Rygar The Legendary Adventure for the Playstation 2 Review





Devil May Cry was amazing when it came out. It revolutionized the action genre, and brought forth multiple themes that would be brought into later action games like God of War, like multiple weapons, unique bosses and great game play. There are usually other games that try to copy Devil May Cry and God of War, like Ghost Rider, Hellboy the Science of Evil, and etc. The clone I will talk about is Rygar the Legendary Adventure for the Playstation 2.

Before I start, let me just say that this is actually a sequel to the arcade game with the same name. It was ported to the NES, but it wasn’t received very well for its unforgiving difficulty and no save point nor password system. I have to say that doesn’t sound fun. At least there were codes for stuff like Battle Toads and Ghost and Goblins, which are considered to be the hardest games of all time. So, is this game worth picking up? Or is it just another bargain bin pick up?

The story starts off in a Mediterranean island called Argus, where the Princess Harmonia was about to give a ceremony to the victorious navy army, which includes our hero Rygar. Right before she starts, the Titans decide to ruin the occasion and kidnap Harmonia. It is now up to Rygar, with the help of his weapon the Diskarmor, to defeat the evil that has taken over the land. The weird thing is that the titans are actually not like Atlas or Neptune. The villains are as listed, Icarus who for some reason has blue skin and can wield two swords, Echidna who is actually queen Cleopatra, and the only real titan in the game Cronus.

Rygar’s game play is in the form of an action adventure game in the form of games like God of War, Devil May Cry, Conan, and Heavenly Sword. Your main form of attacking is the Diskarmor that’s attached to your right arm. It also acts as your shield and way of transportation across gaps and up high areas. I have to say, this is one of the most awesome weapons I have ever seen. Its like Krato’s Blades of Athena and a yo-yo had a baby. Basically, you go around beating up monsters and solving puzzles. The enemy selection is rather odd since they include evil Battra Larva from the Godzilla movies, the lizard men from the Black Lagoon, and flying spirit things. You do a lot more puzzle-solving and getting around in the game, but it makes up in finding the two other Diskarmors, which are different and unique in their own ways. Another added effect to the Diskarmor’s abilities is that each weapon has a single creature you can summon to cause some damage to the enemies or the boss. It kind of reminds me of Lost Kingdoms in a way. One of my favorite things about your weapon though is that you can upgrade it like in Devil May Cry or God of War, with special orbs that can give you different abilities. A fun but limited thing about your weapon is that you can use it like a pulley, and ride down wires to lower platforms. The bosses in the game look awesome. They just look unique and different than how they would usually look.

Alrighty then, I have said everything that is good about the game, but what about the bad parts? Let’s dig in then. The biggest complaint I have on this game is the fixed camera angles. It’s awkward to navigate through the levels, and it’s clumsy when you’re fighting hoards of evil Battra larva. The difficulty is just bananas. I mean, it isn’t the hardest game out there, but it’s just puzzling to me. For example, the game starts you out on normal difficulty, and when you die once or twice, it asks you if you want to go to the easy setting. What kind of game does that?! It’s like a jerk move, that the game is saying, “ hey, sorry for starting you out on the hard difficulty. Do you want me to set you on the easy setting?” There are no other enemies in the game besides the ones I listed above. There are different variations of them, but they aren’t that much different. The voice acting is just awful. I mean, I have heard bad voice acting before, but the only one that I feel did a good job was Icarus, and that’s kind of sad. You can’t save during boss fights, meaning if you’re at the end of the game, fighting against the final boss fight, and you lose, you have to restart all the way back at the last time you saved.

All in all, this is a hit or miss game. It has its good points, but it also has its share of bad points too. Over all, of the PS2 games, this is still one of the better ones. At least it’s better then Batman Dark Tomorrow and Sonic the Hedgehog for the PS3 and the Xbox360. I would probably make this game a rent than buy, unless you like to collect action-adventure games.

This game gets an honest 6.2 out of 10.

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