Rygar

Plot

The arcade game begins with the following introduction:

4.5 billion years have passed since Earth's creation. Many dominators have ruled in all their glory, but time was their greatest enemy and it defeated their reign. And now a new dominator's reign begins...

Information gleaned from console manuals reveals that the evil being Ligar has taken over the land of Argool, and Rygar, a dead warrior who has risen from his grave, must use his Diskarmor, along with a variety of other weapons, to stop him. In console versions clues and limited dialogue are given in the form of large, sage-like men encountered in green stone temples throughout the game.

In the Japanese original, references to "Ligar" and "Rygar" are one and the same because the Roman syllables "Li" and "Ry" come from the same Japanese character. In this version, the hero is only referred to as "The Legendary Warrior", while both "Rygar" and "Ligar" refer to the main villain.

Ports

The game was ported to the Sharp X68000, Commodore 64, Sega Master System (Japan only, and renamed Argus no Juujiken (アルゴスの十字剣)), ZX Spectrum 48K, Amstrad 6128 and the Atari Lynx. It was also included in a compilation of games called Tecmo Classic Arcade for the Xbox. The arcade version has also been re-released on the Wii Virtual Console.

Atari Lynx Version

The Atari Lynx version closely followed the arcade version. However, the layout of some rounds was different, and there were only 23 rounds.

Related Famicom/NES game

Rygar, released in Japan as Warrior of Argus: Extreme Great Charge (アルゴスの戦士 はちゃめちゃ大進撃, Arugosu no Senshi: Hachamecha Daishingeki) is a fantasy-themed action-adventure platform game with action RPG elements developed by Tecmo for the Nintendo Famicom. It was released on April 14, 1987, in Japan and later that year in the United States for the NES. A European release came in 1990.

Gameplay

The player sends the title character through a number of fantastic settings with the ultimate goal of defeating the evil King Ligar in order to restore peace to the realm of Argool (Argus in the Japanese version). To accomplish this goal, the Warrior must visit five Indora gods who present him with essential items needed for completion of the game. Each of the Indora gods is located in a different realm, and is almost always guarded by a boss. The player can choose the order in which some stages are played, but since certain items are required to reach new areas, choices are somewhat limited. After playing through the five major realms of the game, he must journey to King Ligar's flying castle for the final confrontation. If the Warrior dies on the last life, a ghost pulls him back to his grave off-screen.

Enemies

The following enemies, as stated in the manual, all have their own unique names, abilities, and designs and are said to be "animalized men wriggling eerily".

Differences between arcade and NES versions

The main character, his weapon, and many of the enemies remain the same, but the gameplay of the NES version is quite different. While the arcade version is more of a standard side-scrolling action title, the NES's Rygar is an open-ended action-adventure game like Metroid (see Metroidvania), which was also released at the time. At the beginning of the game, Rygar has access to some of the worlds, but as the game progresses, new areas open up as the result of finding items such as the grappling hook, crossbow, and wind pulley, which lets him cross previously impassable obstacles.

The NES version of Rygar was also more of an action role-playing game. It was particularly notable for its permanent power-up mechanic, which at the time blurred the line between the power-ups used in action-adventures and the experience points used in RPGs.

The NES version of Rygar did not allow for game saves. The complexity and difficulty of the game, along with the puzzles to solve and special objects needed to progress, require a great deal of time and unlike other complex adventure games of the time, the cartridge did not contain a battery, nor did it contain a password feature. As a result, many players were forced to pause the game and leave their NES on overnight (to resume the next day), sometimes going on for days or even weeks, before finally obtaining the necessary items and power to finish the game. If the unit was accidentally turned off, unplugged, or if it malfunctioned, all game data would be lost and the player would be forced to start over from the beginning.

Bug in the PAL Version

The PAL version of the NES game reportedly contained a computer error which inadvertently increased (substantially) the difficulty in the final portions of the game, particularly in beating the final boss. The PAL version limited the player's tone and last stats to 1023 points instead of 4095, which meant that there was less maximum life and noticeably less damage to enemies.

Related 2002 game

In November 2002 a new Rygar was released for the PlayStation 2. It features a transition to 3-D graphics and portions of the environment are destructible. It was released to generally positive reviews. On May 11, 2007, a Wii port was announced at Tecmo's "Nite Out 07" event, eventually released on January 28, 2009 in North America.