Rage of the Gladiator has two things going for it in the originality department. Quick, count on your hands all of the first person fighting games you've ever played. Now, how many of them utilize Wii MotionPlus? Exactly.
Rage of the Gladiator has you beating Greek mythology foes in sort of a Punch-Out style, except with magic.
NWR - "Rage of the Gladiator was one of the best hidden gems from WiiWare. A Punch-Out style fighter with various characters influenced by Roman mythology sounds like a match made in Heaven, and thankfully, it was! Now after three years, the game finally makes its way to the 3DS. While I do miss the really cool MotionPlus controls from the original release, the game still manages to be fun and charming in its own right."
oprainfall writes:
"When I decided to take a chance and review Rage of the Gladiator, I truly had no idea what to expect. A lot of interesting games hit the eShop, and it is often difficult to tell from just a cursory glance whether or not they are worth your money. Upon booting up the game, I was pleasantly surprised to find it to be very similar to the classic Punch-Out!!, except with medieval monstrosities as foes, and a pronounced focus on Greek mythology. Developed and published by Gamelion Studios and Ghostfire Games, it was originally released back in 2010 for the Wii Virtual Console to high acclaim. Now available three years later for iOS, Android and 3DS, was it worth reviving or should it have died in the arena?"
I think this is a fair grade for the game, having seen trailers and other reviews on it. I think the use of MP was smart, but hard to pull off.
I disagree with the review on a couple of points and the "Final Grade".
Rage of the Gladiator is an incredible game for $10.
If anybody enjoys Punch-Out(old or new), you should enjoy Rage of the Gladiator.
The game's presentation is more fun, than serious, but the game is seriously fun!
Sure, some of the lines are repeated by the enemies, but if the game didn't have voice acting, would it be penalized?
The only reason the voice lines may get super annoying, is if you're getting repeatedly beat by the same boss...which means you should probably take a break and go drink some coffee!
I know in some of the boss battles, I would be talking loudly back to the television(yelling), the "annoying" lines back at the boss...all in good fun, once I beat said boss.
@Andrew Clark:
Did you finish Challenge Mode? I know it takes a long while(at least for me it did!).
BTW, you should "Tilt" this score +10.
Also, you failed to mention the "grading sytem" on each boss fight.
You get a letter grade, for each fight, depending how you do.
The grades go, "C, B, A, S". C being the worst, S being the best.
"Tilt" +20 now, for lack of information. Final Grade = A.
If anybody has any questions about the game, feel free to ask here in the comments!