Rodea the sky soldier | Wii u

---

When you read tall tales of completed games being shelved and subsequently released at a later date for a new platform, trouble always seems to arise. Unfortunately, Yuji Naka’s (Sonic, Nights into Dreams) latest game, Rodea the Sky Soldier, is no exception to the rule.

---

​By
Rob Holt

---

@acousticmagic

---

Platforms: Wii U, Wii, 3DS
Developer: Kadokawa Games / Probe
Publisher: NIS America
Players: 1

Originally built for the Wii’s remote-based pointer and motion controls, Rodea has been rejigged for the Wii U and 3DS’s more conventional methods of control. As we mentioned [a few weeks ago], Mr Naga himself advised people to play only the Wii version as he played no part in the porting of the other versions - something that set alarm bells ringing straight away. We’ll go into more detail about it later, but suffice to say the new platform controls are unsatisfying and clumsy.

The game begins with Rodea being given half of the key of time by Princess Cecillia, before being knocked unconscious for a thousand long years. The story’s hard to take seriously when it routinely provides unintentional laughs thanks to the hilariously over-the-top voice acting - something you’ll simultaneously wince at and enjoy throughout the course of the game. Upon waking our hero meets Ion - one of the most annoying characters we’ve encountered in recent gaming - and sets off to attempt to save the kingdom of Garuda from the evil Naga empire.

As we alluded to earlier, controlling the titular character can be hugely frustrating, as you messily try to chain combos in the odd land to air combat system. Whilst airborne, you aim with the left stick and press A to select the enemy or object you want Rodea to travel towards, then largely hope for the best as he automatically flies towards it - imagine something similar to Sonic’s modern air-dash attack. The sky based combat that follows is just as messy, requiring you to hold the reticule over your target whilst you hammer B and pray that your blows land. The whole system can be very disheartening, as the reticule moves violently with each small nudge of the left stick. The basic idea here is great, but the sheer lack of speed and the fact that the air based gameplay is limited by a fuel clock, so-to-speak, really let Rodea down.

That’s not to say that Rodea isn’t fun, as most of the stages have their moments - from the ziplines that you charmingly hang on to by your tail, to the enjoyable smash of Rodea’s skull on every checkpoint bell. The classic arcade style of gameplay is also broken-up with small tasks like collecting herbs, something that definitely helps both the flow of the game and it’s droll little story.

The sheer amount of stages, medals, collectibles and rankings here are also a huge selling point. For those that can get to grips with the controls and routine camera niggles, there’s a treasure trove of lastability. The stages themselves are quite long, and many of the boss encounters can be tough, so you’re looking at many hours of gameplay here - it’ll just depend on your patience with the aforementioned issues.

There are some great ideas here and a good game hiding away somewhere, we just can’t get past the controls and poor camera. The soundtrack is marvelous and the voice acting amazingly, joyously bad, but outside of the audio, the game’s an all round disappointment. Wii remote controls not being available for the Wii U version are an unforgivable oversight - if that’s the control scheme the game was created for and the control method is compatible, why don’t we have access to it?

All in all, Rodea aims high, but flaps ungraciously back to earth in this missed opportunity.

Positives

• Many stages to play
• Huge amount of collectibles and rankings to achieve
• Lovely, well fitting music
• Menu screens and conversation art style is gorgeous
• Voice acting is unintentionally hilarious

Negatives

• Controls just don’t work on the Wii U gamepad
• No option for Wii remote control
• In-game graphics haven’t been brought up to date, look poor
• Camera often gets stuck
• Voice acting is also awful

Score: 5/10

Are you a fan of Yuji Naka’s work? Have you picked up Rodea, and if so, on what platform? Let us know your thoughts and comments below, or on the forums. ​