Zelda II / Rygar / The Goonies II retrospective: NES is more | Metroidvania Works #11

The metroidvania genre expanded greatly in 1987 as developers grew more confident in their design concepts and technology began to expand to accommodate their ambitions. Nintendo's Famicom/Disk System/NES platform proved to be especially fertile ground for innovation, as these three different takes on the format demonstrate. While you could arguably classify Zelda II, Rygar, and The Goonies II as action-RPGs, each one interprets that concept in unique ways. The one thing they have in common? They attempt to push the creative boundaries of the 2D platformer by shifting viewpoints and perspective at various times: Zelda II with an abstracted, Dragon Quest-inspired overworld view, Rygar with a Zelda II-style top-down action format, and The Goonies II with a first-person adventure mode. Video Works is funded via Patreon (  / gamespite  ) — support the show and get access to every episode up to two weeks in advance of its YouTube debut! And be sure to check out the Retronauts podcast (http://www.retronauts.com), where I (and many others!) tackle a much wider array of classic gaming topics each week.