Rygar

Rygar is an arcade game created by Tecmo in 1986 and originally released in Japan as Argus no Senshi (アルゴスの戦士). It is a scrolling platform game where the player assumes the role as the "Legendary Warrior", battling through a hostile landscape. Only with the attack and movements mastered would the player stand a chance of progressing through later stages.

The main feature of gameplay is using a weapon called the "Diskarmor", a shield with a long chain attached to it.

Ports
The game was ported to the Sharp X68000, Commodore 64, 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 game called Tecmo Classic Arcade for the Xbox. The arcade version has also been re-released on the Wii Virtual Console.

Atari Lynx Version
The Atari Lynx version closely followed the arcade version. However, the layout of some rounds was different, and there were only 23 rounds.

NES Version
The NES game Rygar is entirely different from the arcade game of the same name.

Plot
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 stone green 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.

PlayStation 2 game
Rygar was updated and released for the PlayStation 2 in November 2002. It features a transition to 3-D graphics and portions of the environment are destructible. It was released to generally positive reviews.

Wii game
On May 11, 2007, a new Rygar title for the Wii was announced at Tecmo's "Nite Out 07" event.