Review: Rodea the Sky Soldier

A rusted robot with a heart

The history of Rodea the Sky Soldier is one muddled with platform changes and developmental issues galore. Originally slated as a Wii game in 2010, producer Yuji Naka ran into publishing troubles, and the project was essentially shelved. A few years later, a 3DS release was then planned, and a year later still, he announced that the Wii edition was being pivoted onto the Wii U.

Here we are in late 2015, and all three versions are being released in some form. It’s been a wild ride, and you can literally see some of the bumps along the way in the finished product.

Rodea the Sky Soldier (3DS, Wii, Wii U [reviewed])
Developer: Kadokawa Games, Prope
Publisher: Kadokawa Shoten, NIS
MSRP: $39.99 (3DS) / $59.99 (Wii U with Wii edition for first-print copies)
Released: April 2, 2015 (Japan), November 10, 2015 (US)

Rodea is a strange, strange game. While the Wii version uses IR movement and is more in line with the creator’s original vision, and the 3DS edition has even more differences, this assessment deals directly with the Wii U. This is a traditional single-player action game with RPG elements, most of which remind me of the golden age of JRPGs. You have your shonen hero (Rodea), a robot who has been stricken with amnesia at the start of the game, and must stop the evil Naga empire from taking over. Oh, there’s one catch: his princess gave him an actual heart, so he’s not a soulless machine. If you end up choosing the Japanese audio option, the narrative, while cheesy, is watchable.

Where Rodea really spreads its wings is the open-ended flight gameplay, similar to Nights into Dreams. Within the confines of each semi-open level, Rodea can move around on foot, jump, hover, boost attack enemies, and blast off into the sky. The gist is that he has a limited flight time (it’s actually rather generous), and once his meter is expended, he must either pivot off of a solid object, or land on the ground and start a new flight pattern.

It’s jarring at first, but it’s easy to get the hang of after about 30 minutes, and you have a huge degree of freedom. Some of it is even automated (grabbing pickups, grinding wires), but never to the extreme degree of the 3D Sonic titles. Although the GamePad does support off-screen play, there’s no need to even look at it, as the controls are entirely traditional on Wii U.

The open design works both for and against Rodea. While it’s amazing to look into the horizon at times and see areas you can readily explore, the draw distance is often so poor that it’s tough to plot out a full course. Additionally, a lot of zones tend to blend together, with entire areas that have nothing more than empty plains seemingly unfinished. Rodea also starts to falter when it adds more elements to the mix beyond its core conceit.

While the boost attack is fairly foolproof (it’s a lot like the 3D Sonic games’ homing attack), gunplay is shoehorned in. It isn’t fun at all. The fact that the controls feel dated isn’t entirely the player’s fault, as the entire game feels like something out of last generation, and possibly even a generation before that. That’s not to say Rodea doesn’t sport a beautiful art style — because it does — just that occurrences like slowdown, pop-in, and occasional glitches are present more than they should be.

Individual missions can get boring, but flying is always a joy, and bosses are often the highlight. They’ll range from humanoid fights to giant hulking monstrosities, and both varieties are a blast while they last. This is a decently long affair, with over 25 levels, upgrades to purchase, and even a secret shop with extras like an additional mode. You can expect anywhere from 15-30 hours once everything is said and done. You rarely see things like this outside of DLC, so it’s refreshing that the game feels so feature complete, even if it technically has three different versions in the end.

Rodea the Sky Soldier really hits that sweet spot when it comes to evoking the wonder of flight, but the troubled developmental process is tangible in the final build. For those of you who can stomach older experiences however, you’ll likely overlook some of its issues and find a lot to love.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}