Wii Review: Rygar: The Battle of Argus

Would the legendary Rygar transport his retro 2D fighting style to the Wii with success.. and 3D?

PUBLISHER: Tecmo
DEVELOPER: Tecmo
GENRE(S): Action
PLAYERS: 1
ESRB RATING: T (Teen)
RELEASE DATE: February 3, 2009
RATING: 7.5/10

Tecmo has brought Rygar back from the NES grave he once was enshrined in.  Rygar: The Battle for Argus is a port of Rygar: The Legendary Adventure made originally for the PS2. The PS2 port of Rygar was a very good action adventure game that was held back from popularity.  Why?  It could have been the fact that many ‘Rygar’ purists did not enjoy their 2D hero upgrading to 3D.  Or even more loyalists who want their ‘Rygar’ on Nintendo grounds.  My speculations, but those purists and loyalists should check their calendars because Rygar: Battle of Argus is a great representation of a Wii controlled action-adventure game.  And that’s a good thing.

Rygar embarks the ruins of Argus, an island in the Mediterarian Sea, battling Titans and trying to rescue Princess Harmoina.  The controls for the Wii port of the game, are very easy to understand without the over use of the Wii-motes annoying motion control sensors.  You wield a shield like weapon called the diskarmor that resembles Kratos’ God of War Blades of Chaos.  As a matter of fact the two have very much in common with their game play and leveling up.  In Rygar, you collect orbs that allow you to upgrade your weapon, the diskarmor.  As you progress, you will acquire new diskarmors that will assist you to defeat foes and bosses.

Now onto the graphics, this is more an issue with the Wii, than Rygar.  I know this game is a port of the PS2 game, but Rygar for a Next-Gen release should have looked better.  A couple of problems I did notice were, camera angles, lack of direction, and an empty feeling… I’ll explain.  The camera angles were a pain to get a grip on.  At one point you were using the down stick to enter a doorway, then the camera angle changed and down made your character go back up into the doorway.  The lack of direction or not a clear sense of what to do next, or where to go were challenging.  I found myself all over the map, trying to figure out which door i unsealed.  As far as empty, ironically I felt Rygar needed more cut-scenes.  I use ironically, because most reviewers despise too much, but Rygar needed a bit more.  At some points, I really felt like I was playing with the mute button on my LCD because of the lack of dialogue.

The old-school feel of the menu was a feel of a classic NES game.  The music has a Nintendo sound to it, and it was a great touch to an already great Action game.  The addition of the Gladiator mode throws you into a pit of never ending enemies which can be exhausting after 15 minutes.  I’d pass on that.

Overall, if you’re looking for a good reason to dust off your Wii and you enjoyed the God of War series (yes, I’m mixing them in here) then I’d say Rygar: The Battle of Argus is an above average game you’ll enjoy!

Pros:
Weapon upgrades
Music
Difficulty
Minimal Wii-mote controls

Cons:
Camera angles
Unclear objectives
Gladiator Mode

7.5/10