Rygar: The Legendary Adventure

"I set my expectations too high..."

This is my first review. I felt overwhelmingly compelled to write this after purchasing Rygar on the strength of others' recommendations from this review board. I should preface my review by stating that I am a tried and true non-linear RPG fan, from the Sega Master System Phantasy Star all the way through Final Fantasy X. Perhaps this perspective helps explain my disappointment with Tecmo's latest installment of Rygar, but whatever the reason may be, I found Rygar to be extremely lacking and not nearly worth its price tag.

For the record, I loved the original Rygar for Nintendo. I most recently played it a few weeks before I heard Rygar: The Legendary Adventure was going to be released. I could not have been more excited about a game release, which also probably does much to explain my disillusionment with this game.

Game Play
Rygar: The Legendary Adventure is a fantastic gaming experience...for about 15 minutes. This is a very straightforward hack-and-slash game with moderate attack variety and obligatory, useless special moves. The hero Rygar is equipped with a weapon known as Diskarmor, a spiked shield attached to a chain, which acts both as a shield and a whipping device. Rygar learns a few special techniques to move large objects, stomp on boulders and slide through tight openings. It would have been nice if these moved could have been better incorporated into combat. There is a combo system based almost solely upon how long/quickly you can tap the attack button. Along the way, Rygar picks up new Diskarmors and a few movement techniques (rapeling and brachiation) which lend a modicum of difficulty to the game (such as in Arcadia).

Rygar: The Legendary Adventure is easy, no matter what mode you are playing in. The bosses are boring, enemies are repetitive and disgustingly easy to dispense and there are very few areas where any manual dexterity is needed. My life level never dipped below half, and the mystic stones which you use to build up your weapons were unnecessary and mostly ineffective anyway.

Here's the gameplay in a nutshell - Run around and break stuff. Nothing more (nothing less would be nothing at all).

It should be noted that the various boards and field area mimic the original game to the point of comforting familiarity. If you have played Nintendo's Rygar recently, you will see many elements of that game present in this one, only in 3-D. This saves the game play from total disaster, but I cannot justify giving Rygar even a moderate mark. 2/10

Controls
Rygar's controls are very easy to handle. Button placement and character movement are both very well conceived. My only caveat here is the tricky camera work that occasionally makes it difficult to attack properly. As you do nothing in this game but run and attack, this is a weakness that cannot be overlooked. 8/10

Visuals
So this is where the programmers spent their efforts! Rygar's visuals are stunning, there is no denying this. Backgrounds are flawlessly integrated into the game. Character and enemy movements are fluid. I would have liked to see more FMVs, but given the weaknesses inherent in the story line, perhaps this would not have been an improvement. 10/10

Sound
Ehhhh. The music fits the game, bland and forgetable. Don't get me wrong, the quality of the sound production is very good, but you will not remember this game for its orchestration.

However, you will remember the acting, for all the wrong reasons. The characters actors are heinously bad, and their scripts are abyssmal. Get this, even the title song (and some singing during the game) is sung out of key! Rygar constantly talks to himself. In fact, he makes impassioned, loquacious speeches to absolutely no one in particular. In my home town, people like Rygar smell funny and receive federally funded medication.

Remember Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, how its only fault was its character acting? It's like deja vu all over again. 2/10

Story
The gameplay is bad. This has been established. The story is even worse. I understand Tecmo's desire to place this game in ancient times, but this game enacts a remarkably disturbing perversion of Greek/Roman mythology that nearly caused me to turn the game off even before the opening was complete.

Everything about the Rygar story is predictable. There are few plot twists. You know exactly how each and every non-player character is going to develop, and their actual growth can only be described as stunted. You feel no empathy for a single character in this game. At times, I found myself rooting for the enemies... 1/10

Replay
At the end of each level, you are assigned a ranking. What this ranking is based on, I have not a clue, but I was less than inspired to drive my 'C' and 'B' ranking up by replaying levels. Admittedly, I did not manage to collect/fight everything in the game, and I have little desire to go back see what I missed. If you finish the game, you get treated to a few knicknacks, an extra level or two, a weapon that resembles a pizza (the Pizzarmor - whoopdeepoop) and a sudden sense of relief, knowing you will never have to subject yourself to this game again. 3/10

Overall
I want my money back. 4/10

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 02/05/03, Updated 02/05/03