Rygar (NES)

Rygar is a fantasy-themed action-adventure platform game developed by Tecmo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released on April 14, 1987 in Japan for the Famicom as Argos no Senshi and later that year in the United States for the NES. A European release came in 1990. Rygar is a rough adaptation of an earlier arcade game of the same name, but the similarities are few. The main character, his weapon, and much of the enemies remain the same, but the gameplay of the NES version is quite different. While the arcade version is more of a standard side-scrolling action title, the NES Rygar is an open-ended action-adventure game that plays similar to Metroid, which was also released at the time. At the beginning of the game, Rygar has access to some of the worlds, but as the game progresses, new areas open up as the result of finding items such as the grappling hook, crossbow, and wind pulley, which let him cross previously impassable obstacles.

Gameplay
The player sends the title character through a number of fantastic settings with the ultimate goal of defeating an evil entity named Ligar in order to restore peace to the realm of Argool. To accomplish this goal, Rygar must visit 5 "Indora Gods" which present him with essential items needed for completion of the game. Each of the Indora Gods is located in a different realm, and are almost always guarded by a boss. The player can choose the order in which some stages are played, but since certain items are required to reach new areas, choices are somewhat limited. After playing through the major five realms of the game, Rygar must be sent to Ligar's flying castle for the final confrontation.