Fist of the North Star (NES video game)
Fist of the North Star is a side-scrolling action video game produced by Toei Animation and developed by Shouei System for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It was first released in Japan under the title on April 17, 1987, being the second "Hokuto no Ken" video game released for the Family Computer (Famicom) by the anime production company (which briefly entered the video game publishing business after their success with the original "Hokuto no Ken" game for the Famicom in 1986), while also serving as a tie-in to the "Hokuto no Ken 2" anime series which began airing on Fuji TV a few weeks earlier. Taxan published the localized NES version on April 1989, making it one of the earliest "Fist of the North Star" products released in the U.S. alongside Viz Communications' English adaptation of the manga.
Ristar
Some years later, the game starring that rabbit-type character was developed separately from Sonic, and eventually evolved into a prototype called "Feel". The rabbit resemblance in "Feel" was already lessened somewhat in the prototype, as the character no longer used his ears, but rather his arms. After some changes in the main character, and going through several names, that game eventually became what is now known as "Ristar". The name also went through further changes during development of the Western versions, going from "Ristar the Shooting Star" to "Dexstar", and finally to "Ristar".