is a 1986 platform game developed and published by Tecmo for arcades. The player assumes the role of a "Legendary Warrior" who must navigate numerous levels and defeat enemies with a weapon called the "Diskarmor", a razor-sharp shield with a long chain attached to it that operates like a yo-yo. The warrior intends to defeat Ligar, an evil "dominator". Later ports, particularly the NES and Lynx versions, expanded on the near non-existent story from the original.
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); Nintendo released the NES version in arcades in 1987. Emulated re-releases of different versions have also been released for Xbox (2005), Sprint mobile phones (2005), Wii (2009), PlayStation 4 (2014), Nintendo Switch (2018) and Android (2023). 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.
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.
Gameplay
Rygar is a side-scrolling platformer in which the basic gameplay sees the player character move left to right, with the player able to jump, duck, attack, and climb ropes. Rygar's only weapon is his Diskarmor, a razor-sharp spinning shield that can be thrown some distance whilst staying attached to him, similar to a yo-yo. Available attacks are a standard front-facing attack that can be used when Rygar is either standing up or ducking down, a curved overhead swing, and an airborne attack. There is no health in the game, and Rygar is immediately killed upon contact with an enemy (unless jumping on their head) or an enemy's projectile, or by falling from a platform.
thumb|left|Screenshot of the original arcade version of Rygar showing the [[Head-up display|HUD. Shown are the player's current score and rank (top left), their hi-score (top middle), the remaining time for the level (below hi-score), their remaining lives (bottom left), power-up slots (bottom middle), and current level number (bottom right).]]
There are five categories of items that the player can collect; bonus points, power-ups, extra lives, additional time, and screen bombs (destroys every enemy on the screen). These items can be found in stones that spawn from the earth and are occasionally dropped by defeated enemies. Power-ups boost the player's abilities, but they are not permanent and are lost when Rygar is killed. Additionally, on rare occasions, a player may find an item with a question mark on it. Every time the player hits the item with the Diskarmor, the item changes into one of the above power-ups. The longer the player evades him, the faster the monster gets. The reason for this was to prevent players paying their way to the end of the game by continually dying and resurrecting. Instead, Tecmo wanted to force players to develop the skills necessary to beat the last six levels. The game also utilised a hotseat mechanic whereby two players can play in turn, with each player's progression independent of the other's.
Plot
The original arcade version of the game has no real plot beyond the opening text, which reads,
This "new dominator" is Ligar, a monster with the body of a large human male and the head of a lion, who is capable of jumping great distances. At the end of the game, Rygar fights Ligar in a large throne room, and after defeating him, a group of people arrive to celebrate with Rygar. Text then appears onscreen; "
In the original Japanese arcade game, the player character was unnamed and referred to only as "Legendary Warrior." The game's final boss was named ライガー, which can be Romanized as both "Rygar" and "Ligar". This is because the Roman syllables "Ry" and "Li" both come from the same Japanese character, meaning there is no differentiation between "L" and "R" sounds. Due to this ambiguity, when the game was translated into English, the villain retained the name Ligar, but the hero was mistakenly called Rygar.
The Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and Amstrad CPC versions keep the opening text from the arcade version, but change the closing text to "Congratulations. You have defeated the evil tyranny." The Master System version of the game doesn't expand on the plot, but the text that appears upon completing the game is notably different from the arcade version;
Aside from the NES version, the Atari Lynx version provides the most backstory to the events of the game. In this version, the opening text reads,
The manual goes into further detail, explaining that millions of years earlier, a wizard banished the "minions of darkness" to the underworld, ushering in an era of peace and prosperity. Before he died, the wizard prophesied that the forces of darkness would rise again and humanity's only hope would be a hero recognisable by a birthmark — the Mark of the Wizard. At a later date, the darkness returned and began to conquer and subjugate humanity. 10,000 years passed, with humanity forced into tiny pockets of infertile land. Throughout that time, however, they never ceased hoping for the arrival of the prophesied hero. Rygar is that hero. The closing text in this version reads, "all hail the mighty warrior Rygar. Due to your bravery and skills, you have saved our people and returned peace to our land. Bravo Rygar, hero of Argool."
The X68000 version keeps both the opening and closing text from the arcade original.
NES port
The 1987 NES port, released in Japan as and in North America and Europe simply as Rygar, expanded considerably on the gameplay basics of the arcade original, incorporating action RPG elements into the platformer framework. The player character, his weapon, mode of attack, and many of the enemies remain the same, but the broader game mechanics are different. Whereas the arcade game is a standard side-scrolling platformer, the NES's Rygar is semi-open-ended, allowing the player to play nonlinearly and get stronger over time, gaining permanent traits such as increased health or strength via experience points rather than by collecting power-ups. In this sense, the game has gone on to be acknowledged as an important and very early example of the Metroidvania subgenre.
The game also features a rudimentary spellcasting mechanic. Rygar has access to three spells for the duration of the game; "Power-Up", "Attack & Assail", and "Recover". To use these spells, a certain amount of "Mind Points" are necessary. These Mind Points are in the form of stars which enemies randomly drop throughout the game. Power-Up requires three Mind Points and increases the speed, range, and damage of the Diskarmor until the player dies, at which time, it must be reactivated. Attack & Assail costs five points and after being cast, the next ten attacks will cause a flash that damages every on-screen enemy. Recover costs seven Mind Points, which is the maximum the player can have. This spell refills all of Rygar's health points.
thumb|Screenshot of the NES version of Rygar showing the hub area, which is played from a [[Video game graphics#Top-down perspective|top-down perspective]]
Unlike all other versions of Rygar, the NES version is not exclusively side-scrolling. At the beginning of the game, Rygar has access to much of the game's map, via a hub-like central area, which is played from a top-down perspective. These safe rooms are occupied by NPCs who will give advice to the player. is a "choose your own adventure" story set in 1987. Ligar has once again returned, and the reader must summon Rygar to defend humanity. is a dramatised guide book in narrative form. Written by Minazuki Yuu, it was published by Tokuma Shoten.
Plot
In this version of the game, Argool was once a utopian paradise run by the five Indora gods, until the evil Ligar attacked and corrupted everything that was sacred;
In addition, Ligar took the "Door of Peace", an important symbol of the peace that the Indora gods had created. Unable to find a hero amongst them capable of defeating Ligar, the people turned to an ancient prophecy, which states,
Rygar has received mixed reviews across its various platforms. Whilst the NES version was generally very well-received, both the original arcade game and its other ports were more heavily criticised.
AllGames Michael W. Dean scored the arcade version 3.5 out of 5, arguing, "it just doesn't quite hit the mark." He praised the graphics, enemy design, and controls, but was critical of the game's repetitive nature and high difficulty level, writing, "Rygar is a decent title, but it's decidedly less than captivating." AllGames Michael W. Dean scored it 4.5 out of 5, praising the "excellent control and pacing [and] the freedom of nonlinear level design." His main criticism was the lack of a password system or save feature.
Earnings and legacy
The original arcade game did well financially. In June 1986, it entered the Japanese top 25 arcade game charts at #6. By July, it had risen to #3. It dropped out of the top ten in August. It dropped out of the top 20 in September. It ultimately went on to be Japan's seventh highest-grossing arcade game of 1986. By July 1987, Rygar was one of the top-ten arcade games in Europe, ranking at #9. The following month, it climbed to #6. It remained in that position through to January 1988. In October 1986, it was ranked #7 in a national poll on arcade machines carried out by Play Meter. In January 1987, Game Machines "Players Choice" award for 1986's Best Software saw it ranked #15.
In the July/August 1988 edition of Nintendo Power (the magazine's inaugural issue), Rygar was at #30 on the top 30 NES games chart, as voted on by fans. In issue two (September/October), it rose to #24. In the next issue (November/December), it rose to #20.
In 2009, IGN ranked the NES version at #59 in their list of the top 100 NES games. In 2012, they ranked the Diskarmor at #93 on their list of the top 100 video game weapons. In 2024, Paste ranked the NES version at #37 in their list of the best 100 NES games. Also in 2024, CBR ranked the Lynx version at #5 in their list of the top ten Lynx games.
As of June 2007, Rygar and its various ports, emulations, and remakes have sold 1.5 million units across all platforms.
Emulations
In 2005, Rygar was included in the Tecmo Classic Arcade compilation for Xbox. In 2009, it was released on the Virtual Console for the Wii. This version offered customizable screen settings, allowing the player to stretch, shrink, expand, and shift the main screen. The default setting presents the game centered on screen, with black bars aligned on the left and right if running on a widescreen TV, but the options allow the player to scale up to 16:9 if they wish. In 2018, it was released for the Nintendo Switch as part of the Nintendo Classics service. In 2023, it was released for Android phones.
An unofficial fan-made port of Rygar was released for Amiga AGA machines in 2019.
Remakes
In 2002, was released for PlayStation 2. Developed by Tecmo, it is a complete remake, featuring 3D graphics and a semi-destructible environment. It also features an entirely new plot, which takes inspiration and characters from Greek and Roman mythology. It was released to generally positive reviews. In 2009, a remaster of Legendary Adventure was released for Wii, under the name Developed by Team Tachyon, it was released to generally negative reviews.