Rygar is an adventure video game created by Tecmo and first released in Japan under the name Argus no Senshi (Warrior of Argus). The player assumes the role of the "Legendary Warrior" who travels through a hostile, monster filled landscape, his only defense the mystical Diskarmor, a shield with a long chain attached to it.
Rygar was first released as an arcade game, later ported to the Sharp X68000, Commodore 64, the NES, Sega Master System (Japan only; as Argos no Jūjiken), 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 Lynx port of Rygar in TCA closely followed the arcade version, and the NES port was completely different. In November 2002, Rygar was updated and released to the PlayStation 2 as Rygar: The Legendary Adventure, and ported to the Wii under the title Rygar: The Battle of Argus.
This video game contains examples of:
- Ability Required to Proceed: In the NES version, the player needs the grappling hook, the wind pulley, or the crossbow to enter some areas.
- Against the Setting Sun: An iconic element of the series. The arcade game has it as the focus of every fourth level, it became the opening level of the NES game, and it returned to the opening areas of The Legendary Adventure.
- Anime Hair: In the PS2 game, Rygar had a stereotypically western Greco-Roman appearance and sporting a brunette mullet. His redesigned look in Battle of Argus instead gave him ivory white shonen hair. Compare
◊. - Anti-Frustration Features: In the 2002 game, if you die at least three times in a normal playthrough, the game will unlock Easy Mode and will give the player the option to switch to it.
- Antagonist Title: In the Japanese version (arcade and NES), the game's title is Argus no Senshi (Warrior of Argus), and Rygar refers to the main villain (also spelled "Ligar"). This is a particularly odd example, since the English version interprets "Rygar" as the hero's name instead (he's nameless in the Japanese version), but still calls the villain "Ligar".
- Better by a Different Name: Legendary Adventure / Battle for Argus usually gets compared (unfavorably) to the God of War series, despite having beaten that game to market by three years.
- Bragging Rights Reward: The 2002 game has several.
- Completing the game gives you the cheat to unlock the Pizzarmor, which makes your Diskarmor look like a pizza.
- Beating the 30th basement floor on the Necromandio Cave will give the player the option to use cheats to switch to different joke skins such as the the Guitarmor (makes the diskarmor look like a guitar) the Rollerarmor and the Udonarmor.
- Beating the game on Hard with an A rank will unlock the Hambuarmor (makes the Diskarmor look like a hamburger).
- Beating the game on Legendary difficulty will unlock the Sushiarmor, which makes the diskarmor look like a plate of sushi.
- Deadly Disc: The Diskarmor is a dangerous disk attached to a retractable rope.
- Difficulty by Region:
- International versions of the Arcade game removed some of the hidden power-ups from the Japanese version.
- The PAL version of the NES game has significantly lower caps than the NTSC one.
- Flash of Pain: Both the enemies and the player in the NES version flash when they're hit.
- Foreign Re-Score: Most of the music in the NES version was replaced for the English release, for whatever reason.
- Genre Shift: From straight action side-scroller in the arcade, to 2D Metroidvania for the NES, to 3D Metroidvania for the PS2 and Wii.
- Giant Flyer: Epolcons, which drop eggs on the hero's head.
- Giant Spider: Sagila, the boss of Sagila's cave.
- Goomba Stomp: In the arcade and NES games, Rygar can stun enemies by jumping on their heads. The Arcade version contained a power-up that let him kill them rather than just stunning them.
- Historical Domain Character: The Legendary Adventure revealed that that version's Rygar is actually Caesarion, the assumed dead son of Cleopatra. When she's made to think he was killed, she does a Heel–Face Turn to become Echidna, Titan leader. Once she learns the truth, though, she asks Rygar to kill her before Cronus can take over her body. In the ending, it's revealed he will live on with Princess Harmonia as Caesarion.
- Improbable Weapon User: The Legendary Warrior's Diskarmor, which is replaced in successive playthroughs of The Legendary Adventures with various types of pizza or guitars, respectively called "pizzarmors" and "guitarmors".
- Invincible Minor Minion: Death is the indestructible being that comes after you when your timer runs out. Beware as you progress through the game, Death moves increasingly faster.
- Japanese Ranguage: The English version names both the game and the protagonist "Rygar" (he is nameless in Japan), which is one way of reading the villain's name in the Japanese version, the other being "Ligar". Bizarrely, the English version does not change the villain's name, meaning it has both a "Rygar" and a "Ligar".
- Killer Yo-Yo: The Diskarmor is a genuine weapon form of this, effectively being a shield at the end of a chain. The 3D game gives different varieties of Diskarmor which have different attack patterns, from carving slow, broad arcs through the air to clinging very close to Rygar's hand to cause quick combo damage.
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Nintendo Hard: There used to be an actual YouTube video titled something like "Rygar gameovers", which basically had a playthrough with a long list of deaths, from falling into a pit on the worldmap to getting killed one way or another. - No Name Given: In the Japanese version, the hero is only referred to as "The Legendary Warrior".
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: The princess in the PS2 game is unmistakably modeled after Britney Spears.
- RPG Elements: The NES game has some which are presented pretty cryptically. Rygar's status screen has two stats known as "TONE" and "LAST" that go up as you kill enemies. TONE refers to the Diskarmor's power level, and each time you accrue 48 LAST, you gain an extra hit point to a maximum of twelve. Both stats max out at 4095. It also has three unexplained spells you can cast with your MIND gauge: Power Up, which speeds up and lengthens the Diskarmor's chain; Attack & Assail, a Smart Bomb worth ten Diskarmor hits; and Recover, which replenishes your health.
- Stalked by the Bell: In the arcade version, an ominous red monster will swoop at you once the timer runs out. (It's not too hard to avoid, though.)
