Like Ristar on Genesis, Ristar on Game Gear is a sidescrolling platformer about Sega's short lived stellar mascot, fighting his way through six planets to defeat the evil tyrant Greedy.

This 8-bit release of Ristar has the same plot, similar themes, and plays much like its more famous Genesis counterpart, but has a different set of levels, making it a separate game. Half of the planets are re-arrangements of the Genesis ones, and the other half are unique to this iteration. Some of Ristar's moves and various enemy mechanics have been tweaked or expanded. Also unique to Ristar on Game Gear are collectable mini-stars scattered throughout the levels, which award an extra life on collecting 100.