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3DS

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Rodea the Sky Soldier Hands-on Preview

by Aaron Kaluszka - February 20, 2015, 12:06 am EST
Total comments: 1

Can this brand new adventure get off the ground?

After a number of smaller games like Ivy the Kiwi?, Rodea the Sky Soldier looked to be an exciting new major effort from Prope and Sonic programmer Yuji Naka. However, after the completion of the Wii version in 2011, there were several years of odd silence and many thought the project was dead. However, a few months ago, Kadokawa revealed that they were still working on the game, to be released this year. And then tonight, in a welcome and surprise announcement, NIS America revealed that they will be publishing the game overseas.

The story begins with an inventor named Ion reactivating Rodea, a tailed flying humanoid robot. Rodea was a soldier for Princess Cecilia and the Garuda Kingdom who battled the Naga Empire a thousand years prior. Suddenly, the Empire, across all that time, returns to wage war against Garuda, so Rodea again must battle.

Rodea features an unmistakable NiGHTS (and to a lesser extent, Sonic) vibe, but the transition from its original Wii conception has significantly altered the game, changing from an “arcade” play style to a “sky adventure.” Gone are the pointer controls, replaced with a strange targeting system. Rather than controlling Rodea directly, you move a targeting reticle with the Circle Pad and press A to have him travel in the desired direction. While on the ground, you can press X to travel straight upward and into the air. You can also unleash a spin attack (B) or use equipped weapons (Y) to shoot down enemies.

The world of Rodea features many small floating islands, Rodea has a limited flight ability, so you must target landmasses frequently to make sure you don’t fall to your doom. It can take a bit of getting used to, and the lack of a more direct flying method makes it easy to get stuck under platforms. While in the air, floating crystals can be collected, and if you target one while flying in the direction of a several in a row, Rodea will automatically collect them all.

Generally, action was pretty limited in the levels I experienced. While there are rings to fly through and other intermediate targets, much time is spent hopping on the ground and wandering through the fairly sparse worlds. Few enemies or clear goals populated the levels, but there promises to be a number of hidden areas and multiple paths, as well as a variety of obstacles such as zip lines and time trial challenges. The 3DS version will also feature StreetPass support where players can gain new items.

Presentation-wise, the game is mixed. The bottom screen features quality 2D art, where Ion talks to you while you fly around, and the game appears to be full of voice dialog. The 3D environments are lacking, however. The build I played actually had stereoscopic 3D disabled, so I assume that there is still work to be done.

I only had a chance to play the game’s first few levels, so I remain hopeful that the game ramps up greatly from the early stages. The overall concept remains intriguing, but what I’ve seen so far did not impress as the epic story is not matched by the gameplay. Hopefully, Naka's original vision, the Wii version, makes it out of Japan.

You can check out the action for yourself below. Apologies for the malfunctioning camera focus.

Talkback

PhilPhillip Stortzum, February 20, 2015

Yeah, hopefully there's better gameplay from what you played.
I hope the Wii game is bundled with the Wii U one. Anyhow, this is a want for me right now.

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Rodea the Sky Soldier Box Art

Genre Action
Developer Prope
Players1

Worldwide Releases

na: Rodea the Sky Soldier
Release Nov 10, 2015
PublisherNippon Ichi Software
RatingEveryone 10+
jpn: Rodea the Sky Soldier
Release Apr 02, 2015
PublisherKadokawa Shoten
RatingAll Ages
eu: Rodea the Sky Soldier
Release Nov 13, 2015
PublisherNippon Ichi Software
Rating7+
aus: Rodea the Sky Soldier
Release Nov 19, 2015
PublisherNippon Ichi Software
RatingParental Guidance

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