Rastan
The male version of Jill of the Jungle!
Rastan is a sidescroller game, of the late 80s shareware scene, that puts you in control of Rastan, the male equivalent of Jill (of the Jungle!). Yep, it's prehistoric times tinged with a bit of fantasy, and you are a mighty bare chested warrior, a wielder of swords, a high climbing, high jumping behemoth. But everyone seems to want you, from the free roaming things living in each level, to the bosses and the other human like creatures! Thus, you have to advance with care, have to manage your way around the traps, get all the crystals and the keys and hope you have a bit of luck too! In Xargon you kind of had the same type of hurdles to overcome, and in Rastan too you kind of have the same parameter sidescroller adventure. But, it's fun, and compared to Xargon, this game is much more polished, a bit easier to learn to play, basically a more fluent, in terms of movement version of that game. Which is just great, because these kinds of rather budget oriented sidescroller titles have a build and a place of their own, and are the DOS greats, in any collection, even if they are not the ones you'd recommend out of top of your head when asked what is a true definitive DOS period game! So play it, for sure it's got all it takes!
A classic arcade of its time
Rastan is an arcade fantasy game released in 1987 by Taito, a company devoted to provide only videogames that offer happy and memorable experiences. You control a warrior named Rastan, whose main objective is to find a dragon's hideout and kill him. The movement consists in going left or right, in jumps and attacks. The weapons you can use have their own power and efficacy: axes, maces and fire swords. The graphics and the sounds are decent, and I experienced some difficulties with the controls, as they are awful at times. An element that gives your character agility is the capacity to kill enemies while climbing ropes, especially with the fire swords. Despite some inconvenient aspec ts present in Rastan, I strongly think that this game is one of the best arcade games of its time. You are able to test your abilities and reflexes in the three areas: "outside", "castle" and "throne room", where mythical creatures are everywhere, heading towards you without stopping. Rastan can collect items like jewels, health, poisons, and weapons. An element that impressed me concerns the environment. I noticed that some parts of the background like mountains or the sky were changing their colours as the time passed by, and this thing adds some realistic and also beautiful effects. As I said above, this game deserves to be called a classic of the time it was released.
