Other minor changes include a handful of quicker enemies that ostensibly make combat more hectic, but ultimately devolve into the same block-block-counterattack scraps we’ve suffered through for years. Even with their added assault the main game takes about seven hours to complete.Then there’s the tacked-on, all-waggle Gladiator mode that has you swing-fisting your way through waves of increasingly difficult mythological monstrosities.

 
Chaining together combos with bigger and brighter numbers isn’t enough incentive to overlook the horribly limited motion controls, stiff animations and bare-bones presentation. This was all they added to the Wii release in terms of new gameplay, and it’s actually less inviting than the busted main game.

 
No More Heroes? Like we said, pickins are slim on Wii, and for the time being all other action games have to surpass the ultra-violent beam saber deaths oozing out of No More Heroes. It’s flashy, irreverent and only occasionally trips over its own feet in an attempt to be different. Rygar’s yesteryear offering doesn’t come close.

Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire ? A noble attempt at filling a gaping hole in Wii’s lineup, the yawn-worthy Wrath of Fire ends up as yet another ultra-generic beat ‘em up – now with muddy motion controls. The PS2 Rygar easily trounces this fill-in-the-numbers masher, though we’d say the Wii version comes up short of even this forgettable release.

God of War II? No contest. The three-year-old God of War II outshines Rygar in every way, and we only compare them because this is what Rygar has to contend with now. There was no Kratos in 2002 – now there is, and anyone interested in ravaging mythological monsters should do so here, or wait for the surely superior God of War III.

 
The original reviews for the PS2 Rygar weren’t necessarily wrong – at the time, it really was a gorgeous game, and its luscious orchestral soundtrack lent an air of classical history to a genre that usually stuck with forgettable background loops. Hell we’d say the PS2 version, even rated by today’s standards, is still in the 6/10 range. But the awkward controls, insane vibration and baffling Rygar makeover make this impossible to recommend at $40. Incidentally, look what we found:

 
Why buy the new one when the older, better version is still available at a reduced price? We know you have a PS2.

Feb 4, 2009