Rodea the Sky Soldier reaches lofty heights but can’t soar over its pitfalls

Rodea the Sky Soldier has had a laborious gestation.

The action/adventure game was originally announced for the Wii and Nintendo 3DS back in 2010 as a joint project between Sonic the Hedgehog creator Yuji Naka’s Prope studio and Japanese publisher Kadokawa Games. Though completed in 2011, it was shelved indefinitely, Naka said around that time that he wasn’t sure what would become of the project. It reemerged in 2014, however, retooled as a Wii U and 3DS game. It’s been a long time coming, but sadly, the Wii U version of Rodea doesn’t live up to five years of anticipation.