Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Rasputin has the kind of opening that immediately tells you what sort of game you are in: you are a crusader alone in the netherworld, equipped with a sword and shield, facing a courtyard full of doors to stranger places. That central hub gives the hunt for the Jewel of the Seven Planets some welcome structure. You are not simply clearing a linear chain of rooms; you are working through dimensions, collecting what each one yields, and gradually earning the means to break Rasputin’s protections.

The main loop has real bite. You absorb the magic from stones by stepping on them, turning them from dark to light, then face a stronger monster once a dimension’s runes have been cleared. Defeating that creature earns a rune for countering one of the eight spells guarding the Jewel. It is a solid escalation: first learn how to survive a place, then finish its work, then handle its nastiest defender. The colour-coded rune requirement also means your collected items matter rather than merely padding out an inventory.

Moment to moment, this is a deliberately awkward, demanding adventure. Left and right rotate your character, while forward movement is limited to walking or jumping, so crossing a dangerous room asks for care rather than reflexive wandering. Sword and shield use draw from the dual power bar, making combat something to manage instead of button-mash. With only six action keys, the controls are simple to learn, but the rooms, traps, pitfalls, and energy-sapping creatures are not interested in being generous.

The best advice is to treat every room as a small problem. Some hold useful objects, some do not, and guarded items may be better approached cautiously than charged head-on. Dying does not send you all the way back to the beginning: you restart at the section’s doorway. That mercy is tempered by the life-force cost of every reanimation, so repeated mistakes still carry a lasting penalty. It creates a satisfying pressure when you are making progress, though it can become frustrating when a room’s solution has not yet clicked.

Graphics

The netherworld is built from fixed rooms and separate dimensions, with dark magic stones changing to light as you absorb their power. Monsters, traps, pits, rune stones, and doorways give each space a clear fantasy-adventure purpose: you can see what threatens you and what you are trying to reach.

Story

The story is straightforward fantasy pulp, but it gives the whole journey a clean purpose. Rasputin’s spirit survives in the netherworld and plans universal havoc through the Jewel of the Seven Planets. You enter as the crusader sent to destroy it, which is exactly enough motivation for a dangerous trek through cursed dimensions.

What helps is that the narrative goal is tied directly to progress. The eight spells are not background lore; they are the locks standing between you and the Jewel, and the runes won from powerful monsters are the counters required to break them. Each completed dimension therefore feels like a concrete step toward the final task.

Do not expect a character-heavy tale. Rasputin works because its simple good-versus-evil setup leaves room for the dungeon challenges to carry the drama. The accumulating runes, neutralised spells, and ever-present final objective give your exploration a sense of direction that many room-by-room adventures lack.

Overall Experience

Rasputin is strongest when you settle into its patient rhythm: enter a dimension, test a room, work out a safe route, claim its magic, and prepare for the stronger foe waiting at the end. The first hour can feel punishing because the controls demand precision and the game does not hand out free mistakes. Once the logic of its rooms starts to click, however, its structure becomes compelling.

The limited retries are the game’s sharpest design choice. Restarting at a doorway prevents one bad jump or lost fight from erasing an entire session, yet the steady drain on life force keeps you from treating death as disposable. That balance gives even small victories weight, although gamers who dislike repeating a troublesome section while resources shrink may find the tension more aggravating than exciting.

At its best, this is a satisfying old-school quest for anyone who enjoys mapping a hostile space in their head and earning progress through persistence. Its story is lean, its actions are few, and its demands are firm, but the eight-spell objective and dimension-by-dimension climb give it a strong sense of payoff. Give it a chance if you want an action-adventure that asks you to be cautious, observant, and stubborn.

Retro Replay Score

7.1/10