Rygar

This article is about the 1986 arcade game and its ports. For the PlayStation 2 game, see Rygar: The Legendary Adventure. For the Nintendo Wii game, see Rygar: The Battle of Argus.

Rygar
North American arcade flyer
Developer(s)Tecmo[a]
Publisher(s)
Tecmo
  • Arcade
    NES
Designer(s)Hideo Yoshizawa
Platform(s)
Release
June 6, 1986
  • Arcade
    NES
    Commodore 64
    ZX Spectrum
    Amstrad CPC
    Master System
    Lynx
    X68000
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)

Rygar[b] is a 1986 side-scrolling platform game created by Tecmo. Originally released for Japanese arcades in June 1986, the game was subsequently ported to the NES (1987), Commodore 64 (1987), ZX Spectrum (1987), Amstrad CPC (1987), Master System (1988), Atari Lynx (1990), and X68000 (1994). Emulations have also been released for Xbox (2005), Sprint mobile phones (2005), Wii (2009), PlayStation 4 (2014), Nintendo Switch (2018), and Android (2023), with an unofficial fan-made emulation released for Amiga AGA in 2019. A remake, Rygar: The Legendary Adventure, was released for PlayStation 2 in 2002. The Legendary Adventure was remastered for the Wii in 2008 as Rygar: The Battle of Argus.

The original arcade game has very little story, with the player assuming the role of a "Legendary Warrior" who must fight through a series of increasingly hostile landscapes so as to defeat Ligar, an evil "dominator". Later ports, particularly the NES and Lynx versions, expanded on the storyline, with the NES version depicting Rygar as a warrior returned from the dead to fulfil an ancient prophecy. In all versions of the game, the main mechanic is the use of a weapon called the "Diskarmor", a razor-sharp shield with a long chain attached to it that operates like a yo-yo.

Rygar received mixed reviews across its various platforms. The most lauded version of the game was the NES version, which was praised for incorporating RPG elements into an otherwise standard platformer, and which has since been recognised as an important early example of the Metroidvania sub-genre. On the other hand, the Commodore, Spectrum, and Amstrad ports were poorly received, particularly their graphics. A common criticism across all platforms was the game's high difficulty. Financially, the games have been successful; the original arcade version proved profitable worldwide, and as of June 2007, the various ports, emulations, and remakes of Rygar have sold 1.5 million units across all platforms.

  1. ^ "Legendary Warrior Rygar". United States Copyright Office. Archived from the original on May 30, 2024. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  2. ^ Akagi, Masumi (2006). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編 (1971–2005) [Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971–2005)] (in Japanese). Japan: Amusement News Agency. p. 138. ISBN 978-4990251215.
  3. ^ Edgeley, Clare (October 1986). "Rygar Review (Arcade)". Computer and Video Games. No. 60. p. 116. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  4. ^ "発売日スケジュール表" [Release Schedule]. ファミコン通信 [Famicom Journal] (in Japanese). No. 22. May 1, 1987. p. 96. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  5. ^ "Rygar (NES)". Retro Place. Archived from the original on June 11, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  6. ^ "Rygar (NES)". Retro Place. Archived from the original on June 11, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c "Here's This Here Rygar". Sinclair User. No. 67. October 1987. p. 104. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  8. ^ "マイカード マークⅢ" [Sega Mark III]. Sega.jp. Archived from the original on June 13, 2024. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
  9. ^ Mortimer, Stephen (October 1990). "News, Notes, and Quotes: Inside Atari". STart. Vol. 5, no. 2. p. 16. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  10. ^ "Argus no Senshi (X68000)". Retro Place. Archived from the original on June 13, 2024. Retrieved June 13, 2024.


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