Game's I Beat: Arkista's Ring

Arkista's Ring
Action Shooter
1 Player
System: NES
Developer: American Sammy
Year of Release: 1990
Beaten: November 13th, 2014

There's this thing called the Retro Game Gauntlet that I've attempted many times, but never gotten through all the way. It's basically a site with a list of retro game systems, you click on whichever system and it will pick one game at random from the relevant library. The goal then is to play through a game for each system in a row. General rule of thumb is three days allowed per game, but really I just use it as an excuse to check out completely random games I might not have tried out otherwise, leading me to Arkista's Ring.

For those interested in the Gauntlet check here.

Arkista's Ring has a simple but appealing set up. I really don't know why it stands out to me as it boils down to an old school arcade-y top down shooter, but you play an elf fighting through a fantasy world. That little bit of flavor lifts this game up for me personally. After beating the game I looked up the manual to figure out the plot. Apparently the kingdom of Elves is safe from attack thanks to the protective aura of the eponymous ring, but a sinister evil Shogun plans to steal it for his own evil intentions. This guy is hardcore, an excerpt: "Meanwhile in his Forbidden Castle, the evil Shogun raged and fussed 'I will steal the Ring of Arkista and the Elven Treasures' he screamed at his horde of wicked and vile creatures, 'I will plunge this land into darkness and despair!' That night he hatched a dastardly plan to take the Ring and the Elven Treasures." I really enjoy stupidly evil villains, it doesn't make any sense, but it is a guilty pleasure of a trope for me.

Gameplay is incredibly simple, there are 32 stages per play through, each stage is a screen that usually scrolls and you have to kill a certain number of enemies before a key appears that lets you access the exit to the next floor. Enemies usually just walk around, some can shoot, and a few have incredibly high HP making them a major annoyance. You start with a simple bow and arrow, which you can upgrade apparently but I never noticed, and as you kill enemies they drop pots which can hold all sorts of goodies. On top of your bow you can access your bag which holds dropped items from enemies. This includes a temporary weapon upgrade, room clearing attacks of three varieties, healing potions and the so on. On top of these consumable items you can find additional item pouches to hold more at once, health or even up to five pieces of armor that essentially act as another heart. I sporadically gained lives, I'm not sure if those were separate pick ups or based on reaching point thresholds though. You start with three, and after losing them all you have ten continues which works amazingly as it puts you right back at the stage you died in with all the items you had it even keeps any upgrades you used on that stage active. It's one of the better NES era continue systems I've run into.

The game did a great job of nailing the feeling of journeying across the land to save the kingdom. Even before knowing who I was or what I was doing, there was an obvious sense of progress as the scenery changed multiple times throughout the game. You start out in some peaceful grassy fields (what excellent game doesn't start out in serene plains?) and soon work your way through various caves, fields, and graveyards until finally reaching the Forbidden Castle. Aside from enemies there are few stage hazards to watch out for, though there are holes that will sap a heart from you for touching them and trick duplicate exits that just wind up wasting time as you search for the real one.

There are a few boss encounters indicated by a music change. The first of which is on stage fifteen where you have to face off against a Manticore, if you have access to a fire wand you can make short work of him though. On the twenty first stage you'll encounter Grand Master Fang who looks very much like Dracula. Stage thirty is hell on Earth, a few stages prior ninjas are introduced and they are shoved down your throat on this stage. While this isn't a boss encounter this ate up the majority of my continues, as ninjas jump over walls and all gang up on you. After many attempts I finally managed to trick the most powerful ninjas into repeatedly jumping over the same wall hitting them each time they passed me until they finally toppled over dead. It was cheap, but I was just glad to be out of the room. Following that is the evil Shogun himself, the fight is relatively easy as you're stuck in a big open area. Just dance around him shooting him when you can. He'll drop the ring and you can move on. The last stage is pretty neat, you leave the castle, turn around as it crumbles to dust, then you gain control as you leave the screen clearing the last stage. It adds a unique little cinematic flair I wasn't really expecting.

Remember a few paragraphs ago I mentioned that one play through was 32 stages long? While the game has 32 unique levels the game actually totes 128 levels. The developer's intended for players to beat the game four times through. Once for the ring, two more times for the two Elven Treasures, and I assume one last time to finally beat him for good. On the one hand those items you get stay with you and actually provide benefits, adding rare incentive to these repeat runs. It falls apart for me as it ultimately feels like another needless "extra quest" a lot of NES era games tend to shove in. One run was enough for me to enjoy the little adventure and still walk away with a positive attitude towards the game. Each time you beat it the enemies speed increases and just imagining that ninja level where the enemies keep getting faster sounds like nightmare fuel. No thank you! Viewing just a single 32-stage cycle as the whole game though I feel it's a great NES game. It usually leans towards the easy side, though some stages can prove troublesome (and that one proves infuriating), the continue system makes it easy enough to make sure you see it through to the end at least once with some perseverance.

I'd actually heard about this game a while back on one of the many random videos I've watched on Youtube, I remember them recommending the game in much the same way as I did. It ends up outstaying its welcome, but just getting through the initial thirty two stages is a fairly worthwhile endeavor. It's not the best shooter for the NES, it doesn't do anything particularly innovative, but it has a nice atmosphere and is fun enough to warrant the time I spent with it. Just don't try to truly "complete" it. Or if you do, god speed. I honestly do hope that a spiritual successor for this comes out some day, with some basic improvements this could be a really cool concept. Or perhaps something like it already exists?