Rastan was one of the greatest side-scrollers that existed in video arcades. It had an impressive story line (basically a rip-off/tribute/homage to Conan), and it behoove you to take on the assembled hordes of beast-men, dragons, armored knights, chimeras, cockatrices, defeating as you do the various level bosses. And to aid you, all you have is your trusty battle-sword, which morphs into a ball on a stick or a flaming ball-shooter. The graphics were pretty impressive, and the music suitably cheesy.
My brothers and I fed coin after coin into this beast at the local bowling alley, trying futilely to get past the next level, and we weren't the only ones.
People of all ages seemed to get sucked into the "Barbarian game", a testament to its game-play and appeal.
Years later I found the wonderful world of PC emulators, frantically searched for games that had eluded me beating them, ready for the rematch. After all, I still frequented arcades, kept on top of new games, had the various consoles at homes to help keep my reflexes in shape (just in case an alien race needed such a skill a la The Last Starfighter - as you do). I found 2 of the most frustrating - Rastan and Legend of Kage. Ha! I scoffed as the familiar gill-men started their march towards me, the game soundtrack taking me back to earlier
times. Imagine to my horror that I still couldn't get much further than I had in 1985! What was wrong with me? Turned out (and I'll only admit to this) that the game is still deucedly tough. Even with using unlimited lives, it still took a good few days of sitting at the monitor before I finally emerged victorious! Well worth it.
If you enjoy a game that keeps its challenge, even twenty years after it was brand spanking new, then download Rastan. It will challenge your reflexes, keep you thinking (which weapon is best for which Boss will take up a bit of your time), and trying to kill that last little bat, as they implacably swarm around you for no other reason than to drain you of your life, will begin to obsess you, as it obsessed me.
