Review: Rygar: The Legendary Adventure
The original Rygar was a game released on the NES and while not notoriously popular had many fans. Well Rygar is back and now has a sequel out on the PS2, but will fans of the original even remember him? Will new fans flock to this new title? Will it get a favorable review?
Story:
Rygar is a warrior during the early Roman Empire, and as he is about to be awarded a warriors honor for a naval victory, when a earthquake occurs and monsters appear kidnapping the princess Harmonia, and killing many natives, now you must use your Disk-armor, a weapon forged by the Greek gods themselves, to defeat these monsters that call themselves Titans, free the princess, and save the citizens.
Graphics:
This game is absolutely beautiful! How beautiful you ask, God of War beautiful that is right this game came out in 2002 but is easily on par with this years best looking games. The surroundings are gorgeous and easily lend themselves to the time period from which they are borrowed and what is more almost all of it is destructible
Music:
Rygar's soundtrack is fully orchestral, and is absolutely a pleasure to behold, easily one of the best I have heard in this generation. And on top of that that sounds and back ground noises are excellent and set the mood of the game extremely well
Control:
Rygar's movements mimic your button pushes beautifully, the problem with the control comes from the Resident Evil style static camera which makes jumping a pain, and makes dodging attacks difficult, however unlike a game like the original Devil May Cry where you may run into a pillar or piece of cover, that is covered up by the camera angle leading to inevitable death, you can destroy the pillar and continue fighting.
Design:
If there is a major knock against Rygar it is that the characters don't hold a candle to the other characters of the games in this genre, Rygar as a character just does not have the appeal of Dante, or the gusto that Kratos holds over the major part of the gaming populace. And on top of that the game feels like a Devil May Cry knock off with better graphics, and destroyable backgrounds. This being said I like Argus for who he his and his unique appeal. As for the rest of the games design Tecmo did an absolutely beautiful job of making you believe you are in a formerly Grecian port town, near the beginning of the Roman Empire, and made the environment look far more beautiful than anything Devil May Cry was able to achieve until their third entry into the series.
Fans of Games like Devil May Cry, and God of War will feel at home with Rygar, especially God of War seeing as it has borrowed as much from Rygar, as Rygar did from Devil May Cry before it. Others may want to try it before you buy it, but this game can be purchased for $10 at your local game store and is well worth the money spent. If you are looking for some quality entertainment you absolutely can not go wrong with Rygar, and is in my mind one of the hidden gems of this console generation.
Rygar: The Legendary Adventure:
Pros:
Amazing Graphics
Amazing Music
Breakable Background
Fun Abounds
A super cheap game
Cons:
Camera angles stink and do affect game play
Characters could be cooler