Welcome to another week of the Virtual Console! This week, we’re getting Rygar on the VC Arcade. It’s an NES classic, but how is the arcade version?

Rygar
Developer: Tecmo
Publisher: Tecmo
Original Release Date: 1986
Cost: 600 Wii Points.

Alex Lucard: Well, it’s a buck more for the Arcade version of Rygar, but I honestly can’t say I ever played that one. My experiences are only with the NES version.

Generally arcade versions were superior to the console games, especially back then, so if you’re REALLY in need of a Rygar game I guess paying a dollar more for better graphics and sound is the way to go.

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M.L. Kennedy: The NES game and the Arcade game are entirely different. I would gauge the general consensus to be that the NES game is the better of the two, as the arcade game is pretty much a standard platformer that hasn’t aged well.






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Mark B.: So, Kennedy basically nailed the bullet point that you need to know down here, but speaking as someone who’s played both games, here you go: the NES version of Rygar is essentially the superior version of the title, and it’s mostly a completely different game from the arcade release. The NES version is also the superior version, as it’s essentially a more involved, more interesting game in all respects, and features a lot more play and replay value.

This isn’t to say that the arcade version of the game is bad, mind you; it’s simply kind of “meh”. The game plays okay enough, and it looks and sounds okay, but it’s obscenely hard, and can basically be described as a less interesting Strider with the difficulty cranked up to eleven. If you’re a huge fan of Nintendo-hard games, or you just want to support the continued release of arcade games, the arcade version of Rygar isn’t a terrible investment, but the NES version is pretty much superior in almost every way, so don’t think you’re getting a prettier version of that game, because you’re not. You’re getting a hard side-scroller that you probably won’t need to play much after the first hour you spend with it. Just so you know.

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And on Wii Ware this week, the sequel to Lost Winds, LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias at 1000 points, which is worth a look since the first one was awesome, and Shootanto: Evolutionary Mayhem, which sounds awesome form the name alone, but looks like a pretty cool shooter, for 500 points. Keep spending those points wisely.