on my Sega Master system and no one I knew could get past many levels due to the learning curve which has side jumps angle jumps and up down attacks that you had to learn and execute perfectly. I enjoyed it and started with arcade. I've never seen the latest entry with two screens that looks mighty fun.

Rastan is incredible. As a kid, it was at a local store, Grandpa Pidgeon's, and its visuals always stuck with me. I got it day one with my Master System when I got one, and the inclusion in Taito Memories prompted me to buy a japanese PS2. I never beat it until years later, after I bought a legit arcade pcb, where I finally put it down clean, 1cc. Top ten arcade game for me.

No other game music will ever be as epic as Rastan's

Man this game brings back memories! I remember there a cabinet at this liquor store and the game was popular that gangsters would come in and play it. The music and sound FX were mesmerizing 😎👍🏽

The first game is so good. Back in the 80s I would watch this dude with a Ride the Lightning Tshirt play this game to completion at the skating rink. Always same dude, always same tshirt. Great video!!

Rastan saga... A game that I loved it on the arcade. Played a lot. And that music...

No lie about the music! As a little kid I found it scary yet epic. That soundtrack meant serious business

Thanks a ton for making an upload about this one. I have fond memories of waking through the local farmers market as a kid and being entranced by this epic looking arcade cabinet. The few times I was given a couple quarters to play were magical 😊 Got to the part where u show Rastan 3...holy cow that looks amazing! I was not aware of this one.

Great informational video about the Rastan Saga, one of my all time favorite games! There is Volgarr The Viking which gives a Homage to Rastan in many ways.

Great video!! Rastan is one of my favs as well...had no clue there was a third! Thanks for the info.

Rastan Saga II is indeed the middle child of a family that nobody even remembers nowadays. I used to play it in the Genesis as well, mainly because I liked the music but with the years I grew fond of it for some reason. I may add that the Genesis version it's actually harder than the arcade original, especially with the bosses. Rastan Saga III may be the best beat-em-up of it's time, gorgeous graphics and sound design. It's also funny that it had voiceovers in german of all languages. I don't know what happened in Japan at the time but Akumajou Dracula: Rondo of blood also had german voiceovers for its intro sequence.

I had a bit of animosity about the first Rastan, a gas station near me had Karnov, I loved that game. Was too dumb and loyal to give Rastan a chance when it replaced Karnov.

Rastan and Captain Silver were the 2 games that I really wanted to play on my Master System. Sadly I never found those game back then. I played them recently on a Sega Master emulator and they are both amazing version. My childhood could have been perfect, but it never was.

Love Rastan!! I had no idea there was a 3rd game till I played it on an emulator, it's a hidden gem for sure!!

That cinematic wide screen of Rastan 3 was also used on a Taito robotic ninja game. I cant remeber its gawdam name tho but we played the shit out of it

The Master System version is one of my all time fav games on the console. I'd argue its right up there as one of the best ports as I still go back to it today.

Loved this game in the arcade. Timeless classic. Great video.

I love everything about the SMS version! Another shining example of SEGA taking the arcade versions of games and working to keep all the main components, *level design* (HUGE SEGA!), gameplay and music. The sound/video weren’t arcade perfect, but WOW! Their conversions kicked the rusted tail of ANYTHING Nintendo tried (and they left the arcade scene FAST, knowing it would be futile). If you like side scrolling Barbaric battle against mythical evil creatures with platform adventure, precision jumps and fantasy settings and incredible mood-perfect music for the levels and bosses and other weirdness.

I enjoy these highlight videos, mostly because chances are it'll be a game we never got much opportunity to play or even hear about.

Man this takes me back. I use to love playing this in the arcade, getting those claws and going at it. Really a classic

Oh snap, I think this may have been a game I played in the mid-90's at a big place which was similar to Chuck-E-Cheese or Discovery Zone. I remember the arcade had a muscular dude fighting enemies. You would begin walking left to right with mountains in the background then fall into an underground cavern where you could find power ups. I had no idea how to search for this game online because my memories were so vague.

I only own 2 arcade pcbs, and Rastan is the first one I bought (Golden Axe is the other). I’ve been slowly gathering everything I need to build arcade cabinets for both.

I had totally forgotten about this game. I only saw the first one before you made this. I knew what it was at first glance though.

Well done! Played the hell out of this back in the day

7:00 “Truth, protect yourself and fight the enemy” 9:16 “Know your Limits”

that original arcade music is a regular ear worm of mine :-) i look fwd to investigating 3 as i had not heard of it and i love Golden Axe, Knights of the Round and all that stuff.

One of my favorite master system titles. Never saw it in the arcade.

Dude constantly picks my favorites. Where's Mystic Defender? Fighting Masters? Lol

I remember when Rastan hit the arcadesback in the 80s. The graphics in that game were considered hi res compared to other games of that time. Loved the music on the first level but could never pass it.

Never played this one. But looks like I've missed out on a gem. For a second I thought it was Rygar. Thanks for this nice treat before bed.

The double cabinet third installment looks awesome, I need it!

I dropped a serious amount of quarters on this game back in 1987. Never heard of a third game until now.

Thanks for letting us known MAMA can do the third game well.

Was a very underated machine the good old master system. I remember seeing my twin brother speed run through ghouls and ghosts EVERYDAY!! How he did it I have no idea. He could do it without losing a life after a week or so. Crazy!

Oh, didn't know about the third game, thanks for making this video!

Man i was only like 8 years young when i played Rastan in the arcades back in the late 80's

Man!! I’ve bought a tablet just so I could emulate Rastan. Childhood memories right here and like you I’ve always knew this was a tie in of Conan. #Classic #Rastan

Master System Rastan is awesome! A girl I "dated" had it (as much as 11-year-olds can date, anyway). Man, did she turn out hot...wait, what were we talking about?

Will need to check out the third game. It's obviously not the same series, but the fairly recent Völgarr the Viking is so close in every way, that one could almost consider it a spiritual successor!

I have never owned an arcade game, but I almost bought Rastan. I found the arcade cabinet at a thrift store, with a $50 price on it. I asked about it and it turns out the place next door was an arcade machine rental company. They couldn't get it working properly so they donated it to the thrift presumably for a tax write-off. If they couldn't get the machine to work, there was no chance that I could, so I had to pass on it. That thrift store visit wasn't a total loss, sitting on a shelf covered in a thin layer of orange crud was a Vectrex, they sold it to me for $5. I had just started thrift store shopping for games and consoles but hadn't really found anything and was going to give up, finding a Rastan cab and a Vectrex changed my mind and I started hunting even more, filling out my collection long before the eBay resellers killed all the good thrift store finds. I found Rastan on the SMS to be a poor substitute. The music was what let me down the most - the arcade music was so incredibly memorable. I wanted to like it, but I just couldn't get into it.

I never payed much attention to the name of this game, but absolutely loved it as a kid. Was never good enough to beat the first castle's flame pit. But anyway, many years later, I would always try to find it in arcades, with no luck. And, not knowing the name, never helped. So, I would try and describe it to people best. I could by saying it had a dude that looked like Conan the Barbarian, and every time he jumped, he would be like "hu, hu, hu". I would try to replicate the sound, but very badly lol! Same with when he died, I would try to do the scream, but again, badly. I said the music was really epic, I could hear it perfectly inside my head, and dramatic. But, after many years of searching for it and trying to describe it to people, I was literally about to just give up and let it be lost to my memory forever. Then, one day I was going through some used PS2 games I was going to buy, and I saw Taito Legends. I didn't know that they made Rastan at the time, but lo and behold, there it was, right on the back, a picture of the game! Turns out it was one of the games in the collection found on this PS2 disc. So, naturally I bought it right up, took it home, fired up my PS2, and there it was...the game, Rastan, in all it's arcade glory. Took me nearly twenty years to find that damn game, but you can bet i will always remember the name of it now!

I FUCKEN LOVE this Game!! I use to play it at Rancho Market food store. I always got Arnold “CONAN” vibes when I played! Amazing music too!👏🔥

Man I played that game at the corner store near my school! I was there all the time! They were too games in there this one and next to it was Bobble Bubble and I spent a lot of quarters in those machines!

I also would loved Conan the Barbarian and Ranstad. I never knew it was a part 3, thanks bro. . .😁👍

rastan 2 had some sick music at least especially that piano part in the middle

Forgot about this game holy cow the music! This was at a bar my mom would go to!

Warrior blade, Ninja Warriors, Darius... all of them are worth playing on a 50 inches or more televisions because you can enjoy the 2-3 monitors in one.

Damn! I never knew there was a third game in the series. Thanks Sega lord x bro!

The original Rastan arcade game I must have spent at least over 10 bucks in quarters on it. This game is extremely hard not gonna lie and same time I enjoy the nostalgic memories.

Although this was in my local arcade back in the day and I enjoyed it immensely the extremely hard level of difficulty had me only playing every so often the game really became a favorite of mine throughout the years for two reasons once when I went on a job with my uncle a truck driver and found myself alone in a small country town hundreds of miles from home my unc was drinking and playing cards with his fellow truckies and bored of the hotel room I ventured out and found a fish n chips shop that had Rastan Saga the 12 year old me was so relieved to find something I knew well from my hometown and the gameplay and music had me so content I was late for my plate sized truckers steak dinner 😂 and the second reason was getting the game for my master system

Love rastan on the master system and still have it in my collection never knew there was a 3rd game great video sega lord

I worked at a comic shop in the late 80’s. We had Rastan for a few months, that music is burned into my memory

Great review of the series, spot on. The first game I played of these was Rastan on the Master System, a brilliant conversion that added wall jumping mechanics without losing what drove the gameplay along. Warrior Blade was one of the games that got me into emulation in the first place, and it's pure hack and slash fun. Let's not talk about Rastan Saga 2, the game's an abomination, and one of the most disappointing sequels I ever played. Rastan the arcade game is a brutal, frantic attack on the senses. The music, artwork and gameplay immerse you into another world. The only way to play is to drive forward like a madman, as the waves of enemies just won't stop coming, and the game subtly rewards you for playing through a level fast, and punishes you without mercy for dawdling. To this day I think it's the best adaptation of Conan into a video game format, as that is what it was supposed to be, but Taito couldn't get the license. it's one of those games that is rock hard, but you just... gotta... have another go!

Great video, as always! Pepsi: my dad's from the Tidewater and loves Pepsi, it seems to dominate in VA :)

1st and 3rd were great. 1st game is in my top 20 best of all time arcade qtr munchers...that music was amazing an it just took u there :)

I bought the master system version while on vacation at age 10. I read the manual and stared at the box art for 6 hours straight on our way home. It didn’t disappoint when I finally got home and fired it up

0:53-0:58 dude you really know how to time the music of these games just right I love that part of the song

Strong feelings about this video, pal. Rastan was one of the games of my life, and I was so obsessed with its lore, sound and animation, that I even created some kind of a board game based on it as a child. I own a Japanese Master System and a pal copy of the game with its superb FM soundtrack (it sounds a ton better than what is shown in this video, do not know the reason), also the japanese Game Gear version of the game (identical apart from the FM sound and resolution) and the Japanese Mega Drive version of its sequel, which is ugly but still enjoyable. It is a pity that the third iteration was not ported to Sega Saturn, I would have loved to have a stand alone physical copy of that game with its outstanding art direction (imagine the cover!). Ps2 version is just emulation, not my preference but at least it is something. Thank you for your channel :)

I was obsessed w Rastan for the same exact reasons as you (Conan and something about its graphics, sound and music was so unique, cool and appealing), didn't realize there was a third. To me the true spiritual successors to the original Rastan were Cadash and the amazing Legendary Axe.

Definitely gotta check out the arcade releases, only ever played the port.

Found out about Rastan III through HG101. Really great, lost gem.

My favorite game of the 80s. When I got it for master system I was so excited because like you said it a great port. Lol! Part 2 on a genesis was good but did not do justice for the rastan name.

That Episode III looked awesome. I'd like to try it

Woah Rastan Saga 3 looks amazing.

Wow I remember actually having the first game on my old Apple 2 GS back in the day.I might have to get the compilation game version to play the third one battle warrior it actually looks cool

I played RASTAN SAGA arcade when I was maybe 10 years old and I liked it a lot.. Then I played RASTAN SAGA II on SEGA GENESIS, and surprise I liked it too... In fact right now writing this, the music of the first level is playing on my mind... But this is the first time I learn about the third game. And some years ago I bought the TAITO LEGENDS for PS2 only to play again the original arcade RASTAN SAGA.

I did some videos about several versions of Rastan: DOS, MSX, Master System, Armstrad (one of the weakest). Got to resume this Rastan series. The best ones were the Master System and MSX versions, and, of course, the very best is the arcade version...

Warrior blade looks amazing

I played the game on sms first and was hooked. Had no idea that there were two others games... 😁

My favorite arcade game... Rastan!

Love Rastan!

This was one of the best master system games I played

I played and liked Rastan way back in the arcade when it came out but never knew there were 2 sequels.