Rygar (NES game)
Encyclopedia
- For the 2002 PlayStation 2 game, see Rygar: The Legendary AdventureRygar: The Legendary AdventureRygar: The Legendary Adventure, known in Japan as , is a console game for the PlayStation 2 first released in November 2002. It is an update of the original Rygar released for arcade machines and various consoles. The new features are a transition to 3D graphics and portions of the environment are...
. - For the original arcade game, see Rygar (arcade game).
is a fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
-themed action-adventure
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
platform game
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
with action RPG
Action role-playing game
Action role-playing games form a loosely defined sub-genre of role-playing video games that incorporate elements of action or action-adventure games, emphasizing real-time action where the player has direct control over characters, instead of turn-based or menu-based combat...
elements developed by Tecmo for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
. It was released on April 14, 1987, in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
for the Family Computer
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
as Argos no Senshi and later that year in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for the NES. A Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an release came in 1990.
Gameplay
The player sends the title character (who did not have a proper name in the Japanese version) 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 (Argos in the Japanese version). To accomplish this goal, Rygar/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."Ligar" (the final boss) can also be romanized as Rygar because in Japanese there is no distinction between "l" and "r," but the name is written with the syllable ra (ラ) in katakana
Katakana
is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora...
. The central player character is only known as senshi (the Warrior) in the Japanese version.
Differences between arcade and NES version
Rygar is a rough adaptation of an earlier arcade game of the same nameRygar (video game)
Rygar is an arcade game created by Tecmo in 1986 and originally released in Japan as . It is a scrolling platform game where the player assumes the role as the "Legendary Warrior", battling through a hostile landscape...
, but the similarities are few. The main character, his weapon, and much 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 Rygar is an open-ended
Open world
An open world is a type of video game level design where a player can roam freely through a virtual world and is given considerable freedom in choosing how to approach objectives...
action-adventure game like Metroid
Metroid
is an action-adventure video game, and the first entry in the Metroid series. It was co-developed by Nintendo's Research and Development 1 division and Intelligent Systems, and was released in Japan in August 1986, in North America in August 1987, and in Europe in January 1988...
(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
Crossbow
A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts or quarrels. The medieval crossbow was called by many names, most of which derived from the word ballista, a torsion engine resembling a crossbow in appearance.Historically, crossbows played a...
, and wind pulley, which let him cross previously impossible obstacles.
The NES version of Rygar was also more of an action role-playing game
Action role-playing game
Action role-playing games form a loosely defined sub-genre of role-playing video games that incorporate elements of action or action-adventure games, emphasizing real-time action where the player has direct control over characters, instead of turn-based or menu-based combat...
. It was particularly notable for its permanent power-up mechanic, which at the time blurred the line between the power-up
Power-up
In computer and video games, power-ups are objects that instantly benefit or add extra abilities to the game character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a benefit and can be used at a time chosen by the player...
s used in action-adventures and the experience point
Experience point
An experience point is a unit of measurement used in many role-playing games and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's progression through the game...
s used in RPGs
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
.
Shortcomings
A serious downside to the NES version of Rygar is that it didn't 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 Legend of ZeldaThe Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda, originally released as in Japan, is a video game developed and published by Nintendo, and designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. Set in the fantasy land of Hyrule, the plot centers on a boy named Link, the playable protagonist, who aims to collect the eight fragments...
, Metroid
Metroid
is an action-adventure video game, and the first entry in the Metroid series. It was co-developed by Nintendo's Research and Development 1 division and Intelligent Systems, and was released in Japan in August 1986, in North America in August 1987, and in Europe in January 1988...
) the cartridge did not contain a battery (Zelda, Baseball Stars), nor did it contain a password feature
Password (video games)
In many video games of the 8-bit and, to a lesser extent, 16-bit eras , after a level was beaten and/or when all continues were used, the game would display a password, that when entered in the game would allow the player to return to this part in the game...
(Metroid, Kid Icarus).