Video Game Review #508: Rygar

Rygar

Arcade

Nostalgia Factor:

I haven't played Rygar in nearly 30 years. I remember enjoying the game when I was a kid - both the Nintendo and the arcade versions of the game. I remember them being distinctly different. The arcade game was more of a straightforward side-scroller, and the NES version was a Metroid-like title where you could backtrack and get lost. As much as I enjoyed these games, I never really got to play them. I encountered the arcade unit in the wild only once or twice. I played the NES version at a friend's house once or twice. I was never able to truly dive into either game.

Now that I finally have the means to do so, I have decided to revisit these games. I will play the NES version sometime in the future. But for now - the arcade version. 

Story:

The game starts with a screen that says:

"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..."

And then you are thrown into the game - a 2D side-scroller with a fantasy setting. No explanation of who you are, what you are doing, or who you are fighting. Nothing. 

Gameplay:

This is a very simple game. You move left and right on the screen. You jump. You attack with your weapon, a circley-looking blade thing on a chain. If you get hit one time, you die. Yes, it is one of those games. The good news is that enemies are fairly easy to beat, going down with just a hit or two.

The main goal of the game is to make it through 27 levels. You can get through most of these levels pretty quickly, like within a minute or two. You see your progress on a little tiny bar on the bottom right of the screen. You can rush through things and try to muscle your way to the end of the level. But like I said - one hit kills you. But you do pick up right where you left off. There is no backtracking or having to replay areas. That is nice. If you are emulating and have unlimited quarters, you can just keep pumping them in and pushing forward. You'll get there eventually. I can only imagine in the actual arcade this would be much more difficult. I can't imagine ever beating it, as I normally had no more than a few dollars of quarters at a time. I imagine you have to play in a more strategic fashion, being careful not to get hit as you slowly make your way through the level.

Enemies come at you from all over the place. Above you, below you, in front of you, behind you. You can't let your guard down for a second or you can find yourself overwhelmed. This is a game where fast reflexes will suit you well. Otherwise you may find yourself getting frustrated quickly. But like I said - if you die, you start pretty much right where you left off. So while the game is tough, it is completely doable. Sort of.

Here is the twist. After level 21, the game doesn't let you continue anymore. It doesn't matter how many quarters you put in. So if you only have one or two lives left, you have to beat the game on those remaining lives. If you lose them, you have to start the ENTIRE game over again. What. While I won't say that beating the game under these conditions is necessarily impossible, it is certainly not something I would have the time or the patience for. I have no problem admitting that I used save states to cheese my way through the last part of the game. If the game is going to play dirty, I am going to play dirty too.

Graphics:

This game looks fine, I guess. No, let me take that back. It doesn't look great. It looks very primitive. I have a feeling they were going for kind of a Rastan vibe here, but I don't think they succeeded. I suppose I should fact check to see which game came out first, but who are we kidding? I don't do research here.

I do give the game props for the sunset stages. Just thinking of the word Rygar immediately brings those background colors to the forefront of my mind. Very iconic. It's too bad the rest of the game looks like it was done in MS paint. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. It's not that bad. But it almost is.

Sound:

Don't expect much from the game's music. All 27 stages consist of the same one or two songs the entire way. And they aren't even that good! The music that plays when you beat the game is a real eardrum-piercer, too. Seriously, WTF?

Overall:

Meh. This game was really just not my cup of tea. It's a shame, because I really remember enjoying it when I was a kid. Oh well. At least I have the NES version to look forward to. I am almost certain I'll like that version much better. But this one? I didn't particularly care for it.

I'm not going to say that this is some terrible, trash game. There's some kind of value here if you are into this kind of thing, or if you have nostalgia for it. That said, I didn't like it much. Now that I've beaten the game for the purposes of this review, I am probably done with it for life. I don't see a reason to come back.

THE GRADE:

D+

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