There were many difficult games on the NES that most people probably don't have the patience for today. Rygar was pretty difficult because it wasn't possible to save the game and it was pretty long as well.
This next image is from the arcade version of the game
While this was very unusual the arcade version of the game was completely different than the home version. I recall playing the arcade version and not being very impressed with it because it was just another quarter muncher and the only variety as the game went on was in the form of having more and more monsters thrown at you as you progressed. I am not ashamed to admit that I never got very far on the arcade because it was one of those games that was designed to have you spend several dollars to even get very far - well, i suppose all games were designed that way.
They were quite generous in giving you 5 lives as opposed to the usual 3 that most games gave, but trust me when i say that you would lose those lives pretty quickly!
When Rygar came to the NES I wasn't really excited for it because at that point in time arcade games were normally a LOT better than home carts were and I wasn't really a fan of the arcade game anyway. It wasn't until I played it at a friend's house that I realized how wrong I was about this game.
Unlike almost every other arcade port to a system, Rygar's home version was completely different from the arcade. Obviously the graphics had to be toned down but they changed the entire way that the game works. It was no longer a simple, linear try not get get hit by the horde of enemies appearing on screen, but now it had powerups and a sort of open-world design where you had some choice as to where you were going to go next. Certain areas could only be accessed once you found these old guys in caves that would give you critical items on your quest.
Some people complained that the game was too hard because you couldn't continue but I would find out many months later that you actually CAN continue from the title screen, it just wasn't terribly evident that this was an option. I wonder if this was intentional to hide it like an Easter Egg or if it was just bad design. Personally i think it is was intentionally hidden and it wasn't that hard to find. Episodes of Nintendo Power would reveal the big secret to everyone anyway.
The game would also change from side to top down on certain levels and this wasn't done in a great many games back then. Contra is one of the only ones I can think of.
One of my favorite games from the NES, Rygar has the honor of being what i consider to have been one of the best games on the original Nintendo system.
(images were taken from google images)
NOTE: This is my first post on Steemit as I just joined. I understand there are a lot of rules here and if i am breaking any of them please know that I am not doing so intentionally - if i have done something wrong I would appreciate a little help so that I can conform to whatever the standards are here.
Also, if you have any pointeers for how I could make this blog better. I would appreciate a little help there too. Thanks for reading!