Taking place in a fantasy setting, the story is about Rastan who is presently a ruler of his kingdom narrating his past full of dangerous adventures and his eventual ascension to a kingship.

Accepting the deal, Rastan must fight hordes of enemy monsters based on mythical creatures such as chimeras and harpies.

There are also jewels that gives out bonus points, as well potion bottles that restore or deplete the player's health depending on the color.

[2] Rastan was initially ported to various 8-bit home computers in Europe (the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC) by Imagine Software in 1987.

Taito imported Imagine's C64 version to the United States in 1988 and also released in 1990 two additional ports for the IBM PC and Apple IIGS, both of which were developed by Novalogic.

Both ports featured redesigned level layouts, with the Master System version replacing some of the boss characters as well.

In Japan, Game Machine listed Rastan on their May 1, 1987 issue as being the second most successful table arcade unit of the month.

[11] The game drew comparisons to the character Conan the Barbarian,[2][9] Capcom's Ghosts 'n Goblins (1985),[9] and Konami's Green Beret (1985).

On May 2, 2024, it was eventually re-released as part of the Arcade Archives series for the PlayStation 4[15] and Nintendo Switch courtesy of Hamster Corporation.