Rygar

Rygar

The Legendary Walkthrough

James Browne
04.09.03

_____________________________
Version 2.0 (09.28.04)

Glitch update:

I forsaw wrong - tons of added glitches with new gameplay options

Walker Boh from Bisqwit's NES time attack site (http://bisqwit.iki.fi/nesvideos/) has
introduced us all to an incredible glitch called "Air-Walk" never before seen. Read
the glitches section for more info.

_____________________________
Version 1.0 (04.09.03)

I do not forsee any revisions

Copyright 2003 James Browne

Used with permission

[email protected]
_____________________________
Rygar Info-

System: NES

Publisher: Tecmo, Inc.

Release Date: 1987
_____________________________

Table of Contents:

I. Introduction
II. Story
III. Controls
A) Title Screen
B) Platform Levels
C) Overhead Levels
D) Inventory Screen
E) Notes
IV. Items
A) Weapons
B) Drop Items
C) Use Items
D) Inventory Items
1) Use Items
2) Boost Items
3) Spells
V. Statistics
A) Explanation
B) Tone
C) Last
D) Progression
VI. Levels
A) Platform Levels
1) Sueru Mountain
2) Gran Mountain
3) Rolsa
4) Eruga's Forest
5) Primeval Mountain
6) Den of Sagila
7) Ragua Sando
8) Lapis
9) The Tower of Garba
B) Overhead Levels
1) Garloz
2) Dorago's Palace
3) Sky Castle
VII. Enemies
A) Minions
B) Bosses
VIII. Walkthrough
A) Introduction
B) Mission 1: Grappling Weapon
C) Mission 2: Wind Pulley
D) Mission 3: Crossbow
E) Mission 4: Indora's Suit of Armor
F) Mission 5: God's Coat of Arms
G) Mission 6: Pegasus Flute
H) Mission 7: Defeat Ligar
I) Ending (**SPOILERS**)
IX. Glitches
A) General
B) Levels
C) Enemies
X. Challenges
A) Time Attack
B) Deathless Rygar
C) Level Progression
D) No Healing
XI. Notes

..............................................................................

I. Introduction

Somehow, somewhere, this m-piece got thrown into the mix and overlooked by just
about everyone in the eighties. It wasn't until about three years after its
release it started to get talked about and noticed for the advanced artistry
it showed. Such a well planned adventure game deserves to be recognized by any
classic gamer.

Basically, Rygar was ahead of its time. It moved on from the strict adherence
to level structure and numbers and allowed you to move freely throughout a
large land, almost with a Zelda feel (especially in the overhead levels). The
enemies were creative and well rendered, and as a kicker, they were properly
placed with the right difficulty. The level progression was unique, yet
cryptic, but didn't make you worry too much about levels, strength, hit points,
and other confusing attributes way overdone in many adventure games and RPG's.
Rygar was on my top-ten must play games of the time and still is good for a bit
of fun and nostalgia.

Advanced graphics combine detailed enemies with moving sunsets, as well as
creative, diverse environments. Although freakish, the creatures, ranging from
spiked pill bugs to two headed dragons, project the exact image they should -
don't feel bad for killing everything in sight. Faceless Rygar is as
technically structured as he needs to be considering the limitations of the
time. In other words, he gets the point across without need for complex
elaboration.

The songs, while looping about every fifteen seconds, are quite catchy, and
with their abundance, when they are repeated, it is usually much later in the
game. While obviously not symphony orchestrations, the computer created songs
in Rygar could have been much worse. The sound effects, however, are scarce
and tried, and don't get me started on the annoying, repeating boss effect.

As with many other games of the era, with proper utelization, two buttons is
all you really need to make a good console game. With use of the start-menu
option used in a plethora of adventure games, a whole new set of alternatives
opens. Furthermore, Rygar uses a blend of platform fighting as well as overhead
view exploration. Differrent abilities may be used in each, but it never gets
confusing. The maps are well laid out and the player has little or no
difficulty figuring out which way to turn. Some character overload can get a
bit hectic, but whenever two or more enemies are on the screen in any Nintendo
game, this is bound to happen. Bad guys get increasingly more thick skinned,
yet always predictable, making it somewhat of a challenge the whole way,
and the only problem with the game would be the absence of a save or password
function, although continuing from the start of the recent level is always an
option while the game remains on.

The lack of a saving/password ability may take a few points from replay value,
but if you have an hour to kill, Rygar is certainly a good way to do it. There
is something about Rygar that a person can't put on paper, but I for one will
carry it with me forever. Bash, smash, and kill anything that moves. It's not
too brainy, but games like Rygar paved the way for the Grand Theft Autos of
the world.

..............................................................................

II. Story

If they had to do it all over again, but could change only one thing, this
would definitely be it. The player isn't exactly sure what Rygar's role is,
how he rose from the dead, why he is killing everything, why he is being
helped, etc. I was hoping to answer some of these questions by finishing the
game, but alas, I was disappointed.

The following comes straight from the NES Rygar manual:

Once there was a holy place called Argool which was founded by five legendary
Indora Gods. One day, suddenly the blackest tragedy happened. The prosperous
holy place, Argool was attacked by the troops of the cruel king called Ligar.
The sky of the holy place was completely covered with the flying castle of
Ligar and his army of dangerous beasts. These animalized soldiers came down
from the sky and committed the most atrocious cruelties. In a single day, they
established the kingdom of EVIL. In addition, Ligar took away the "Door to
Peace" symbolizing the peace that had been created by Indora.

The hope for peace disappeared with the loss of the "Door to Peace" and the
people of Argool ceased to smile and could only pray for salvation. They
prayed an ancient passage to counter the fulfilled prophecy of Ligar's evil
reign of terror. The legend says, "When the peaceful land is covered with EVIL
SPIRITS, a brave soldier will be brought to life from the dead, for the
purpose of saving persecuted people. The people of Argool's painful prayers
were so loud that it reverberated throughout the mountains and traveled a
long distance in the land of Algosu. And at last - Rygar, the hero came back
from the dead in order to restore peace to the land of Argool, battling the
forces of evil everywhere. Join forces with Rygar!

O.K., this clears things up a bit, but the best part of an adventure game is
the story and a bit throughout the game would made all the difference in the
world.

..............................................................................

III. Controls

A) Title Screen

Start: Begin game/continue game

B) Platform Levels

D-pad left: Move Rygar west
D-pad right: Move Rygar east
D-pad up: Nothing
D-pad down: Crouch
Select: Pause
Start: Access inventory
A: Jump
B: Use diskarmor
D-pad up/down + B: Use grappling weapon
B (at crossbow stump): Use crossbow
D-pad up/down (at rope): Climb rope
D-pad left/right (at rope): Use wind pulley

C) Overhead Levels

D-pad left: Move Rygar west
D-pad right: Move Rygar east
D-pad up: Move Rygar north
D-pad down: Move Rygar south
Select: Pause
Start: Access inventory
A: Jump
B: Use diskarmor
B (at crossbow stump): Use crossbow
D-pad up/down/left/right (at rope): Use wind pulley

D) Inventory

D-pad left/right: Scroll items
D-pad up/down: Scroll spells
A: Use item
B: Use spell
Select: Pause
Start: Return to game

E) Notes

Notice the only real difference between the platform and overhead levels are
the ropes and the grappling weapon. Obviously when you press down in the
overhead levels you move your character south and in the platform levels you
crouch. Otherwise, the attack and jump remain the same and even the crossbow
and wind pulley don't change. It shouldn't take much getting used to. If
Rygar dies, you will be returned to the title screen. Press start to continue
at the beginning of the level on which you just died. There is no save
function, so once you turn the power off, you start back at the beginning.
Be sure before you end it all.

..............................................................................

IV. Items

A) Weapons

-Diskarmor:
You begin with this yo-yo like spiked shield. The diskarmor is with you
throughout the whole game. It is the only weapon you'll ever receive, but
it is also the only weapon you will need. Press B to swing the diskarmor.
Powering up the diskarmor is an option as you progress.

B) Drop Items

-Single Star:
Gives you one mind point in your inventory. You may store up to seven mind
points allowing you to cast spells. Single stars appear sometimes when enemies
are killed.

-Double Star:
Gives you three mind points in your inventory. Double stars also appear when
certain enemies are killed.

-Life Potion:
Refills one HP of Rygar's life. Life potions will occasionally drop from
enemies when they are defeated.

C) Use Items

-Grappling Weapon:
They call it a weapon, but it's just a tool. Use the grappling weapon to
climb to higher branches or pedistals, or even decend deeper into caves and
mountains. Press up and B simultaneously to throw the grappling weapon
straight up in the air. Press down and B simultaneously to decend down using
the grappling weapon. The grappling weapon may only be used on platform levels
and is located in Garloz.

-Wind Pulley:
You receive the wind pulley upon defeating Eruga and it is probably the
trickiest item to get used to in the game. When you come across a rope, or
create one using the crossbow, which lays horizontally across a cliff, river,
or otherwise, position Rygar so his head is right next to the stump which
holds the rope. You will hear a click and may cross freely. This is much
easier to execute on platform levels, but once you get the hang of it,
there's not much to it on overhead view levels either.

-Crossbow:
Many times you will find a tree stump separating you with your goal. Using
the crossbow, earned from defeating Sagila, will shoot a rope from one stump
to the other. Then you may simply use the wind pulley to cross. To use the
crossbow, stand at the base of the stump and press the B button. If the rope
doesn't appear, try again, as it must be present to cross with the pulley.

D) Inventory Items

1) Use Items

Two items may be present in the lower left side of your inventory. To use
either one, move the arrow under the item you wish to use by pressing
left/right and press the A button.

-Physical Strength Potion:
The potion completely heals Rygar's HP.

-Pegasus Flute:
Used at the top of The Tower of Lile in Rolsa, the flute has the sole
purpose of creating the doorway to Sky Castle, the final stage. Note: Even
with the Pegasus Flute, you may not enter the final stage until you have
defeated the five bosses and collected the items from Indora.

2) Boost Items

-Indora's Suit of Armor:
The armor is earned from defeating Dorago, and it reduces the amount of
damage inflicted by enemy attacks. You don't need to do anything to use it
and simply acquiring it puts it on.

-God's Coat of Arms:
When defeating Belzar in Lapis, Rygar receives this as a gift from Indora.
The God's Coat of Arms does nothing by itself, rather it allows you access
to receive the Physical Strength Potion. Indora waits in several rooms
throughout the game with the potion which you may take when you have the coat
of arms.

3) Spells

Three spells are on the right side spread out vertically in your inventory.
Earn Mind Points (Magic Points/MP) throughout the game to use the spells.
Seven Mind Points may be stored until needed. Each one does something
different and will cost you a set amount of mind points. To use a spell,
move the arrow next to the spell you want to activate by pressing up/down
and press the B button.

-Power Up (3 MP):
Powering up will increase the distance, speed, and strength of your diskarmor.
Power up as soon as you can, as the ability stays with you until you die.

-Attack and Assail (5 MP):
This spell allows you to attack multiple enemies from a distance. Using
the spell will give you 10 attacks. Press the B button back in the game to
use your diskarmor activating the spell. If there are no enemies on the screen
and you swing your diskarmor, you will waste one of your attacks and the game
will notify you with a buzzing sound.

-Recover (7 MP):
The recover spell has the same effect as the Physical Strength Potion,
completely healing all of Rygar's HP.

..............................................................................

V. Statistics

A) Explanation

In the upper left side of your inventory, you'll see two statistics, tone and
last. Tone is the strength of your diskarmor and last is your defensive
capabilities.

B) Tone

Tone is the strength of Rygar and his diskarmor. As this number increases,
you will notice the number of attacks necessary to defeat enemies will
decrease. Your tone begins at 30 points, but you may obtain up to 4095 points
before the end of the game.

C) Last

As your last grows, so will your defense, allowing your HP storage to increase
with each level and thus ableing you to receive more damage before you die.
The level progression is a bit cryptic, but it is dynamic as it is harder to
gain experience as the game moves on (mostly). Just like your tone statistic,
4095 points is the maximum, although you gain your final HP at 4000 points.

D) Progression

The levels seem to change with a pattern involving the number 48 for a while,
but this breaks by level 6, and doubles for level 7, and then levels 7 and 8
are added to show what you need for level 9, and basically, it doesn't make
too much sense. You probably won't be checking your stats that closely anyway,
but the table below shows the level increments. (Notice it's harder to get to
level 8 than level 9.)

Level 1 (3 HP) - Last=10
Level 2 (4 HP) - Last=48
Level 3 (5 HP) - Last=96
Level 4 (6 HP) - Last=192
Level 5 (7 HP) - Last=336
Level 6 (8 HP) - Last=496
Level 7 (9 HP) - Last=992
Level 8 (10 HP) - Last=2000
Level 9 (11 HP) - Last=2992
Level 10 (12 HP) - Last=4000

..............................................................................

VI. Levels

A) Platform Levels

1) Sueru Mountain

Enemies:
Rolpher
Pragokelis

The first stage of the game, Sueru Mountain, is a basic no-brainer. Just keep
heading east until you get to Gran Mountain.

2) Gran Mountain

Enemies:
Rolpher
Pragokelis
Phollorakos
Epolcon

Gran Mountain holds the entrances to Garloz and The Tower of Garba. You won't
even see the Epolcons until you have the crossbow and are on your way to the
tower. You'll be ready by then. Gran Mountain also contains one recovery room
and a God's Coat of Arms potion room.

3) Rolsa

Enemies:
Olbis
Molgolin

Rolsa is a valley with a couple of spins and turns taking you to Eruga's
Forest at the end and Sky Castle atop The Tower of Lile. You should have the
grappling hook before you enter Rolsa.

4) Eruga's Forest

Enemies:
Olbis
Molgolin
Kinatarnos

Boss:
Eruga

Eruga's forest is home of Eruga, whom you must defeat to receive the wind
pulley from Indora. Use caution, as it is very easy to fall to your doom in
the forest. A hidden recovery room is here at the highest point in the forest.

5) Primeval Mountain

Enemies:
Rolpher
Pragokelis
Epolcon

Primeval Mountain is a small transient level leading to The Den of Sagila.
Not too much here, save the entrance to the cave.

6) Den of Sagila

Enemies:
Ammolum
Sunyougi
Wyrm

Boss:
Sagila

A bit of a maze, The Den of Sagila is split into two parts. The first being
a straight shot east to get back outside and the second is a bit tedious, but
the enemies are all easy to predict and the jumps are pretty safe. Watch out
for those fireballs though! The first part of the cave holds a recovery room,
although I wouldn't bother going to it. Defeat Sagila to receive the crossbow
from Indora.

7) Ragua Sando

Enemies:
Rolpher
Pragokelis
Epolcon

Nothing here but a doorway to Lapis. A couple of jumps and a rope climb get
you to the door.

8) Lapis

Enemies:
Ammolum
Bargan
Wyrm

Boss:
Belzar

The robots are tough, but well worth it when you check your experience.
Crossbow and grapple your way through the floating islands to get to Belzar
and win the God's Coat of Arms.

9) Tower of Garba

Enemies:
Kuzeelar
Demorobruzer

Boss:
Deathpigor

Only seven different rooms, The Tower of Garba should be called "The Tower
of Bosses." The only enemies here are three kuzeelars, one demorobruzer, and
the boss, Deathpigor. Stand your ground, recover your health a couple of
times, and win yourself the Pegasus Flute.

B) Overhead Levels

1) Garloz

Enemies:
Hyoking
Kinoble

Garloz is the centerpoint for most of the game, containing the entrances to
Rolsa (leading to Eruga's Forest and Sky Castle), Ragua Sando (taking you to
Lapis), Primeval Mountain (and the Den of Sagila), and Dorago's Palace. It is
also the first overhead view level, allowing you to see a bit more of what's
going on. There is also a recovery room, a God's Coat of Arms potion room,
and the grappling weapon.

2) Dorago's Palace

Enemies:
Red Hyoking
Red Kinoble
German

Boss:
Dorago

Dorago's Palace is an overhead view level like Garloz with some pretty tough
enemies. Follow the path, jump a whole lot, crossbow/pulley a couple of times,
and skip the God's Coat of Arms potion room (you probably don't have it yet)
to get to the boss Dorago and get Indora's Suit of Armor.

3) Sky Castle

Enemies:
Shadow German
Shadow kinoble
Shadow Dorago

Boss:
Ligar

The final overhead view level (and the final level) Sky Castle holds one
God's Coat of Arms potion room and a whole bunch of silhouette creatures,
tougher than anything you've seen so far. Fight your way to the final boss,
Ligar, and return peace to Argool.

..............................................................................

VII. Enemies

A) Minions

-Ammolum

Locations:
Den of Sagila, Lapis

These pill bug creatures come out of the ground and roll at Rygar inflicting
minimal damage. Jump on their backs to stun them. Ammolum's are skin swaps
of Rolphers.

-Bargan

Location:
Lapis

Bargan, the super-robot, falls from the sky and shoots lazers as tall as him
at Rygar. He is worth extensive experience, but is difficult to slay.
Jump on his head to evade, but he will not stun.

-Demorobruzer

Location:
Tower of Garba

This beast fights like Sagila the spider, but twice as fast. Hopefully, you'll
have enough power to not worry about any strategy. Just jump and swing away.

-Epolcon

Locations:
Gran Mountain, Primeval Mountain, Ragua Sando

The token dragons of adventure games, Epolcons fly through the sky above
Rygar's head and drop eggs on him. They are pretty thick skinned and cannot
be jumped on.

-German

Location:
Dorago's Palace

These muscular beasts walk on all fours and mix up their movements to confuse
you. Your best bet is to stay in the air keep swinging that diskarmor.

-Hyoking

Locations:
Garloz, Dorago's Palace

If you look closely, you can see a pig face on the Hyokings, who emerge from
the ground and always attack from north to south. The red hyokings are a bit
more powerful.

-Kinatarnos

Location:
Eruga's Forest

The kinatarnos reside only in Eruga's Forest and perch on tree branches firing
spikes at Rygar. Avoid jumping around them, as Eruga's Forest is full of
treacherous drops.

-Kinoble

Location:
Garloz, Dorago's Palace

The Ent-like tree people of Argool sway from left to right, spitting fireballs
at poor Rygar. Jump to avoid them and kill the source as soon as you can.

-Kuzeelar

Location:
Tower of Garba

A skin swap of the boss Eruga, this snail like creature moves, of course,
extremely slow, but fires a wave of fireballs every second or so. They fan
out, so jump through the middle and top ones to survive.

-Molgolin

Locations:
Rolsa, Eruga's Forest

Molgolin fights just like the Wyrm, which is slow, yet follows Rygar always
putting him at an empass. You can jump on their heads, but it's not
recommended. Jump and dispose of this beast as soon as you can.

-Olbis

Locations:
Rolsa, Eruga's Forest

The flying lizard people, Olbis, will come from the water in Rolsa and Eruga's
Forest, circling Rygar. Just stand your ground and let them come to you.

-Phollorakos

Location:
Gran Mountain

These lizard creatures infest Gran Mountain, dropping from cliff to cliff
attacking Rygar at the bottom. Their moves are predictable and their skin
is thin.

-Pragokelis

Locations:
Sueru Mountain, Gran Mountain, Primeval Mountain, Ragua Sando

These turtle like creatures are the staple of the game, providing power
boosts and experience whenever needed. They are the weakest characters in
the entire game. Crouch to hit them, or jump on their backs to stun and avoid.

-Rolpher

Locations:
Sueru Mountain, Gran Mountain, Primeval Mountain, Ragua Sando

The Rolpher will appear wherever the Pragokelis do and fights like Ammolum.
Coming out of the ground, he rolls after Rygar with his spiked back causing
minor damage. You can jump on their backs to stun.

-Shadow Dorago

Location:
Sky Castle

This creature is a sillouette of the boss Dorago, and is every bit as
difficult. He is only found in Sky Castle, where all the creatures are
shadows. You can avoid this creature when you see him by going through the
nearing doors.

-Shadow German

Location:
Sky Castle

Shadow German fights just like the German from Dorago's Palace, with its
confusing movements and thick hide. Stay in the air and eliminate him.

-Shadow Kinoble

Location:
Sky Castle

The tree people are back again, but Rygar can't really see anything but a
shadow. They attack like Kinobles, but move faster with more fireballs.

-Sunyougi

Location:
Den of Sagila

This slug is a carbon copy of the Pragokelis and Rygar must crouch to defeat
them. Jump on their backs to stun them.

-Wyrm

Locations:
Den of Sagila, Lapis

The Wyrm fight like the bat-like Molgolin from Rolsa and Eruga's Forest,
following Rygar, slowly.

B) Bosses

-Belzar

Location:
Lapis

Belzar, like many of Ligar's disciples, has two heads and perches above,
spewing fireballs at Rygar. Be cautious and earn yourself The God's Coat
of Arms.

-Deathpigor

Location:
Tower of Garba

Win the Pegasus Flute when defeating the boss of The Tower of Garba,
Deathpigor, who fights Rygar in a tiny room, firing a multitude of fireballs
at Rygar.

-Dorago

Location:
Dorago's Palace

Dorago moves side to side, releasing bat-like missiles all over the place.
There is no cover here, but fight on to win Indora's Suit of Armor.

-Eruga

Location:
Eruga's Forest

Eruga is the first boss of the game Rygar will fight and, like everyone else
in this retched place, has two heads. He is covered by a scally shell and
moves like the snail, Kuzeelar. Be smart and win the wind pulley.

-Ligar

Location:
Sky Castle

Ligar is the largest creature of the game, throws too many projectiles to
count, has two heads, and is by far the toughest bad guy in all of Argool.
It makes sense he's in charge. Defeat him to return peace to Argool.

-Sagila

Location:
Den of Sagila

Sagila the spider moves around the walls of his web at Rygar, changing
direction when he feels like it or when he gets hit. Definitely the easiest
boss of the game, Sagila must be defeated to receive the crossbow from Indora.

..............................................................................

VIII. Walkthrough

A) Introduction

In a nutshell, you want to accomplish the following things in order:

1) Start of game, Sueru Mountain, Gran Mountain, Garloz, Acquire Grappling
Weapon

2) Rolsa, Eruga's Forest, Defeat Eruga, Acquire Wind Pulley

3) Garloz, Primeval Mountain, Den of Sagila, Primeval Mountain, Den of Sagila,
Defeat Sagila, Acquire Crossbow

4) Garloz, Dorago's Palace, Defeat Dorago, Acquire Indora's Suit of Armor

5) Garloz, Ragua Sando, Lapis, Defeat Belzar, Acquire God's Coat of Arms

6) Garloz, Gran Mountain, The Tower of Garba, Defeat Deathpigor, Acquire
Pegasus Flute

7) Gran Mountain, Garloz, Rolsa, Sky Castle, Defeat Ligar

You can mix up the suit of armor, coat of arms, and pegasus flute if you like,
but they are all on the way to each other as listed here, and the enemies
progress in difficulty, thus it would be difficult to, for example, conquer
The Tower of Garba before defeating Dorago and Belzar. And, again, you'd be
backtracking a lot anyway.

B) Mission 1: Grappling Weapon

SUERU MOUNTAIN:

You begin at the start of Sueru Mountain, and there's not too much going on
here. Just a couple of chasms, some pragokelis (turtles) and rolphers (pill
bugs), and a pretty sunset. Go right, jumping when necessary, avoiding
basically everything you can, turning around every once in a while to waste
something catching you, and enter the door at the end.

You are now passing into Gran mountain. Go to the right until you see three
rocks (as rocky as three squares can be) and a tree branch. Don't clear this
part just yet. Instead, walk to the first extrusion, turn around with your
back to it, duck, and hit everything that is thrown at you. This is a great
place to get your strength up before continuing on in the game. I'd recommend
going until you have at least 96 in your Last taking you to the third level,
powering up as soon as possible. It takes about 5 minutes.

By now you should have a full roster of mind points, be powered up, and have
full health with 5 HP. Jump over those rocks and head to the right until you
find a rope. Climb the rope by pressing up and continue right until you come
to another rope that leads up, offscreen. Go up to find a door with a hermit
who says, "In the 'Gran Mountain' lies the entrance to 'Garloz'." Well, let's
go to Gran Mountain. Exit the room, jump to the right from branch to branch
until you find a rope leading down. Decend it and you find Gran Mountain,
land of the lizard people phollorakos, on the right. No door leading to it or
anything, just "there's the mountain," but you won't be going back towards
Sueru Mountain for the rest of the game.

GRAN MOUNTAIN:

Head right, jumping the holes, pass the first and second ropes, and climb
the third. (Beyond the third is a hermit who says, "When you get to "Garloz",
first go west, then go north.") After climbing the rope, go left, passing the
rope, and enter the door to Garloz.

GARLOZ:

Garloz is an overhead view level with some hyokings (pig faces) and
tree-people, kinoble, all of which are easy to defeat. Just stay in the air
as often as possible and you'll be fine. Head north until you see a path both
on your right and left. Take the left one and immediately head north, avoiding
the water, until you find a fork in the road. The left fork is a long stretch
that leads to a hermit with the advice, "Meet the 5 War Gods 'Indora' to
acquire special powers." So take the right fork, go up, kill the kinoble,
and head right as soon as you can't go up anymore.

You'll come to a screen with a house like thing on a hill. Enter it and you'll
see an item and a hermit who says, "The grappling weapon will help you
complete your quest." It's not much of a weapon actually, but you need it to
complete the game. Press up and B simultaneously a couple of times and get the
hang of throwing it. Now exit and head to Rolsa.

C) Mission 2: Wind Pulley

Go back the way you came, down the path, killing the kinoble, take the first
right you come to, and you'll find yourself at the first part of Garloz you
saw, with a path on the opposite side of the screen. Take that path to come
to a river. Go up the side of it, passing the two stumps with a rope between
them, cross over at the very top, and come back down the right side until you
each a path on your right. Take it and you will find the entrance to Rolsa
on top of the hill.

But skip that for now, head north until you see an opening on your right, and
go north when you enter that screen. Enter the door you find and a hermit
says, "Welcome! Take a rest to regain your strength." and heals your HP to
maximum. This is quite a handy room, as Garloz is the center point for most
of the levels in the game.

Exit the room and head back to the entrance to Rolsa.

ROLSA:

This level is a connector from Garloz to Eruga's Forest (and the final stage,
Sky Castle). Not too much danger here, except for some predictable olbis
(flying lizards) and slow moving, but thick skinned, molgolins (giant bats).
Head right along the rocks until you come to a rope. After climbing it, you'll
find a door guarded by a molgolin with a hermit inside who says, "Arove here,
in the skies of 'Rolsa' is a floating castle." I'm not too sure what "arove"
means, but you're not going to that castle now anyway. Exit the room, go to
the right and find another door. "From here, you can't go on without the
grappling weapon." Not exactly true, but sound advice nevertheless, as you'll
need it in Eruga's Forest.

Moving on, exit the room, decend the rope, move to the right until you find
another rope, climb it and you'll find three tower tops. It's easiest to
grapple to the top of the first one then jump, but you can use the blocks
below them if you like. Whatever makes your planets twirl. Climb down the
rope on the other side and move along the rocks on the water heading right
until you see the entrance to Eruga's Forest.

ERUGA'S FOREST:

Definitely not the easiest level, but certainly not the hardest, Eruga's
Forest contains all the enemies Rolsa has, with the addition of some
kinatarnos (spike throwing caterpillars); however, due to a little glitch,
they are easy to defeat. As soon as a kinatarnos comes on the screen,
reverse your direction and go until he's off the screen. When you return,
he will have disappeared. This method may be used for all the kinatarnos in
Eruga's Forest.

Anyway, head right, climbing a couple of ropes and leaping some branches
until you come to a rope that goes up offscreen. Take this and when you reach
the top, you get to use the grappling hook for the first time. Go to the left
edge of the branch you are standing on and throw it up to the one above. It
might take you a couple of tries to get it and be careful not to fall off.
When you land it, climb up, jump to the branch on the opposite side of the
tree, and throw the grappling hook again. It will catch offscreen and you will
find a secret healing room at the top.

Exit the room, grapple down, beat up that molgolin, and head right atop the
trees. Descend the rope and go right, making the kinatarnos disappear the
whole way using the on-screen/off-screen technique, and stop when you can't
proceed any further. Use the grappling hook to find a door with an advice
giving hermit. "A monster, 'Eruga' lives deep within this forest." Yeah, I
kinda gave that away already - sorry. Exit and again head right atop the
trees, climb down the rope, go right getting rid of the kinatarnos and olbis,
and jump those branches until you reach the entrance to Eruga's Lair. The
last jump's a long one so watch yourself.

ERUGA'S LAIR:

Eruga's a tricky guy, but basically simple to beat.

Method 1:
By now you should be way full on your mind points. Grapple yourself to the
tree branch and use the Attack and Assail spell. Slowly press B and hit him
from afar. From this distance, it is pretty easy to dodge his projectiles.
If this wasn't enough to beat him, proceed to either method 2 or 3 to finish
him off.

Method 2:
Step up to him, but keep your distance as far as your weapon will allow. Hit
him as much as you can until he throws the fireballs at you. Jump through the
middle and top one and land yourself at the same distance from him as when
you started. Keep this up until he dies.

Method 3:
By now you should have at least 5 or even 6 HP, so stand your ground against
him, hitting him as much as possible and take his hits until you have one or
zero HP left. Then press start and use the Recover spell, healing your HP to
maximum. Then do this again. It should give you enough time to kill him before
he gets you down.

Method 4:
Another gaming glitch! Run at him as soon as you enter the room and jump on
his head as soon as you can. Position yourself so he is facing right and can't
hit you with his fireballs. He will walk until he ends up in the tree on the
right side of the screen, twitching, and unable to throw any fireballs. Stay
on him and hold the right directional key until he stops fidgeting and sticks
himself completely in the tree, with his back facing out. All of his fireballs
are absorbed by the tree before they can hit you and he can't move, so jump
off him and whack away until he dies. This method works the best, even though
it may take you a couple of tries. If you die, you start right back in the
room with him. It only takes one shot to get it right, and you're home free.
Upon killing Eruga, a door will appear on the right.

Enter the room and Indora says, "I'm 'Indora' I'll give you a pulley you must
use to cross." Just the thing you needed to get to Sagila the spider and get
the crossbow. Take the pulley, and you'll be transported to the entrance to
Rolsa. You're done with Eruga's Forest and you don't need to return to Rolsa
until the end of the game, so it's time to head to Primeval Mountain and The
Den of Sagila for the crossbow.

D) Mission 3: Crossbow

GARLOZ:

Standing at the entrance to Rolsa, you'll probably want to go heal yourself,
so head up, then right, and up again to the healing room. Go back and take
the path on the left just south of the Rolsa entrance. You'll see the two
stumps with a rope again, and this time you can use it with the pulley.

It may take some getting used to, just be careful not to fall into the water.
If you're scared to try it, just walk around the top, but you're going to
need to get it down eventually. Position your head next to the rope and walk
left until you hear a click. Then simply push left until you're on the other
embankment of the river.

Head down the left side of the river, skip the first path on the left and the
next two stumps with a rope, and go all the way down until you can't anymore.
Go left and you'll see another two stumps with a rope. This time you have to
do it, so play around the stump until it clicks. When across, go left, around
the little bay, left again, and into the door which takes you to Primeval
Mountain.

PRIMEVAL MOUNTAIN:

Great - another mountain. Here you'll find the pragokelis and rolphers from
Gran Mountain, but they're a bit tougher this time, and a new enemy, the
epolcon, is all over the place. He'll fly overhead and drop eggs on your head,
which is especially difficult to avoid when crossing with the pulley on a
rope, so be careful. Head right, as usual, jumping the rocks and crossing
the two rope connected pits, and go all the way right until you come to a
door. To cross with the pulley, simply push the right directional button
until you latch onto the rope. Go into the door when you reach it to enter
The Den of Sagila.

DEN OF SAGILA:

Holy skin swaping! New enemies here, but not really. The pragokelis have been
replaced by sunyougi the slugs, the rolphers have changed a bit making
ammolums, and the molgolins have switched to giant horned birds called wyrms.
Basically they are the same as the originals, except they're a little quicker.
You shouldn't have much difficulty predicting their moves.

Sagila's cave can be a maze if you let it, but there's really not a whole
lot to it. Head right, passing the rope on the floor, and jump over a couple
of gaps. You'll come to a pit separated by a pulley rope. Get on it, but be
careful, as fireballs are shooting out of the ground at you. Time it properly
and cross the pit. Continue right, passing the spot on the ground where you
can grapple down, and keep going until you reach a door.

If you think you missed a whole lot back there and want to know about it, in
the first part of The Den of Sagila, there is:

1 healing Room (It's a pain in the butt to get to.)

2 advice hermits which say, "You can go no further! You must go back the way
you came." and "Continue straight in the top cave to see the sunset."

8 or so dead ends and cliffs.

Basically, there's not much there. Just stay on the top level until you reach
that door. Go in it and you'll be back outside in Primeval Mountain.

PRIMEVAL MOUNTAIN:

Man, those pragokelis look funky now after seeing the sunyougis. This is about
as difficult as the first part of Sueru Mountain. Walk right, wasting
everything in sight, until you hit another door. You'll be back in The Den
of Sagila.

DEN OF SAGILA:

Now it gets a bit more involved. Walk left until you reach a small thingie
on the floor. Grapple down by pressing down and B simultaneously, and climb
down until you're standing on solid ground. Walk left, killing the sunyougis
and wyrms along the way, grapple down at the next spot you can, go left again,
and grapple down offscreen until you're standing on a small ledge. Jump left
from ledge to ledge, avoiding the fireballs and killing the birds until you
can grapple down again. The fireballs are taken out with one shot, so get as
many as you can before jumping. Whe you see that spot on the ground, grapple
down.

Standing on another ledge, you can see right is the only way to go, so again,
jump from ledge to ledge until you reach a door which leads to Sagila's Web.

SAGILA'S WEB:

Definitely the easiest boss in the game, there are two effective ways of
beating Sagila.

Method 1:
Using Attack and Assail will keep Sagila at bay, and since he's such a weak
boss, it shouldn't even take all 10 hits to kill him. If he doesn't die after
10 hits, proceed to method 2.

Method 2:
I wouldn't even bother wasting my mind points on Attack and Assail. Just time
it right, go to the center of the room, grapple up until you lock on to the
ceiling, and climb up to the top. You can swing your weapon left or right
while hanging on to the grappling hook, and he swarms the room by going around
the walls in a circle pattern mostly. When he comes at you from the left,
attack to the left. He will either turn around, or drop to the ground. Do
the same if he attacks you on the right. You don't need any special powers
or any real strength to beat him, just a bit of patience.

When he is defeated, a door will appear on the right. Enter and an Indora
will give you the crossbow. "I'm 'Indora' I'll give you this crossbow."
That was sweet of him. Take the crossbow and you'll transport to the entrance
to Primeval Mountain in Garloz.

E) Mission 4: Indora's Suit of Armor

GARLOZ:

There is no need to ever come back to Primeval Mountain or The Den of Sagila,
so move on to Dorago's Palace to get the armor.

Head left from the entrance to Primeval Mountain and go north along the
embankment. Along the way, there is a door with a hermit who advises, "You
can see the palace of 'Dorago' above this island." Well, that means you're
close I guess, so leave the hermit alone and keep going north until you can't
anymore. Go right and you'll see a tree stump on the ground. Stand beneath it
facing up and press the B button. If you don't throw the rope, reposition
yourself until it works. After the rope goes across, walk onto it and latch
on with your pulley. Go around the rocks and into Dorago's Palace.

DORAGO'S PALACE:

Here, you'll find the same enemies as in Garloz with the addition of the
germans (muscle crawlers). The hyokings and kinobles are also a bit tougher
and red instead of green, but, as Dorago's Palace is an overhead view board
like Garloz, your best bet is to stay in the air and it will be very difficult
for them to hurt you.

From the beginning, go north and watch out for that german - he's tough.
You'll come to a door with an advice hermit who says, "Well done. But you
will face more difficult challenges." Well, I hope so considering how easy
it's been so far. Go right until the screen shifts, and then south until you
come to a pit, and finally through the hole in the right wall.

Go north, avoiding the hyokings, to find another door with a hermit who
claims, "Defeating 'Ligar' will again return peace to 'Argool'." Yeah - lotsa
made up words there. Just so you know, Ligar is the final boss and Argool
is the land you are in.

Moving along, exit the room, go north and you will come to an area with lots
of kinobles and germans. Their attacks are pretty intense, but you can go up
the very right side of the screen, jumping the whole way, and as soon as
things get a bit overwhelming, go right, making the screen scroll for an
easy escape. You'll come to a pit which you can clear easily (you don't need
to crossbow/pulley where they let you) and continue on until you reach the
top of the area, where you can go either left or right.

To the right is a dead end with a hermit who says, "Do you have the God's
Coat of Arms yet?" You don't, so you can skip that and just go left. You
will come to an area with a kinoble where you can go left or down. Left is
just a dead end, so go down until you reach the pit, use the crossbow to
cross, and go left when you reach the bottom.

There, you'll find two germans and a kinoble. Go in the door and a hermit
says, "Your quest is half completed. Fight on!" Halfway there - coolio.
Exit the room, stay in the air dodging the attacks, and head left. You'll
end up in a small corridor and see the only way you can go is left. Continue
on this way and you'll end up at a crossroads with the option to continue
going left or switch up and head north.

North is just a hermit who says, "If you see 'Dorago' ask him to 'release
my daughter!'." Just a bit of a scenario hiccup here, as you're not going
to be asking Dorago for much of anything when you see him. Skip going up at
the crossroads and continue left.

Entering this screen, you'll find a couple of germans and some hyokings. Go
up (the only way you can) and continue until the end. About four more germans
show up on the way, so just keep jumping. Head right as soon as you can.

You'll come to a wide corridor with possibly some hyokings. Jump all the way
across to the other side and you'll see the door to Dorago's Lair guarded by
some kinobles and posts. Here is a great place to stock up on mind points if
you need to. Move up and down the posts, killing the kinobles whose fireballs
can't reach you and the german at the bottom. When you go offscreen where a
kinoble was, he will return for you to kill again. When you feel like you're
stocked up enough (I'd recommend being powered up with full health and full
mind points), move up the center of the posts to meet Dorago.

DORAGO'S LAIR:

Dorago is the most difficult enemy to date, but easily defeated nonetheless.
He moves left to right at the top of the screen shooting countless projectiles
at a decent speed.

Method 1:
Stay at the bottom of the screen where the two posts are. His bat looking
fireballs can go through them, so don't search for cover there. Instead, use
the Attack and Assail spell and slowly hit him 10 times from a distance.
When the fireballs are close to you, just jump over them. This probably won't
be enough to kill him, but it will get him way down. To finish him off,
proceed to method 2.

Method 2:
Dorago's pretty thick skinned, so being powered up wouldn't be all that
awful, but even if you're not, staying in the air should give you enough
advantage. Get below him and keep jumping, following him when he comes at
you, swinging left to right opposite of the way he is coming. It doesn't
exactly look right, but it works. Position yourself so he can't hit you with
his body and oppose his back and forth movements. In other words, when he is
moving right, you should be jumping left, swinging. Vice versa when he's on
the other side. This teqnique is a bit of a glitch in the overhead view. I've
beaten him not powered up without being touched using this method, which will
help you later on in the final stage (also an overhead view level) in addition
to defeating Dorago.

When defeated, a door will appear on the top of the screen. Inside Indora
says, "You can use 'Indora's' suit of armour for protection." I never did
figure out the whole difference between armor and armour, but take it and
you're back in Garloz at the entrance to Dorago's palace.

F) Mission 5: God's Coat of Arms

GARLOZ:

No need to ever come back to Dorago's Palace, so use the crossbow/pulley to
take you back across the river. Go down, around the bay, and head right off
the screen. Go all the way down around another bay, and go right, off the
screen again. Keep going down until you reach the stumps with the rope and
cross.

Go right offscreen and you'll see a river. Walk up the left embankment until
you come to a rope across the river. Take that across and keep going up until
you see another rope. To your right, there is a path. Take that path and see
the entrance to Rolsa again. Pass by that, go right when you can, go all the
way up to the healing room for a pit stop, then exit and come back down. But
this time, keep going south until you see a path on your right. Take that and
you'll see a housy thing on the hill which is the entrance to Ragua Sando,
leading to Lapis. All the way to the bottom of this screen is a hermit who
says, "It's 2 A.M. and time for the monsters to awaken." O...K. Go on in the
gate to Ragua Sando.

RAGUA SANDO:

This one's a small one. Ragua Sando looks like Primeval Mountain, with the
same creatures (pragokelis, rolphers, and egg dropping epolcons). Go all the
way right, avoiding them, and climb the rope when you come to it. At the top,
jump to the next branch and go in the door into the recesses of Lapis.

LAPIS:

Inside, you'll see floating islands. Jump to the one to your right and kill
the wyrm (like the ones in The Den of Sagila). Climb the first rope, but skip
the one at the top, as it leads to a hermit who says, "You need the grappling
to continue past 'Lapis'." Instead, jump to the next island on your right.
Walk a little bit to the right and throw your grappling hook up. It's pretty
long up there, so you should hit it first try. If not, walk further along
this island and try again.

At the top is a super-robot, Bargan...weird. Also a door and a tree stump.
In the door is a hermit who says, "From this point you can't go on without
crossbow." Good thing you've got that already. Exit the room and here is a
great spot to get your experience up a bit.

As soon as you leave the room, Bargan will drop from the sky. He will extend
his arm, glow a bit, then shoot a large fireball at you. Right when he extends
his arm, jump. All you need to do aside from jump is whack away at him.
After you beat him, go back in the room and repeat this process until you're
bored.

When you're satisfied (I get to at least level 8 with 10 HP), jump over the
door and use the crossbow on the stump. Then get on it with the pulley and
go across. You'll come to a small island with another stump. Repeat the
crossbow/pulley process and you'll be on a series of small floating islands.
They're not as hard as they look and there's no enemies, so continue right
until you find an island with a door.

Inside, the hermit tells you, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" Well, thanks, waste of
time. Exit the room and you'll be in the right position to grapple down.
Lowering yourself to the next screen, you'll find a small island with another
tree stump. (Guess they really wanted to make sure you got the crossbow before
you came here.) Use it and come to a long floating island with a couple of
super-robots and wyrms. Go until you reach the end and it seems like you
can't go any further.

In the background are a series of mountain looking post things sticking out
of the floating island. Position yourself in the middle of the very last one
on the left and grapple down. Head offscreen down and you'll see a couple of
wyrms on your left and right. Kill them on the way down or they'll hurt you.
You'll end up on an island with a stump and a rope. At least you don't have
to use the crossbow this time. Take it across, jump to the next island to the
right and you'll be on a long area with countless super-robots and ammolums
out of nowhere. It gets a bit heated here, so head for the door at the end
of the island.

The hermit says, "Please go down from here. 'Lapis' awaits you." Again, when
you exit, you'll be in the right position to grapple down offscreen. Yet
another island with a stump and a rope awaits, so take it to the left. Jump
through the series of islands with the green background, knock off a couple
of creatures, and head all the way left to Belzar's Lair. Go in the door to
beat up Belzar.

BELZAR:

He's not really a nasty one, easy to take out with a little timing. His
fireballs are limited and slow, so just keep an eye out for their position
and you should be fine.

Method 1:
Attack and Assail - good old faithful. If you just attack him at the bottom
of the screen with this level of experience, it should wipe him out. If it's
just not enough (and it will be just barely not enough), proceed to method 2.

Method 2:
Quickly grapple up to the island he is sitting on. As stated, his fireballs
are slow and there are very few. Just jump over them when they come at you
and wail away on him.

Method 3:
It seems most of the glitches so far occur on the bosses and this is about
the funniest one yet. As soon as you enter the room, grapple down offscreen
and you should be in a blank, blue area with nowhere to go. When you return,
Belzar should be about an inch lower from his original position. Now he is
within jumping distance and you have much more manuverability than you did
climbing up to his turf. Avoid his simple fireball attacks and jump up to
waste him.

When finished, a door will appear on your left. Enter to receive the coat of
arms. "O'great warrior, I'll also give you a coat of arms." At least he
stopped introducing himself. He seemed to have the attention span of your
average Alpo commercial. Take the coat of arms and you'll appear back in
Garloz at the gate to Ragua Sando.

G) Mission 6: Pegasus Flute

GARLOZ:

Take the path to your left to the next screen over then go to the top real
quick to refill your energy if necessary. Come back down and go to your
left again towards the gate to Rolsa. Go down a bit and take the path you
see on your left.

Now, instead of crossing that river, go down - all the way down to the bottom.
The road curves to the right, so keep on it, head north, kill that kinoble,
and go in the door you come to.

Instead of a hermit, you see Indora sitting there with this red potion thing.
"O'great warrior. You have earned the Coat of Arms." That's what that thing
does. (If you come here before the Coat of Arms, a hermit says, "Do you have
the God's Coat of Arms yet?" just like in Dorago's palace.) There are a few of
these rooms in the game (one in Sky Castle, the last level) and you may come
here to get that potion which fills your HP completely anytime you don't
have one in your inventory. Also when you enter the room, your HP is
completely filled as if you went to a recovery room (just to save time I
guess, so you don't leave, take the potion, and come back for another).
Tuck this life potion away in your inventory until you need it and exit the
room.

Speaking of your inventory, if you check it out, you'll be missing only one
thing. You have the grappling hook, the four gifts from Indora plus the
potion, but you're missing the Pegasus Flute which is actually atop Gran
Mountain in The Tower of Garba, so head on over that way to the beginning
of Garloz.

Go down, then left, cross the river, and head north again. When you reach
the path on your left, take it and go down to the door through which you
first entered Garloz. Take it and you're back on Gran Mountain.

GRAN MOUNTAIN:

Go right a bit to the rope and climb it, but watch for the phollorakos at
the top. To your right a bit is a hermit. "If you dare, approach 'Garba'
found atop this mountain." Oops. I spoiled that one for you too. Head left
and climb the first rope you come to. (Beyond that to the end, a grapple up,
further left, and a rop climb gets you a recovery room, but you can skip
that as there's a Coat of Arms potion at the very top of the mountain.)

Once you climb the rope, head left, jump over the gap, and climb the next
rope. Go left a bit, grapple up twice where it's obvious you can, and meet
Indora for a quick heal and another Coat of Arms potion if necessary. You
haven't come that far, so it probably won't be, but it's there if you need it.
Grapple back down once, head right to the gap and jump down. You'll see a
crossbow stump and a door with a hermit who tells you need the crossbow.

Use the crossbow and pulley to move your way right to the Tower of Garba.
Along the way, you'll need to crossbow/pulley twice more and get rid of some
epolcons and some rolphers, but in no time you'll be at the entrance to the
tower. Be cautious along the way - you'll need every bit of your HP.

THE TOWER OF GARBA:

The tower is the hardest level in the game - even more so than Sky Castle.
There are only seven rooms in the tower, but they're difficult, so watch
yourself.

Room 1:
Some eerie music and a rope await you in the first room. Climb the rope.

Room 2:
You'll see a kuzeelar (snail) with an opening in the ceiling on the other
side. You must defeat the kuzeelar for the rope to appear, as the grappling
hook doesn't reach. The kuzeelar is simply a skin swap of Eruga, but no
glitch is going to save you this time. Time your jumps properly through his
fireballs and throw everything you have at him when you can. Be careful not
to fall through the hole in the floor and utelize the block on top of it for
a bit more air when necessary. When you beat the kuzeelar, the rope will
appear on the other side allowing you to proceed up to the next room.

Room 3:
Nothing here but an opening to your right. Whew. Head that way.

Room 4:
Another kuzeelar with an opening to the right. You can jump right over him,
so do that for now. You'll enter room 5, but room 4 is the final place for
you to get your experience up to the last level. The kuzeelar gives you 61
points of experience with each kill, so I'd recommend you go ahead and get
it over with. As soon as you enter room 5, turn right back around and
repeatedly hit the B button. When room 4 scrolls onto the screen, the
kuzeelar will be right there taking your hits. At first, you might have to
jump his attacks a bit, but if you leave when you beat him and come back
and do it again repeatedly, eventually, he won't take much effort at all.
When both your tone and last have exceeded 4000 points, you'll have 12 HP
and it's time to move on. (Your tone should hit the max before your last
does and you get the 12th HP, but make sure they're both maximized before
you head outta there.) Go to room 5.

Room 5:
Piece of cake now. The kuzeelar should take two hits and the rope will
appear towards the ceiling. Head up it to get closer to the end.

Room 6:
This guy's fast! But with you experienced where you're untouchable should
make this a walk in the park. As you can see, Demorobruzer moves like
Sagila, but don't bother grappling to the ceiling as that would take just
a bit too long. Hide down below the room on the rope until he rolls right
above you on the floor. Quickly climb out and he should be right in front
of you. Hit him once and he'll turn around. Run after him and he'll climb
the ceiling and you should be able to squeeze under him. Hit him when he
comes at you from the other side, then follow him that way and stand on the
block. When he comes at you the third time, hit him and chase him again.
He only takes 2-4 hits at this level, and even if he drops on you once, it
won't be enough to kill you, especially with the potion on hand. When
defeated, the rope will appear and you can proceed to the boss, Deathpigor.

Room 7:

DEATHPIGOR:

He fights just like Belzar, but you shouldn't even waste your time fighting
him properly, as there are two places to heal just outside the tower (after
you beat him).

Method 1:
Jump over the fireballs, taking a couple, and hit him about 4-6 times
rapidly. This is pretty much the least amount of time you'll spend on any
boss in the game.

Method 2:
If you're cautious, or you're trying to beat the game without getting hit
once, use the attack and assail spell as soon as you enter the room, then
stand on top of the block after you climb the rope and use it slowly about
4-6 times, jumping his fireballs from a distance. Be careful not to fall
down the hole.

When you beat Deathpigor, a door will appear behind where he was standing.
Enter it and receive the Pegasus Flute from Indora. "Play this instrument
atop the 'Tower of Lile'." The Tower of Lile is in Rolsa, so take the flute
and you will transported back to Gran Mountain at the entrance to the Tower
of Garba. Now you're going to head back to Garloz, then Rolsa for the final
stage.

H) Mission 7: Defeat Ligar

GRAN MOUNTAIN:

Go back left, crossbowing and pulleying where needs must and grapple up when
you can to get yourself a refill and a potion if necessary. If you check your
inventory now, you should be completely full on everything, with the
grappling hook, wind pulley, crossbow, suit of armor, coat of arms,
healing potion, and pegasus flute with your last and tone both above 4000.
It seems to me you're ready for the battle with Ligar.

Grapple back down twice, go right a bit until you see a rope on the ground,
and decend it. Go right until you reach the gap, drop down, then continue
right until you reach the rope at your feet. Climb down it and go left to
the door which enters Garloz.

GARLOZ:

We're heading back to Rolsa to the Tower of Lile, so head north until you
see the paths on both the left and right sides of the road. Take the right
path, go north a bit, then cross the river using the pulley to save a bit
of time.

Take the path to your immediate right and you'll see the gate to Rolsa. Go
on in.

ROLSA:

It's kinda funny how easy the enemies are to beat, so wail away through
this stage. Head right along the rocks on the water until you reach the
second tower with a rope. Jump up to the rope and climb it. You've seen all
this before, so go right, skip the first door, and the second is the hermit
who says, "From here you can't go on without the grappling weapon." To get
to Sky Castle, that's true, so exit the room, jump to the highest platform,
and grapple up. You'll see four platforms with two molgolins. Kill them
quick and jump to the highest platform on the right. Grapple up to the next
level. No enemies here, but four more platforms, so you have to keep going
up. Grapple up to the highest platform on the right, then grapple up
offscreen. When it catches, climb it to see two molgolins, a door, and Sky
Castle in the distance.

Be careful the molgolins don't knock you off. Inside, the hermit says,
"You must meet 5 'Indoras' to reach the castle." Skip this room, as the
molgolins will be there when you exit, even if you killed them. They're in
a weird position to kill easily and once is enough. Instead, press start to
switch to your inventory and move the arrow under the flute. Press A to hear
the little tune. Press start again to exit your inventory and you'll see a
rope leading to a door in the sky. Climb into that door to get into Sky
Castle.

SKY CASTLE:

There's no turning back from here, so hopefully you did everything you
needed to do. Sky Castle is an overhead view board which puts you at an
advantage, as by now you should have mastered the "always stay in the air and
you're invincible" technique. All of the enemies are rhino hides, but you've
met them all before and should be able to predict their moves easily.

You begin standing on the door you entered with no option of going back in
it. You can go either east or north, and since north is a long way to
nothingness, I'd suggest you go east.

Scroll the screen right and you'll come to a narrow pathway, just outside
the castle walls. You can see a bit inside and it doesn't look too different
from the outside. Continue right and make the screen scroll again four more
times until you are in a more open area. At least you now know how wide the
castle is. Go up until you hit a wall then go right to make the screen scroll
one more time. Go north until you see a door on your left. Any further north
and you'll fall out of the sky, so go in the door to meet your first enemy.

He is a silhouette of the kinoble monster from Garloz and Dorago's Palace.
He moves a bit faster, however his moves are the same and he only takes a
couple of hits, so stay in the air to kill him and go into the door on the top
of the room.

Immediately, you run into two more kinoble silhouettes and above them a
silhouette of Dorago! But power through it and jump straight through them
if you don't feel like wasting any time. You'll see a door on your left
above Dorago, so go through it to find a couple of german silhouettes and
another kinoble. Go down until you see a door on your left and take it.

Hmm. Now you have the option of going north, south, east, or west. You came
from east, so don't go there. North is an immediate dead end, and south leads
you to Indora with a healing potion. Nice of them to put him in the final
stage. May as well power up to max, so go down into a room that only heads
south, take that door down to a room that only goes east, and take that door
to see a waterfall, a kinoble, nothing but sky below you, and a door on the
right. Take that door and Indora will fill up your hit points. Take the potion
if you need it and exit the room.

Come out of the room swinging as the kinoble is back and head back to the
four way crossroads. Go left, up, and up again to be in the room with the
four doors and the two enemies. The german should disappear as soon as you
enter the room, so only the kinoble remains. (If it weren't for the glitches,
I don't think I could beat this game.) Wipe him out and proceed to your last
option, the door on your left. Take it to an empty room with a door below
you. Take that, but STOP as soon as you walk through it.

Be careful not to fall off the edge here and use your crossbow on the stump.
Pulley across and you'll be on a small floating island with another stump at
the bottom. Crossbow and pulley again to find a door on the right.

Take this door and you'll be in a room with another german and a door on the
right. Kill him, take the door, and enter a room with two kinoble
silhouettes and a door to the south. Take that door to an area where the
scenery changes a bit to look like Dorago's palace after you scroll to the
left. Walk around the posts, scroll left again, and you'll find another door.

Take it and you'll see the only way to go is up, so head that way, kill a
couple of germans along the way, and you'll come to another tree stump at
the edge of the walkway. Use the crossbow again with the pulley to make it
across the gap where you'll find a couple of kinobles which are easy to jump
past.

Above them lies a door which leads up to another small room with a door on
the top. Take that door and you'll see it's one-way, not allowing you to go
back. But that's alright, because you're almost at the end anyway. Kill the
kinoble ahead of you, and another Dorago silhouette is ahead (Dorago looks
much cooler in grey) whom you can easily bypass by taking the door on your
right.

You'll wind up in an empty room with a tree stump. Crossbow that, take the
pulley across, and here you are at the entrance to Ligar's Lair. Catch your
breath and get ready for the final battle.

LIGAR:

Here's you versus Ligar (Lion/Tiger...get it?!) in an empty room with lots
of spikes being thrown at you. There are a couple of ways to beat him, but
they're both basically the same as with Deathpigor in the Tower of Garba,
so you're basically dealing with jumping and swinging.

Method 1:
Attack and assail works on Ligar as well as any other boss, allowing you to
attack from a distance. He only takes about 8-10 hits and you should be fine,
especially if you have a lot of HP and a healing potion.

Method 2:
I always go ahead and use Attack and Assail, as I won't be needing my mind
points if I win and I won't have them if I lose, but he only takes about
8-10 hits without attack and assail, so you may as well save those points
for healing. Each spike takes off one HP, so don't worry too much about him
taking you down too far. His vulnerable spot is his head, so jump over the
spikes and hit him where it counts when you can. Be careful not to bounce
off his arms, as that is more of a pain than a benefit.

I) Ending

****************************************************************************
****SPOILERS**SPOILERS**SPOILERS**SPOILERS**SPOILERS**SPOILERS**SPOILERS****
****************************************************************************
** **
** **
** The ending is typical classic Nintendo cheese, but the game is its own **
** reward. A door (presumably the "Door of Peace" in the distance opens **
** revealing Argool. This scene quickly fades to a close-up of that door, **
** outside of which is a flapping bird, a rainbow, a couple of "clouds" **
** and an area which represents Garloz (at least it looks like it **
** represents Garloz). **
** **
** After you figure out it's not going to change on its own, press start **
** to reveal a blue background with the words, **
** **
** "THE DOOR OF PEACE WAS OPENED **
** AND PEACE DID AGAIN **
** COME TO ARGOOL **
** PEOPLE REGAINED THEIR SMILING FACES **
** THE WARRIOR WHO FINISHED **
** HIS FIGHT RETURNED TO ARGUS **
** **
** THE WARRIOR OF ARGUS-- **
** YOU ARE REALLY A TRUE HERO **
** **
** END" **
** **
** They forgot some punctuation, and by some I mean all of it, but at **
** least they spelled everything right unlike most Nintendo endings. **
** **
** Realize there aren't going to be any boring credits or cut **
** scenes and press reset to return to the title screen. **
** **
** **
****************************************************************************
****END SPOILERS**END SPOILERS**END SPOILERS**END SPOILERS**END SPOILERS****
****************************************************************************

..............................................................................

IX. Glitches

What would a classic 8-bit game be without some serious bugs. While such
glitches can be annoying or affect gameplay, sometimes they can help a player
progress through the game easier by bypassing enemies or defeating them easier.
Rygar is absolutely loaded with these helpful bugs and the game goes by so
much faster with proper utelization.

A) General

"Air-Walk":

This glitch was discovered by Walker Boh from Bisqwit's NES superplay time-attack
site. Basically, in any platform level, you can come to the edge of any surface and duck,
press forward, duck again, and repeat. You can walk in the air. It is certainly
trying and not console friendly, but it is an invaluable tool for time-attack runs, as
it can get you places you would ordinarily need the grappling hook, wind pulley,
or crossbow for. Intense players need to practice and practice to figure this one
out.

Grapple to the top:

Using Walker Boh's "Air-Walk" technique, crawl yourself over a cliff and stop in
the center. Come out of your crouch and immediately throw your grappling hook.
You will fall into the cliff, but instead of dying, you will emerge at the top of the
screen. This is useful for getting to higher platforms you couldn't ordinarily get
to.

Rope air squatting:

When you come to the top of a rope (or your grappling hook), you can duck down
immediately by pressing down on the directional pad and actually squat down
in the air. From here, you can jump just a bit higher than you normally could
giving you a bit of an edge. There are no real places in the game where this
will change your universe, but sometimes it does speed things up a bit.

Through wall hitting:

The overhead view levels are rife with little tweaks. Garloz, Dorago's Palace,
and the final stage, Sky Castle are the levels where you can use many
different glitches to your advantage. You can stand behind a wall, pillar, or
some other obstacle, and where the enemy has no chance of hitting you, you are
free to swing away with your diskarmor. A good example of this is the end of
Dorago's Palace, right before you meet Dorago. There are pillars surrounding
several kinobles and you can walk up and down on the outside of them just
whacking away while staying out of reach.

Other side of screen hitting:

Another overhead view bug, (which works on the edges of the platform maps too)
you can stand on one side of the screen and throw your diskarmor off screen
to make it come out the other side of the screen and hit something there. In
other words, you can stand on the very right side of the screen, swing your
weapon to the right offscreen, and it will come out the left side. This is
not nearly as handy as it sounds and it actually takes just a bit too much
time to set up to make it worth while.

Overhead view jumping:

Back in the day, 3D rendering wasn't exactly what it is today. By standing a
few inches below an enemy in an overhead view level and jumping, you can
actually put yourself in range to hit the target where you should be straight
up in the air. A little poor programming here, it does look a bit funny, but
after you get used to it, you pretty much stay in the air for most of the
overhead view levels making it part of your main attack. While in the air,
the enemies cannot hurt you.

B) Levels

Warp:

A strange glitch occurs when you die against certain bosses - because you enter a bosses
lair and actually transport to a new playing field (they aren't coded as part of the level
they are in), you can twitch them up to your interests.

When fighting Eruga at the end of his forest, you can drop down over the ledge on your
right just in time to get hit with one of his projectiles. If the fireball he threw killed you,
you will die and get knocked to the right. The screen will scroll over to a scattered,
smothered, covered, typically glitchy NES screen and you will die before you get the
chance to fall to your death. The frightening words, "Game Over" will appear and you'll be
taken to the start screen. When you press start to continue, you will appear at BELZAR,
the king of Lapis.

Now, when fighting Belzar, stand next to the door you would have entered from (the only
door on the screen) and get hit until you can only take one more. Then, stand next to the
door and get hit by one of his fireballs. When you die, you will fall into the door and
again, the screen will scroll over. When you continue, you will be outside the lair of
LIGAR! Go on in to win the game (but good luck with this level of experience).

Sueru Mountain Wall Walk:

When you begin the game, go right until you reach the door, enter it, continue right,
jump the first set of extrusions, go a little further, and you will reach the first rope in
the game. Instead of climbing that rope, you can instead jump into the wall on the
right and catch yourself in it Super Mario 1 style. Fly through it until you reach
the other side. This glitch saves about one half of one second, but it is just more
proof that Rygar is the glitchiest game to ever be released on the NES. (Thanks
again to Walker Boh for pointing out this little tweak).

Garloz:

Again, the overhead view levels contain the most glitches. First, in Garloz
coming from the Gran Mountain entrance, go north until you come to paths on
both your left and right, take the left path, go north until you find a fork
in the road, take the right fork, go north, kill the kinoble, and here's the
glitch. Whew. Right where the path curves right and will scroll the screen
over, stand as close to the path on the top as you can. Then jump and scroll
the screen right at the same time. Go back and forth until you are virtually
on the side of the hill. Then scroll the screen right and go as far up as you
can on the hill. Finally jump and make the screen scroll left and you'll be
standing on top of the hill free to move about. This one isn't that useful
and if you go a bit to far, you'll end up on a mirror map with no enemies, but
you can't go through any doors either. Plus, you're never sure what's around
the corner.

Sky Castle:

From the very beginning, standing on the door in which you entered, you'll see
an option to move north or east, but did you know you can go west also? Run to
the edge of the castle where it looks like you'll fall into ruin, jump left at
the edge, and instead of you falling through the sky, the screen will scroll
to your left and you'll land on top of the castle walls with no enemies. Of
course, there is no way this helps you and you pretty much need to jump back
to reality or die to return, but it's a fun way to explore nevertheless.

Cave of Sagila:

With Rygar's ability to bounce on the Wyrms, you can actually bounce to the top of some
ceilings and walk about free from harm. If you go too high, you die, but it is an interesting
way to explore the cave. Only one area proves beneficial, however, as the rest lead to
glitchy areas, reminiscent of Sky Castle's "Jump-to-the-left-from-the-start" or Garloz's
"Hilltop-jump" glitches.

C) Enemies

Eruga:

The most beneficial glitches in the game come from the ability to tweak the
game and beat up on your enemies faster. The most popular glitch in the game
is the way to beat the first boss of the game, Eruga. Upon entering the room,
run and jump on his head and move your bouncing body so he is facing right,
but throwing his fireballs left. Keep holding right on the directional pad as
Eruga sticks himself in the tree on the right. He will twitch around a bit,
but when he finally sticks himself in there good, he will stop moving and
throwing fireballs altogether, and you are free to jump off him and whack
away. This bug is the hardest one to pull off, but don't get frustrated. You
start right back in the room with him when you die and it only takes one time
to get it right.

Kinatarnos:

In Eruga's Forest, there are these spike throwing caterpillars that are
mostly ill placed making your passage rather difficult. Thank goodness for
bugs. Kinatarnos don't move, rather they sit on tree branches and throw their
spikes at you. As soon as you get one on the screen, double back from where
you came until he is off the screen. When you return, he will magically have
disappeared, leaving nothing but a couple of easy to avoid spikes as reminders.
This method may be used for all the kinatarnos in the level.

(Update: Actually, many enemies in the game share this glitch, including the Molgolins of
Rolsa Valley and Eruga's Forest, the Wyrms in Lapis and The Cave of Sagila, as well as the
fireballs in The Cave of Sagila. Basically, any slow moving enemy in a platform level that
spawns from a specific rather than random point can be dispatched using this method.)

Dorago:

More of a recap, the overhead view jumping method is actually the most
effective when fighting the third boss of the game, Dorago. Stand way below
him, even further away than your diskarmor can reach, and jump from left to
right, opposing his movements (when he goes right, jump left, and vice versa)
swinging the whole time. You should be able to time it so you jump over all
his bat looking fireballs, wailing away on him at the same time. It looks a
little funny, but it works.

Belzar:

The boss of Lapis has, in my opinion, the coolest bug of the game. As soon as
you enter the screen, crouch down and press B to activate your grappling
weapon. Take yourself off the screen southside and you'll come to a blank,
blue area. When you return, Belzar has lowered himself off his platform about
an inch. You can now jump to reach him, so you can avoid climbing up to his
turf to defeat him. From down here, avoiding his sparse fireball attacks is
fairly simple and Indora's Coat of Arms is as good as yours.

..............................................................................

X. Challenges

It's difficult to keep older games interesting without stepping it up a bit or
putting new twists on your methods. For example, I recently read a Zelda
walkthrough on how to get through the entire game without using your sword...
craaazzzyy. I'm still working on that one. But here are a few fun things you
can mix up in Rygar to truly test your skills.

A) Time Attack

Tear through it as fast as you can. This boosts up the difficulty especially
since you won't have time to stop and power up in select places as you
normally would. By the time you get to Lapis, you'll notice the difference.

B) Deathless Rygar

Beat the game without dying. It can be done, but it's frightfully trying. Avoid
stupid mistakes and take your time.

C) Level Progression

The levels are set up basically linear, and of course there are certain things
you need to do before you can venture on, but after you obtain the wind pulley
and crossbow, the world is your oyster. You now have Dorago, Belzar, and
Deathpigor to defeat and your course immediately drops you off with Dorago.
Head back to Gran Mountain and roll the dice with the Tower of Garba. With
the experience you'll gain here, Dorago and Belzar may as well throw some
pointy sticks at you.

D) No Healing

Don't get the potion, go into a recovery room, or use your healing spell
throughout the entire game. You still get the airplane bottles the enemies
drop, so you shouldn't have too much to fear. I've always thought there were
too many ways to heal yourself anyway.

..............................................................................

XI. Notes

I have written two walkthroughs, the first of which is a teeny Zelda spin that
is as of now unpublished. I hope to move on to more classic NES games such
as Trojan or Section Z. If you have any questions, comments, or opinions,
please feel free to contact me at [email protected].

Special thanks to Walker Boh and everyone at the NES videos forum for introducing
me to the countless glitches I wouldn't have ever discovered on my own.