Admit it, when you first hear the word port, you likely cringe and expect the absolute worst, right? Tecmo knows it, and they’ve come to make port not such a dirty word with Rygar: Battle of Argus. Essentially what you’re going to find here is a port of the original series reboot found on the PS2 around 6 years ago. The question is, can the game truly stand the test of time and change the perception of ports for the Wii?
Gameplay
The story begins when Princess Harmonia is kidnapped, and it’s up to our hero, the fearless Rygar, to save her. As far as premises go, it’s definitely not the most original. That said, there are a couple of things that made Rygar so unique when it first debuted. The first is the obvious Greek mythology tinged story, which leads to interesting encounters with some of the better-known characters from that era. The second is Rygar’s weapon, the Diskarmor.
The Diskarmor is actually a fantastic weapon, and it’s really what makes the game shine in comparison to the other games out there. Instead of the typical sword and shield combo of most heroes out there, the Diskarmor is actually a shield attached to a chain that you can throw towards enemies and take them out at a distance. Think of it like a deadly yo-yo, and you wouldn’t be far off. The Diskarmor can be upgraded by picking up items from defeated enemies, and there are several different Diskarmors to find throughout the game. Each Diskarmor also comes with the added bonus of having a mythological creature’s entity within it. These will come in handy as some boss bottles will require you to use the likes of Cerberus to defeat them quickly. While this isn’t necessarily a new gameplay mechanic, it’s one that’s implemented well, and definitely compliments the games play style quite nicely.
Now, for those of you who have played adventure games on the Wii, you know that most developers have a tendency to make use of the motion controls a little too much. You definitely don’t need to worry about that with Rygar during the main storyline, as there is very little waggling to be had here. There’s no flailing your arms wildly about in order to attack, or jump, and the times that you may have to use it, it’s barely noticeable, as the controls are fairly and take into account that waving around a Wii remote is more tiring than it is fun. In keeping it simple, the game is far easier to recommend than many of the adventure titles out on the Wii.
Attacks are primarily handled by pressing A or B and using the analog to control the direction that your attack goes. There’s a list of combos for you to try out, and while a couple of them do require you to waggle, again it’s kept to a minimum, so you won’t be putting your shoulder out while trying to pull off a particularly complex one. The one unfortunate part of this is that you can’t lock onto enemies and your attacks, as well as those of the entity you’ve summoned, will sometimes miss. This likely won’t happen too often, but is definitely frustrating when the problem arises, and having the ability to lock-on to a target that’s constantly moving around and hard to hit otherwise would have eliminated this problem.
One of the main problems in the game here is that progression can be quite tedious. Rygar is slow. His attacks are slow, he barely makes it to a run, and while he can smash through most areas in the highly destructible environments, there are certain areas that he can’t reach until he’s flipped a switch, or gained certain ability. Back on the PS2, this may have been acceptable, but this kind of thing feels dated nowadays. It’s a shame that they didn’t take the time to polish up these minor complaints, because as it stands, this is an incredibly fun game on the Wii, but could have been that much better had some time been spent on updating, rather than transitioning straight from one system to the other.
Graphics & Sound
The game hasn’t received much attention in the looks department with the exception of the main character. The game looks very similar to the original PS2 version, and doesn’t even attempt to differentiate itself in any tangible way. That’s not to say the game looks terrible, as the environments look fairly good considering how old they are. Still, they could have looked a lot better, and it’s hard to not feel a little disappointed that Tecmo didn’t really do anything to make it better.
The character animation is also a little stiff. Rygar’s barely there run and jumping are both incredibly lifeless, while the Diskarmor seems to have a more natural flow. Crumbling buildings, and enemies move well in comparison, but definitely lack a natural looking flow that should be standard in most adventure games in this day and age. The camera is also problematic, as you can’t adjust it at all. This can make the jumping and balancing you need to do throughout the game needlessly difficult as sometimes results in some really cheap deaths.
Conversely, the games music is stunning, and suits the theme much more appropriately. This is one aspect of the game that didn’t really need updating at all. The orchestral swells are absolutely the right call here and add the right touch to make players feel like they’re participating in an epic and grand adventure. One thing about the PS2 game that I had always loved was the soundtrack, and they’ve done well to keep everything intact.
However, the voice-acting here is just utterly embarrassing. Bad dialogue forced out by voice actors that sound as though they came straight from dubbing the latest Japanese B-movie completely destroys the ambient mood set by the music. This is the one aspect of the game that I really wish they had changed. True, the dialogue written for them is pretty bad, but the delivery makes it infinitely worse than it actually is.
Value
When all is said and done, the story mode shouldn’t take you longer than a weekend if you invest yourself into the story. There’s a solid 10 hours or so, though I imagine it could be longer or shorter, depending on how familiar you are with the original PS2 game. If you need a break from the platform/action game, there is also a Gladiator mode that has you fighting hordes of enemies in order to get the high score. There’s more emphasis on the motion controls here, and it can get a bit tiring after a while, but as an old-school gameplay mechanic goes, it’s still a relatively fun break from the questing found in the main story.
Conclusion
The Battle of Argus feels like a bit of a missed opportunity here. While the controls work well, and the music is still amazing, nothing has been done to address concerns that popped up six years ago when the original game was released. Newcomers are definitely getting a great game that they may have missed on the PS2. For those who have played through the original though, there’s no real reason to strap the Diskarmor back on again as not enough has been done to make a good experience great.
+ Controls nicely. Barely any waggle in main story.
+ Orchestral music is fantastic.
+ Some excellent boss battles.
+ Highly destructible environments.
+ Diskarmor is fun to use...
Cons
-...but incredibly slow.
- Animation is really stiff.
- No widescreen support.
- Hitting switches to access areas is really boring and tedious.
- Voice-acting is vomit-inducing.
- Bad camera.
- Price tag is too high for a port of a 6 year old PS2 game.
Here's a small guide to help you understand our evaluation of games.
PRESENTATION GRADE
Can be from the game's box to the contents of the booklet, and even the game introduction. (Intro, menus, options, etc)
GRAPHIC GRADE
Up to what point the graphics have been worked on my the developper. The design type, the effort used for textures and environments, as well as animations and framerate.
AUDIO GRADE
Is the soundtrack a good match to the game's style, he ambient sounds keeping with the gameplay and the sound effects clear and convincing?
GAMEPLAY GRADE
Placement of the controls and the inferface that the player with be using during the game.
REPLAY VALUE GRADE
The most important factor in the evaluation of a game. It identifies the lifespan of the game and the fun of coming back again and again.
I’ve always been an advocate for cheap and easy...Er...when it comes to gaming, that is. Unfortunately, it’s because of this that I’ve missed out on some of the bigger titles over the past few years. (CoD4, anyone?). Buying used games, ordering online from sites like Amazon or Ebay, is a simple way to avoid high pricing, (at least until you factor in...
I’ve always been an advocate for cheap and easy...Er...when it comes to gaming, that is. Unfortunately, it’s because of this that I’ve missed out on some of the bigger titles over the past few years. (CoD4, anyone?). Buying used games, ordering online from sites like Amazon or Ebay, is a simple way to avoid high pricing, (at least until you factor in... 
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