E3 2015 | The Sky’s No Limit For “Rodea”

Yuji Naka has had quite the illustrious career, from bringing to life an iconic character like Sonic the Hedgehog to the gaming spotlight to producing such cult classics as ChuChu Rocket! and Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg. Now after a five-year long development cycle his latest game is ready to take flight with Rodea the Sky Soldier.

At the NIS America booth at E3 I was given the opportunity to test fly Rodea. The demo had me run through the first two levels, which act as a tutorial for the game. Here I learned the basics in flying, attacking, and shooting. The game is set up so you will need to use various tactics to reach high places, discover hidden gems, and unlock new power-ups that can be useful if you revisit older levels.

Controlling the robot does take some getting used to, as my first few moments with the game had me bumping into walls and fumble with the camera system. Once I figured out how to maneuver through the level I found my experience getting increasingly better, as NIS’s Alan Costa and Tiffany Chin showed me how to reveal new secrets and use my new powers to the best of their abilities. Collecting the game’s currency and attacking robots in-air both had a very hedgehog-y feel to it, in vein of the first Sonic Adventure game. Watching my character glide through the air to its highest peak let me be able to take a look at the game’s gorgeous landscapes, which gave me a mixed familiarity that harkened to the likes of Skies of Arcadia and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West.

One of the unique things I learned about Rodea the Sky Soldier was that it was completed for release on the Wii, but by the time it was done the console’s life was just about at an end. Developers from Kadokawa Games were so impressed with the game that they helped his Prope team recreate it for release on both the Wii U and 3DS. What’s more: the first run of physical copies of the game will include the Wii version for free, which includes an exclusive multiplayer mode for players to compete with their flying skills.

NIS America will be releasing Rodea the Sky Soldier on the Wii U and 3DS on October 13.

Originally posted on the ESH EGMNOW Page