Rodea the Movie, Part 1 (February 12, 2015)
Rodea the Sky Soldier Wii U / 3DS trailer (November 24, 2014)
Rodea the Sky Soldier Experience Tour 2015 announcement (December 24, 2014)
Japanese Nintendo Direct (Rodea the Sky Soldier at 18:28; January 14, 2015)
Timeline
Do you remember the announcement of Rodea: The Sky Soldier way back in 2011? Kadokawa Games' president Yoshimi Yasuda confirmed back in July that it is still alive, and we now have a Spring release set for this NiGHTS-style action game!
Rodea: The Sky Soldier starts on the floating continent of Garuda. Your journey begins when a curious young girl named Ion ventures into ruins and reactivates the fabled robotic Majin soldier Rodea. After waking from a 1,000 year slumber Rodea's memory is no more, except for the recollection of a "fierce battle from the past" and the face of a girl who looks like Ion.
As all this unfolds, the Machine Empire Naga has been revivded after 1,000 years of dormancy. Seemingly to be the antagonists of the title, their aim is to take control of the 'Gravity Energy' that resides on Garuda and use it to power their invasion of mechanical soldiers.
In order to protect the confused and frightened people of Garuda, Rodea and Ion step up to face the machine army. [Play-Asia]
----------
UPDATE I sent an email to Rising Star Games and received a promising response:
UPDATE4 Some pictures of the game itself! [blog.esuteru.com]
Rodea the Sky Soldier Wii U / 3DS trailer (November 24, 2014)
Rodea the Sky Soldier Experience Tour 2015 announcement (December 24, 2014)
Japanese Nintendo Direct (Rodea the Sky Soldier at 18:28; January 14, 2015)
Timeline
- Fall 2009 — Development started [Andriasang]
- October, 2010 — Yuji Naka talks about a "very original action game based in the sky" [CVG]
- January, 2011 — Tenkuu no Kishi Rodea announced for Wii and 3DS in collaboration with Kadokawa Games [Andriasang]
- January, 2011 — Kadokawa Games files trademark for Rodea the Sky Soldier in the US [Siliconera]
- January, 2011 — Famitsu reveals debut trailer for the Wii version shown at Kadokawa Games' conference [Famitsu]
- July, 2011 — XSEED expresses interest in publishing Kadokawa Games' titles in the US [Siliconera]
- September, 2011 — Wii version of the game "has been finished for awhile now" [Siliconera]
- When asked about a Wii U version, Yuji Naka said: "Rodea was made specifically for the Wii so players could enjoy it by flicking the remote. If we tried to incorporate those controls into the large Wii U controller it wouldn’t be the same. I would really like for people to play and enjoy it on the Wii as I had originally intended."
- September, 2012 — Rodea the Sky Soldier for Wii still to be released, 3DS version "might be close to being finished" [Polygon]
- Yuji Naka's comments about the Wii U: "One unfortunate thing about the Wii U announcement: It doesn't come with a Wii remote" [..] "I created the game specifically for the Wii remote, so it's going to turn into a totally different experience. I'm really down about that because Rodea is a really good game."
- July, 2013 — Rodea the Sky Soldier still in development for Wii and 3DS [Siliconera]
- May, 2014 — Kadokawa Games re-registers trademark for Rodea the Sky Soldier in Japan [Siliconera]
- November, 2014 — Wii U and 3DS version of the game to be released in Spring 2015 in Japan [Siliconera]
- "The Wii version of Rodea the Sky Soldier that never released will also be included in first-print copy of Rodea the Sky Soldier for Wii U when it releases in Spring 2015 in Japan."
- November, 2014 — Rising Star Games looking into publishing Rodea the Sky Soldier in Europe [See UPDATE below]
- December, 2014 — "Rodea the Sky Soldier Experience Tour 2015" to be held in Akihabara on January 17, 2015 [YouTube]
- December, 2014 — Cover art revealed and release date confirmed for April 2, 2015 [See UPDATE below]
- January, 2015 — Rodea the Sky Soldier gameplay and details revealed in Japanese Nintendo Direct 2015.1.14 [YouTube]
- February, 2015 — Kadokawa Games reveals more gameplay in "Rodea the Movie, Part 1", including footage from the 3DS version [YouTube]
- February, 2015 — NIS America confirms upcoming release of Rodea the Sky Soldier in the West for Fall 2015 [NIS America]
- Title: Rodea the Sky Soldier
- Genre: Adventure Platformer
- Platform: Wii / Wii U / 3DS
- Developer: Prope / Kadokawa Games
- Publisher: Kadokawa Games (Japan), NIS America (US / EU)
- Official website: http://rodea.jp (Japanese), http://nisamerica.com/games/rodea-the-sky-soldier/ (English)
Do you remember the announcement of Rodea: The Sky Soldier way back in 2011? Kadokawa Games' president Yoshimi Yasuda confirmed back in July that it is still alive, and we now have a Spring release set for this NiGHTS-style action game!
Rodea: The Sky Soldier starts on the floating continent of Garuda. Your journey begins when a curious young girl named Ion ventures into ruins and reactivates the fabled robotic Majin soldier Rodea. After waking from a 1,000 year slumber Rodea's memory is no more, except for the recollection of a "fierce battle from the past" and the face of a girl who looks like Ion.
As all this unfolds, the Machine Empire Naga has been revivded after 1,000 years of dormancy. Seemingly to be the antagonists of the title, their aim is to take control of the 'Gravity Energy' that resides on Garuda and use it to power their invasion of mechanical soldiers.
In order to protect the confused and frightened people of Garuda, Rodea and Ion step up to face the machine army. [Play-Asia]
----------
UPDATE I sent an email to Rising Star Games and received a promising response:
UPDATE2 I replied asking about a physical release, here's the answer:
UPDATE3 Cover art revealed for the Japanese Wii U and limited edition Wii versions of the game:
(
