Rygar (NES) Playthrough
502A playthrough of Tecmo's 1987 action-adventure game for the NES, Rygar.
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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