Rygar (NES) Playthrough
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Published 2024-01-27
Predating such classics as Metroid, Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest, and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Rygar was among the first of its type to be released on North America, and it was a immediate hit when it dropped for the NES in the summer of 1987.
Though it shares its name with a Tecmo coin-op game released in 1986, Rygar bears little resemblance to its namesake. Instead of dumping a cutdown version of a simple left-to-right platformer on the NES, Tecmo went back to the drawing board and created a brand new action-adventure experience for the console audience.
The NES game's plot follows the same plot beats as its progenitor: Ligar's army has invaded the holy land of Argool, and as was foretold by a prophecy, the legendary hero Rygar has risen from his grave to once again take up arms against the forces of evil.
At the outset, Rygar can access most of Argool from the Garloz overworld, a hub area dotted with doors that lead to the action stages that form the meat of the game. Both Garloz and the action stages, however, feature large sections that'll remain inaccessible until Rygar has found the appropriate tool to overcome certain obstacles. The grappling hook will allow him to climb to high ledges, the pulley is used to cross ropes spanning rivers and gorges, and the crossbow creates rope bridges over chasms that are too wide to jump.
Rygar's abilities also improve as he fights and gains experience. As his "tone" increases, Rygar's weapon, the yoyo-like "disk armor," becomes stronger, and the more "last" he has, the longer his life gauge will grow. Finally, collecting "mind" will allow him to cast magic spells. “Power Up" makes the disk armor fly faster and farther, “Attack & Assail” hits every enemy on-screen ten times before it wears off, and “Recovery” completely refills Rygar’s life bar.
Rygar's gameplay is fluid and has a good sense of progression, the platforming controls are buttery smooth, and the goals are clearly signposted. It doesn’t leave you wandering for hours trying to figure out what to do next, and it doesn’t beat you down with an unreasonable level of difficulty. It's actually quite a forgiving game in that regard, especially compared to its contemporaries.
The graphics and sound also stand up extremely well for a game of its age. The locations are memorable (that blood red sky at sunset, wow!), there are a few cool instances of parallax background scrolling, and most of the tunes will have you humming along after a few minutes. Also, anyone who has played Jekyll and Hyde will immediately recognize the tune that plays as you're speaking to the Indora.
This early mix of action, adventure, and RPG elements come together to form an unexpectedly addictive experience. With Rygar, Tecmo set the standard for a budding genre, and history tells us that this would be far from the last time they pulled off such a feat.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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All Comments (21)
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I’m 47, I wish I could turn back time to the days when my friends and I would just spend hours on end playing Rygar and other classics on NES.
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Rygar is one of those games every kid who ever played it when jt was new loved despite never getting anywhere in it. It was a real treat to revisit later on in life to finally conquer. So many of these old NES games were like childhood white whales.
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Before Ninja Gaiden and Tecmo Bowl, there was Rygar. Tecmo really doesn't get enough credit for their contributions to the NES library!
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I remember buying this when it came out originally. I was 12 at the time and didn't really know where I was going but I beat this game. Very underrated NES game. Love the music.
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Rygar is one of my favourite NES games. Because it has no save battery I would play it and then leave the NES on all day on pause until I got home from school. The song at 16:50 is one of my favourite video game songs ever.
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Seems like yesterday. I was 12 when this came out, now 48😧 can't believe how time is flying 😳
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One of the rare instances, back in those days, when a home port was better than the arcade version. Fantastic chip tunes in this game.🤘🏻🤘🏻🔥🎮
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I'm in my late 40's and I remember I use to struggle playing this game as a kid lol. I onced used that flute sound 54:12 as a ringtone.
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One of the only games i ever beat! Ah memories! The soundtrack stayed with me all these years!
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I still find myself humming this soundtrack since playing this game way back when.
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My favorite nes soundtrack! I wasn't allowed to play. Had to watch my big brother! The game froze near the end. My brother threw a baseball into the television. Memories!
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RYGAR is a great NES game! Loved it when I played it back then.
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Exquisite game. Played this in late 1987. I found it very addictive.
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26:38 The four note music song is the best in the history of NES music. I could listen to this all day everyday non stop
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Had so much fun playing this. The version we had sadly, had a bug in it where the final boss'HP was a staggering million..much more than the normal one. Could never end it. Something to do with the European shipping being different. But later did manage to complete it on a regular version.
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This game came out a month before Legend of Zelda in the west, so technically it was the first game of its kind on the NES!
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My childhood ❤ i play on famicom
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I play this a few times a year. One of my all time favorite games.
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Miss this game. Fun times.
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Rygar is real nostalgia trip!💪
