Rodea the Sky Soldier

The Wii version was the last game released for that platform in Japan.

• Title — Rodea the Sky Soldier • Developer — Wii Prope Wii U, Nintendo 3DS Kadokawa Games • Director — Hitoshi Hasegawa Tomohiko Aita Yusaku Yamanaka • Producer — Yoshimi Yasuda Yuji Naka • Composer — Takayuki Nakamura • Artist — Aki Igarashi • Genre — Action-adventure • Modes — Single-player • Platforms — Wii, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS

Rodea the Sky Soldier gameplay differs noticeably between versions of the game. Prope's prime Wii version's controls involve aiming with the Wii Remote at solid objects and pressing the B button to have Rodea fly in parabolic arcs. The Wii version uses temporary power-ups, such as a machine gun, to enable Rodea to overcome particular obstacles. Power-ups are maintained until Rodea takes damage or the player completes the current level, and they also crucially function as protection; should Rodea take damage once more without any power-ups, he will lose a life and respawn at the last checkpoint passed. The overall gameplay style resembles Naka's tenure on 3D Sonic games, with a more 3D reinterpretation of NiGHTs into Dreams. Kadokawa's ported Wii U and Nintendo 3DS versions' controls involve using the joystick and control pad, respectively, to point a reticle on-screen and pressing the A button to launch Rodea toward that point. Unlike the Wii version, purchasable permanent upgrades are used to gradually improve Rodea. Another feature unique to the Wii U and 3DS versions is the usage of a fuel system, which limits the length of Rodea's flight time and forces the player to land when the fuel bar runs out. Certain actions, such as attacking, also drain the fuel bar at a faster rate.

A thousand years before the game's story takes place, Rodea fights for the kingdom of Garuda against an invasion carried out by the mechanical army of the Naga Empire and its leader, Emperor Geardo. Upon seeing an airship piloted by Garuda's ruler, Princess Cecilia, shot down, Rodea flies off towards it to make sure Cecilia and the Key of Time she retrieved are both safe. Upon discovering Cecilia alive but shaken and that the Key is within her possession, Rodea realizes that they surrounded by a number of the Naga Empire's mechanical soldiers. Despite Rodea readying himself to fight, Cecilia tells him to stand down and splits the Key of Time in half. Cecilia gives one half to Rodea while telling him to protect it while she keeps the other, as the now-shattered Key will result in Geardo being unable conquer Garuda. Although Rodea pleads with Cecilia to give him the order to allow him to protect her, she sadly decides to teleport him away in order to enact her plan to protect the Key of Time, Garuda and Rodea himself. Rodea immediately finds himself teleported to a vast desert and, in a fit of despair and anger, smashes his right fist into the sand, shattering his right arm in the process and rendering his programming unstable. As he begins to shut down, Rodea ponders what it means to possess the heart that Cecilia gave him. A thousand years later, a teenage inventor named Ion discovers Rodea and repairs his right arm with makeshift parts before managing to reactivate him. Upon coming back online, Rodea behaves in an emotionless manner while failing to recall what transpired in the last 1000 years. However, he soon restores his initial personality once he has a flashback to Cecilia after Ion, who greatly resembles her, touches his chest upon telling him what it is like to have heart. With his initial personality back, though still suffering from amnesia, Rodea allies with Ion and her village in order to both stop the Naga Empire's renewed invasion of Garuda and restore his memories.

Rodea the Sky Soldier started with an allusion by Yuji Naka in 2010, where he described "a very original action game based in the sky." After some development CVG praised the game's early build, drawing comparisons to the game with other games developed by Naka, such as Nights into Dreams... and the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Naka revealed in 2011 that the Wii version of the game was finished, and needed Kadokawa Games to publish it for a potential release. That same year, XSEED Games expressed interest in localizing Rodea the Sky Soldier for the North American region. However, a few years passed without a release by Kadokawa Games, and Naka stated in a 2012 Polygon interview that he was unsure what was going to happen with the game. Kadokawa Games president Yoshimi Yasuda revealed in July 2013 that the Nintendo 3DS version of the game was roughly 70% finished, while reiterating that the Wii and 3DS versions were not cancelled. In May 2014, Kadokawa Games filed a trademark for the game, albeit under the tweaked title of Rodea: The Sky Soldier. On November 14, 2014, Kadokawa Games announced that the home version of the game had switched platforms from the Wii to the Wii U and that the game was scheduled to be released in Spring 2015. It was also revealed that the Wii version of the game developed by Prope would finally be released as a free bonus that would come bundled with the Wii U version during the Wii U version's initial print. Rodea the Sky Soldier was released in Japan on April 2, 2015. On June 10, NIS America announced that the game's original international release of September 22 had been delayed to October 13. However, they later announced that the game's release was delayed yet again and rescheduled from October 13 to November, citing "ongoing technical difficulties" as the reason for the delay. On November 10, Rodea the Sky Soldier released in North America, and in Europe on November 13.