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(3DS) Sayonara Umihara Kawase review

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    (3DS) Sayonara Umihara Kawase review

    I'm opening this in the normal forum because the game has been scheduled for a western release. Impressions here are for the Japanese version.

    Easy way to describe the game: the original game with full polygonal graphics and less strict approach: no time limit per stage, infinite lives, one of the characters can survive two hits.

    If you haven't played the Super Famicom original or the PS1/DS sequels, Umihara Kawase is a platformer where the eponymous girl (she was 9 or so year old during the SF days, now she's 20) tries to reach the end of each stage by dodging walking fishes (or storinf them in her backpack) and swinging around with the help of her fishing pole. Normal enough, no?

    Unlike the previous releases, Sayonara (I've tried to use an acronym, but...) has no lives or time limites like the previous titles, but base mechanics are unchanged, even the physics feel exactly the same as before. The level design is still good (though I'm still at the "standard" stage) but there have been no changes except the addition of two more characters, that play like Umihara but have special features, like the blond girl that can survive two deaths, even when plunging into the abyss present in all levels.

    What strikes first is how bare the presentation is. Intro screen, select your name, stage select. There were no story elements in the previous games and even

    the credit roll was overimposed on the final stage

    , but I would have expected something...more. In-game graphics are very basic, and I feel that the environment actually detracts appeal from the game, just like the enemies and the main characters' sprites. Again, the previous games were known for their strange context rather than their technicalities, but at least those sprites were perfectly in line with the rest of the game: here...well, everything does their job and nothing more.

    But the presentation doesn't change the fact that the game is good. Challenging, but good. Jumps almost have no momentum and they can't be fully controlled mid-air, there's a lot of dexterity involved in hooking the fishing pole around and swinging physics are a kind of their own; for newcomers, the learning curve is steep, but the unlimited lives and no time limit do help in lowering the first barrier.
    Once a level is known, getting to the exit requires less than two minutes, and the hook of the game is completing each stage in the shortest time available and finding the secret doors to the more difficult levels. If it clicks, it's an excellent game, despite the bad graphics and barebone presentation.

    And now I have to understand how to beat this version of the giant tadpole. Damn him.

    #2
    Bought this in the sale recently, finding it super addictive!
    It's pretty tough though, I wouldn't consider it an accessible game....for all it's simplicity.

    The basic presentation is in line with the other games so I don't really see it as a bad point.

    My only main gripe at the minute is hitting the diagonal.
    Bionic commando is clever in that up sends the hook up, forward sends it forward and doing nothing sends it diagonal. In this you have to push up and forward in order to shoot diagonal, which in pressure situations I often find myself hitting one or the other too much and missing the diagonal.

    Anyone know how many levels there are total? I've unlocked quite a few now although I have a few gaps (where the hell are levels 26 and 27!?)

    If you can stick with this game I think it's super rewarding, when you land some crazy setups it feels super satisfying....it just takes a long time to get any good.

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