Review by: Danielle Riendeau

Rygar’s really starting to show his age. Starring in a Wii port of a 2002 PlayStation 2 game, based on a franchise from the glory days of the NES, this particular Greek warrior could use a few tips from his contemporary Kratos and the God of War titles.

The Battle of Argus begins with what may be one of the worst cutscenes in videogame history. An incredibly anime-looking warrior (complete with insane spiky white hair) meets with an anime-looking princess, then a bunch of (you guessed it, anime-style) Titans show up and wreak havoc. It’s your job to wield Rygar’s diskarmor (sort of like a spiked ball-and-chain discus thing) and yes, save the princess. The saddest part: Rygar actually looked like a pretty badass warrior in the original PS2 game, not the Final Fantasy reject he so unfortunately resembles now.

The gameplay is your typical “kill everything that moves” across dramatic 3D set pieces, with a few light puzzle solving elements thrown in for good measure. The levels generally look pretty nice; they’re laid out logically, and you’re allowed to destroy a great deal of the real estate, which is always a plus. Stages are also broken up fairly well, with a great deal of variety across the course of the game. You also have the pleasure of wielding three different versions of your diskarmor, which you can switch on the fly in order to best pummel the opposition.

Sadly, the six-plus year gap is glaring, due mainly to the refinement of the genre through games like Ninja Gaiden and yes, God of War. Rygar suffers from stilted controls and a clunky camera best left on the earlier side of the 2000s. Enemies almost always react faster than your character, he turns as if he’s in a particularly unwieldy chariot. Jumping is a chore, thanks to the awkward mapping of the function to the nunchuk’s Z button.