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Rygar (NES game)

Rygar
Rygar title screen
Arcade title screen
Developer(s) Tecmo
Publisher(s) Tecmo
Platform(s) Arcade, Sharp X68000, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Nintendo Entertainment System, PlayChoice-10, Sega Master System, Atari Lynx, Mobile Phone, Virtual Console, PlayStation 4
Release Arcade X68000
  • JP: 1986
Commodore 64
  • NA: 1987
Famicom/NES version
  • JP: April 17, 1987
  • NA: July, 1987
  • EU: March 30, 1990
Sega Master System
  • JP: 1988
Atari Lynx
  • NA: 1990
Virtual Console
  • JP: September 8, 2009
  • PAL: September 11, 2009
  • NA: October 19, 2009
Arcade Archives
  • JP: May 15, 2014
  • NA: August 19, 2014
Genre(s) Platform (Arcade)
Action-adventure (NES)
Mode(s) 2 players, separate turns
Cabinet Upright
Arcade system CPU: 2 × Zilog Z80 (@ 4.00 MHz)
Sound: Yamaha YM3812 FM (@ 4.0 MHz), Oki MSM5205 (@ 384 kHz)
Display Raster resolution: 256×224 (Horizontal)
Palette Colors: 1024

Rygar is a video game created by Tecmo in 1986 and originally released for arcades in Japan as Warrior of Argus (アルゴスの戦士 Arugosu no Senshi?). It is a sidescrolling platform game where the player assumes the role as the "Legendary Warrior", battling through a hostile landscape. The main feature of gameplay is using a weapon called the "Diskarmor", a shield with a long chain attached to it.

The arcade game begins with the following introduction:

4.5 billion years have passed since Earth's creation. Many dominators have ruled in all their glory, but time was their greatest enemy and it defeated their reign. And now a new dominator's reign begins...

Information gleaned from console manuals reveals that the evil being Ligar has taken over the land of Argool, and Rygar, a dead warrior who has risen from his grave, must use his Diskarmor, along with a variety of other weapons, to stop him. In console versions clues and limited dialogue are given in the form of large, sage-like men encountered in green stone temples throughout the game.

In the Japanese original, references to "Ligar" and "Rygar" are one and the same because the Roman syllables "Li" and "Ry" come from the same Japanese character. In this version, the hero is only referred to as "The Legendary Warrior", while both "Rygar" and "Ligar" refer to the main villain.

The game was ported to the Sharp X68000, Commodore 64, Sega Master System (Japan only, and renamed Argus no Juujiken (アルゴスの十字剣?)), ZX Spectrum 48K, Amstrad 6128 and the Atari Lynx. It was also included in a compilation of games called Tecmo Classic Arcade for the Xbox. The arcade version has also been re-released on the Wii Virtual Console.


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