Rygar: The Legendary Adventure

Rygar: The Legendary Adventure, released in Japan as Argus no Senshi[lower-alpha 2], is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Tecmo for the PlayStation 2. It was released in North America in November 2002, in Japan in December 2002, and Europe in May 2003 by Wanadoo Edition. It is based on the original Rygar released for arcade and home consoles. It features 3D graphics and a destructible environment. The game is inspired by Greek and Roman mythology and has many enemies and worlds named after them.

Rygar: The Legendary Adventure
American PS2 cover art
Developer(s)Tecmo[lower-alpha 1]
Publisher(s)Tecmo
Director(s)Takao Ando
Producer(s)Satoshi Kanematsu
Programmer(s)Yutaka Koga
Artist(s)Hirohisa Kaneko
Masafumi Kubo
Kousuke Wakamatsu
Composer(s)Hiroaki Takahashi
Takayasu Sodeoka
Riichiro Kuwabara
Platform(s)PlayStation 2
Wii
ReleasePlayStation 2
  • NA: November 25, 2002
  • JP: December 5, 2002
  • EU: May 30, 2003
Wii
  • JP: December 11, 2008
  • NA: February 3, 2009[1]
  • EU: July 3, 2009
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single player

It was released to generally positive reviews. The game was ported to the Wii by Team Tachyon,[2] as Rygar: The Battle of Argus, known in Japan as Argus no Senshi: Muscle Impact[lower-alpha 3], which was released in Japan in December 2008, North America in February 2009 and Europe in July 2009 by Rising Star Games.

Gameplay

In Rygar: The Legendary Adventure, the player traverses the landscape armed with the Diskarmor, defeating enemies, collecting power-ups, and so forth. The camera is fixed in one location, but rotates accordingly when the player moves around. The game has many unlockable features, like picture and movie galleries. Completing the game and meeting certain requirements enables the use of a number of special Diskarmors. as well as allowing the player to select any level.

The Diskarmor is a shield that is the main focus of gameplay. The player can equip special stones found throughout the game to increase its power and so forth. Also, abilities can be found that add other functions to the Diskarmor, such as a grapple ability that allows the player to swing between specially marked icons and pull themselves up to otherwise unreachable areas.

Plot

Rygar: The Legendary Adventure takes place on an island in the Mediterranean Sea called Argus. Rygar is about to receive a wreath from Princess Harmonia in a ceremony for a victorious naval battle, when Titans suddenly attack led by Echidna. After she and Icarus capture Harmonia, Echidna has the Minotaur dispose of Rygar with a pit torn open in the ground. Surviving the encounter, Rygar finds the Diskarmor, a legendary shield of the gods and is given task to stop the Titans in order to rescue Harmonia and bring peace to Argus.

Development

Remains from Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire were used as a reference to help design the world. At the start of production, in-house staff members traveled to Greece to look at subject matter. Photographs were taken to help create textures. 3ds Max was used to develop the stages and character models. The character models were then converted into Tecmo's original format and imported into Softimage 3D to animate them. Model textures were edited in Photoshop. The opening movie began production before the game sections.[3]

The Wii version was announced as "Tecmo New Style Action Game" in Famitsu and later as Project Rygar on May 11 at the "Tecmo's Nite Out 07" event.

Music

The music from the game was composed by Takayasu Sodeoka, Riichiro Kuwabara, and Hiroaki Takahashi. The soundtrack for the game includes 27 tracks, including the main theme "Wish", performed by opera singer Isobel Cooper. The song was also available on CD single format, coupled with the karaoke version.

Reception

The initial release of the game on PlayStation 2 was met with very positive reception. GameRankings and Metacritic gave it a score of 82.27% and 83 out of 100.[4][6] In Japan, Famitsu gave the PS2 version a score of 31 out of 40.[13] It was a runner-up for GameSpot's annual "Best Music on PlayStation 2" and "Best Graphics (Artistic) on PlayStation 2" awards, which went to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Rez, respectively.[29] Rygar received a nomination for "Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition" during the AIAS' 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.[30]

However, the Wii remake of the game, released 6 years later, received average reception, scoring 55.97% and 52 out of 100 on GameRankings and Metacritic.[5][7] It received a score of 1 out of 5 stars by G4 and won Worst Remake in 2009.

Notes
  1. Ported to Wii by Team Tachyon.
  2. Japanese: アルゴスの戦士, Hepburn: Argus no Senshi
  3. Japanese: アルゴスの戦士: マッスルインパクト, Hepburn: Arugosu No Senshi: Massuru Inpakuto

References
  1. I. G. N. Staff (2009-02-03). "Rygar: The Battle of Argus for Wii Ships Today". IGN. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
  2. Mielke, James (2007-11-05). "Live from Japan: Tecmo's Media Day". 1UP. Archived from the original on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
  3. Rico Komanoya, ed. (2004). "Rygar: The Legendary Adventure". Japanese Game Graphics: Behind the Scenes of Your Favorite Games. New York, NY: Harper Design International. pp. 154–159. ISBN 0-06-056772-4.
  4. "Rygar: The Legendary Adventure for PlayStation 2". GameRankings. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  5. "Rygar: The Battle of Argus for Wii". GameRankings. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  6. "Rygar: The Legendary Adventure for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  7. "Rygar: The Battle of Argus for Wii Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  8. Marriott, Scott Alan. "Rygar: The Legendary Adventure - Review". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  9. Edge staff (January 2003). "Rygar: The Legendary Adventure". Edge. No. 119.
  10. EGM staff (January 2003). "Rygar: The Legendary Adventure". Electronic Gaming Monthly. p. 180. Archived from the original on May 13, 2004. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  11. Taylor, Martin (May 9, 2003). "Rygar: The Legendary Adventure". Eurogamer. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  12. Gibson, Ellie (July 31, 2009). "Rygar: The Battle of Argus". Eurogamer. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  13. "プレイステーション2 - アルゴスの戦士". Famitsu. Vol. 915. June 30, 2006. p. 94.
  14. "Capcom's Wii Fighter Scores High in Famitsu". Cubed3. December 8, 2008. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  15. Kato, Matthew (December 2002). "Rygar: The Legendary Adventure". Game Informer. No. 116. p. 118. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  16. Reeves, Ben (February 2009). "Rygar: The Battle of Argus: Outdated PS2 Port Crushed Under Weight of Time". Game Informer. No. 190. p. 86. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  17. Tokyo Drifter (November 26, 2002). "Rygar: The Legendary Adventure Review for PS2 on GamePro.com". GamePro. Archived from the original on February 9, 2005. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  18. Herring, Will (February 2009). "Rygar: The Battle of Argus". GamePro. p. 77. Archived from the original on February 1, 2009. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  19. Varanini, Giancarlo (November 25, 2002). "Rygar: The Legendary Adventure Review". GameSpot. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  20. McShea, Tom (February 3, 2009). "Rygar: The Battle of Argus Review". GameSpot. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  21. Turner, Benjamin (November 30, 2002). "GameSpy: Rygar: The Legendary Adventure". GameSpy. Archived from the original on May 14, 2007. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  22. "Rygar: The Battle of Argus Review". GameTrailers. February 12, 2009. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  23. Olson, Jeremy (February 10, 2009). "Rygar: The Battle of Argus - WII - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on February 14, 2009. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  24. Perry, Douglass C. (November 22, 2002). "Rygar: The Legendary Adventure". IGN. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  25. Hatfield, Daemon (December 5, 2008). "Rygar: The Battle of Argus Review". IGN. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  26. "Rygar: The Battle of Argus". Nintendo Power. December 25, 2008. p. 77.
  27. "Rygar: The Legendary Adventure". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. January 2003. p. 137. Archived from the original on March 25, 2004. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  28. Boyce, Ryan (December 3, 2002). "Rygar: The Legendary Adventure". Maxim. Archived from the original on February 7, 2003. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  29. GameSpot Staff (December 30, 2002). "GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2002". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 7, 2003.
  30. "D.I.C.E. Awards By Video Game Details Rygar: The Legendary Adventure". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
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