We’re spoiled for nice retro recreation books as of late, but these typically fall into two teams. On one facet, you will have complete catalogs, sometimes damaged down by console or writer. On the opposite, something tied to a large franchise. Now and again, you stumble onto one thing so slim and obscure that there’s no monetary motive for it to exist — simply a author who loves a topic a lot they will’t assist themselves.
That’s The Legend of Argus: The Complete History of Rygar, a 154-page deep dive into Tecmo’s traditional shield-swinging platformer collection. The book just lately got here out in a new prolonged version with a poster, buying and selling card, and stickers — and a deluxe model of the prolonged version, which provides a wax pack of buying and selling playing cards.
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Photograph by Matt Leone/Polygon
It’s the form of factor you would possibly anticipate from a book about Mario or Samus, however not a lot from one about a semi-forgotten shirtless hero carrying, as foreword writer Kurt Kalata calls it, “a gigantic spiked yo-yo.” And it’s improbable.
Contained in the book, you’ll discover a rundown of Rygar historical past, press clippings, port breakdowns, interviews, fan artwork, sheet music, puzzles, and breakouts on issues like motion figures and advertising. It’s all bite-sized, with dozens of small sections fairly than a longer narrative — which matches the structure, designed to appear to be an previous recreation journal, and the small, paperback format.
The Legend of Argus is on the market now from author Brian Riggsbee’s website.
