Publisher: Taito
Developer: Taito
Size: 2 megs
No. of players: 1
You play a barbarian, out to rescue a princess trapped by an evil dragon(I don't really know why the story is in there, I think he just likes to kill things). You will traverse many locations and bust the ass of many a boss on your way to accomplish this.

 What's it all about?
Ah, Rastan. Yields so many fond arcade memories...memories that live once again due to the excellent port on this cart. Moving around as fast as those legs will let you, you will jump, slash and climb your way through various locations and many castles in this sidescrolling classic. Being more than just an arcade port, this version features variations on the arcade levels, a very toned-down difficulty level and the ability to jump off of walls(comes in handy, trust me).
Graphics - Though scaled down, they are still great! Taito did an excellent job of fitting the game on the cart and making it run off an 8 bit processor while still managing to keep it so very true to the arcade version.

Sound - Very good! Damn, the SMS sound chip is working overtime on this one. From the main Rastan theme to the ambient-style castle music, this soundtrack, even on the 8 bit SMS, is amazingly good.
Control - Damn smooth. Very, very responsive; everything you do comes off immediately.
AI - Not too bad at all. Enemies come at you, shoot, swing, etc. and rarely gang up. Bosses all have a pattern that can be manipulated to your advantage.
Replay value - High. It's an arcade game, and a damn good one at that. You'll want to play it again and again.
Tips for a better gaming experiences:
Try to make it into the castles before the sun sets...trust me on this one...
My rating: 90(out of 100) - An amazing conversion of the awesome coin-op, complete with nicely scaled down graphics and sound that stay true to the original.
EGM gave it: 6, 6, 6, 6(out of 10)

Cat's review: The game seems a little slow to me, but other than that I thought it was ok.

That wonderfully vague story I was telling you about...
I love the explosion of blood the enemies turn into when you slap them with your weapon.
The bosses love a belly-full of sword.
Watch out for that stiff-ass water!
32X killed the Power Base star:
Sadly, for us 32X owners the PBC probably doesn't see nearly the amount of play it should due to the fact that you have to completely remove the 32X from the Genesis and then reconfigure some audio/video inputs to get the Power Base Converter mounted and working. Being fed up with that tedious procedure, I've managed to get another Genesis unit that I use exclusively with the PBC(and my modded Mega CD 2 unit, for that matter).