Developer: Tecmo Publisher: Tecmo Release: 12/2/02 Genre: Action
Rygar – the Legendary Adventure was the surprise of the decade in 2002. I’m sure many like myself resigned the series to the forgotten IP heaven in the sky like other beloved NES classics such as Kid Icarus and Bionic Commando. And it is not as if Tecmo were known for pulling old IP out of the vault. Yet in 2002 they did and gave it the all-star treatment to boot. Rygar – the Legendary Adventure is a great game, that while flawed, is a brilliant update of an old classic.
Probably the greatest feat of Rygar is that it expands the lore of the series. Now, that is not all that hard considering there were only two prior games in the series with minimal text at best. Throughout Argo are many lore tablets that give the backstory of the war between the citizens of Argus and the Titans. The game makes references to many historical figures such as Icarus, Aristotle, and Greek lore. Some might say that it is overkill but most of this is optional stuff you have to seek out.
The actual story of the game itself is a letdown. The game is full of melodramatic dialogue that I dare anyone to take seriously. They drop names and events with no preamble leaving you confused. The voice actors certainly try their best but can only work with what they are given. It is not so much the story itself that is bad but the script. With better editors someone could have made sense of this mess of a plot. But that is not the focus no matter how much the game tries.
The greatest feat Rygar – the Legendary Adventure accomplishes is making the disk armor feel powerful. The diskarmor is a multipurpose tool but you’ll spend the majority of the game bludgeoning enemies with it. There are three versions of the diskarmor and each comes with a large number of special techniques executed with button combos. If you search each world there are even more hidden techniques to unlock. Each diskarmor has a specialty, with the initial Hades disk being the best rounded. The Heaven diskarmor is slow but performs large sweeping attacks, perfect for clearing groups. The sea diskarmor is for close combat as it focuses on quick multi-hit combos. A surprising amount of every environment is destructible, yielding orbs to power up your weapons further. They really nailed the tactile feel of the weapon and how destructive it can be, making it one of my favorites in a long time.
While the feel of the weapon is right the game does not offer many opportunities to really cut loose. Most of the enemies are weak fodder who die in a few hits. It is not until the ending stages of the game that you will find stronger enemies. And even then they are few and far between. The boss battles are more satisfying but for such an elaborate combat system it would have been nice if the game catered to it more.
While combat is beefier Rygar has not forgotten its NES roots. You still use the diskarmor as a grappling hook and winch to navigate worlds. The three spells from that game do not return but each diskarmor has a guardian spirit that can be called on in battle and is similar. Further unlockable skills such as the tackle and stomp further open up each world as well. Rygar is very similar to Devil May Cry in that progression involves clearing rooms to remove barriers. Each world is a maze of rooms and environments that flow into each other naturally. Unfortunately it also uses fixed camera angles like DMC. For the most part it isn’t an issue. But the set angles during many platforming sequences do present an issue at times.
If there is one major flaw with Rygar is that it is short. Rygar has six distinct worlds. But each is not very long. The level design is excellent, especially the Poseidonis Shrine and Labryinthos Palace. But those are the exception. My completion time in my first run was five and a half hours. The game is also very easy with only a few odd spikes in difficulty. There are reasons to go back and explore, such as finding mystic stones but unless you are playing on a higher difficulty setting they are not necessary. You can find plenty of unlockable art and music and there is an optional battle arena but more core content would make this truly special.
Tecmo went all out with Rygar – the Legendary Adventure and it remains one of the better looking titles in the PS2 library. The boxed in environments allow the game to run at a smooth 60 fps. The high frame rate enables combat to flow smoothly. But the game is about more than just a high frame rate. It also exhibits fantastic art direction. The Greco Roman architecture is all over the game and looks straight out of a history book. Some areas are still jaw dropping to this day, like the Poseidonis Shrine and Lion’s Road.
The soundtrack is equally epic in its scope. Tecmo hired the Moscow International Symphony Orchestra to score the music and it was money well spent. The lush melodies create the perfect atmosphere for each environment and the compositions are excellent. The only blemish in the sound department would be the voice acting; while it is not outright terrible the delivery can be cringe inducing at times.
In Closing
Rygar – the Legendary Adventure is a great game that remains enjoyable even to this day. It was not a success and so is dirt cheap. For a few bucks you can’t go wrong.
