Arkista's Ring

Arkista's Ring
Cover art of Arkista's Ring
Developer(s)	American Sammy
Publisher(s)	American Sammy
Platform(s)	NES
Release date(s)	NA June 1990[1]
Genre(s)	Action-Adventure, RPG
Mode(s)	Single-player

Arkista's Ring is a video game developed and published by American Sammy for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990. A prime example of the action-adventure genre, the game is set in a fantasy world, and the player controls a female elf named Christine, in her quest to find the Elven ring of Arkista.

Plot

The Elven ring of Arkista has been stolen by the villainous Shogun, which has cast the entire Elven Kingdom into darkness. The only hope for the Elves is that the strong warrior Christine, equipped with only a bow, can travel throughout the Kingdom, and retrieve the ring.

Gameplay

Much like The Legend of Zelda, the game is played from a top-down perspective pitting the player against a multitude of various enemies. Different, however, is that the game is played out in a very linear fashion, as the player will progress through a total of 124 stages. Each stage starts with the player in control of the heroine Christine, and you must progress by killing a certain number of enemies to gain access to a hidden key. Once the key for the stage is obtained the player must travel through the stage in search of the exit.^[2]

Although the game's manual states that there are 32 distinct stages and 125 stages total, the stages begin to repeat after stage 31. These stages repeat four times, with each loop progressing in difficulty and enemy speed. The game is completed after the player successfully finishes the 124th stage. Although the game does not have a save feature, the player is granted 10 continues.

Enemies will randomly leave behind item pouches when they are killed. The items contained in these pouches are also random. Players can collect several upgrades to their bow and arrows, which increase shot distance and damaging strength respectively. Players may also find other beneficial items such as armor, health potions and "ninja stunners" which temporarily freeze ninja enemies in the later stages of the four loops.

Reception

Reception
Review scores Publication Score Allgame [3] random.access 4.0/10[4]

The game has received mixed reviews from critics. Allgame awarded the game 3 out of 5 stars, calling it "an extremely pleasant action-adventure game",^[5] drawing parallels to the Legend of Zelda.^[6] Random access awarded the game 4.0/10.^[7]

References