A late release for the system that most people (including me, at the time) missed out on. Ristar seems like a slower, more kiddy version of Sonic at first, and it kind of is but it's also a high quality platformer with a fun to use grab/climb/headbutt ability as its main gimmick, interesting and vaired levels with hidden bonus levels, and some of the best sounding music on the system.
The flow of the game is closer to the Illusion games or Revenge of Shinobi except said gimmick makes movement more involved (especially during the bonus levels), though sometimes you'll also find these gadgets that let you temporarily fly across part of a level while bouncing off of the walls and this can be used to reach certain items or a higher path if you get good at it. As in later Sonics there are two acts per level, each with their own take on the level's music theme, and ending with a unique and usually large boss. As with the levels themselves, these can get pretty creative and most of the later ones actually put up a fight.
The whole late game is definitely challenging and there are higher difficulties too, so if you're one of those hardcore gamer mandudes you still need to play Ristar!