Nintendo followers could also be conversant in Good-Really feel, a Japanese developer that collaborated with the Huge N to provide titles corresponding to Wario Land: Shake It!, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, and Yoshi’s Woolly and Crafted Worlds. But regardless of its work with Nintendo, Good Really feel continues to be an impartial firm and sometimes produces new video games with its personal IP, and on the very finish of November 2023 the studio launched Swap-exclusive Otogi Katsugeki Mameda no Bakeru: Oracle Saitarou no Sainan!!.
Taking strongly after the Ganbare Goemon video games (Etsunobu Ebisu labored at Konami earlier than founding Good-Really feel in 2005 and was a key determine behind the Mystical Ninja collection), this new launch mixes 3D platforming with some gentle beat-’em-up parts to make for an impressively gratifying expertise. The one catch is that it’s completely obtainable in Japan on the time of writing, however don’t let that deter you from making an attempt this worthwhile platformer.
The story of Mameda no Bakeru is… properly, we don’t really know as a result of we don’t communicate Japanese both. From what we are able to collect, the titular hero units out to avoid wasting Japan from some form of demonic Yokai power that’s been unleashed upon the land. Or one thing like that. The plot is primarily advised via a collection of properly animated, comedian book-esque cutscenes, and whereas these story bits are actually incomprehensible to non-Japanese audio system, the artwork continues to be good to have a look at. Plus, when you’ve had sufficient, you’ll be able to simply skip the cutscenes and simply soar straight into the motion.
Gameplay takes the form of a large linear 3D platformer, form of like Tremendous Mario 3D Land or Kirby and the Forgotten Land. Ranges are accessed one after one other on the world map and each duties you with discovering and breaking three rainbow lamps so that you could unlock the end-of-level drum. These lamps are often conspicuously positioned alongside the trail, and there are sometimes greater than three of them in a stage to account for gamers who might miss one alongside the way in which, so clearing a stage is usually an easy endeavor.
Alongside the way in which, there are a number of enemies and obstacles that stand in your means, and that is the place the beat-‘em-up parts are available in. Bakeru has two drumsticks he can use to beat his foes simply as arduous as his drums, and fight is surprisingly snappy. He’ll usually lock on to the closest enemy, and has a small number of combos and cost assaults he can depend on to dispatch the hordes. If enemies are getting too aggressive, you could have a dodge roll and a block, the latter of which will be triggered on the final second for a parry that negates all harm and stuns the attacker. Skirmishes are often only some seconds lengthy and most foes go down in a single or two hits, however there’s a deeply satisfying Dynasty Warriors-esque feeling to mowing down teams of enemies and amassing their spoils.
To maintain fight from getting too stale, you’re additionally granted a collection of transformations as you defeat bosses via regular progress. These are ruled on a cooldown by an power meter you refill through pickups and defeating enemies, and each considerably powers up Bakeru in fight whereas altering his moveset in some key methods. Our favourite transformation offers him a magical fishing rod—Bakeru can use the lure to defeat enemies from afar and it completely shreds massive teams. Our solely criticism right here is that the transformations can really feel like overkill; that is already a very simple recreation clearly aimed toward younger gamers and the alternate kinds get rid of the barest hint of issue.
For those who by some means really feel you’re nonetheless struggling an excessive amount of, most ranges function a cute character with an merchandise store the place you’ll be able to spend the cash which might be scattered generously all through every stage. A lot of the objects on supply listed here are consumables that’ll do issues like prime up your well being or bolster your harm output, and whereas these, too, really feel like they make a straightforward recreation even simpler, it may well nonetheless be enjoyable to only let ‘er rip every so often by speeding a stage with a completely juiced Bakeru.
For completionists, every stage additionally hides a small collection of collectibles to encourage you to scour each nook and teleporter. The primary collectibles are the three gachapon containers holding varied snacks and trinkets, whereas there are additionally 5 little critters yow will discover who will provide you with some sort of journal entry. Clearly, this latter class of collectible was much less attractive to us given that every one the textual content is in Japanese, however it’s nonetheless enjoyable to ferret them out in every stage and a few of them show to be impressively properly hidden.
We additionally appreciated how Good-Really feel utterly mixes up the gameplay every so often with a stage centered round a brand new minigame. You’ll be able to take part in ranges that job you with issues like a waterski race or a Area Harrier-style 3D shooter. None of those overstay their welcome, and so they supply up some enjoyable palate cleansers each few ranges.
Visually, Mameda no Bakeru adheres to an impressively sharp and ultra-colorful artwork type that makes each stage a deal with to absorb. Whether or not you’re scaling an autumnal-themed mountain rife with crisp leaves and heat colours or rocketing down a water slide on an enormous cruise ship bursting with seashore balls and dance performances, every stage options distinctive theming and simply the correct quantity of graphical spectacle to stay constantly participating.
The draw back to those nice visuals, nevertheless, is that it comes at the price of constant efficiency. There are fleeting moments the place Mameda no Bakeru manages to muster the 60fps goal it goals for and these moments are fantastic after they happen, however more often than not the body charge might be oscillating fairly a bit across the 30fps mark. The problem is low sufficient that this doesn’t actually result in unfair errors, however it may well nonetheless be tough whenever you pan the digicam over a extra open a part of a stage and watch every part get immediately uneven.
We’d like to focus on that, regardless of being fully in Japanese, Mameda no Bakeru continues to be a superbly playable expertise for the typical English-speaking participant when you’re seeking to import or obtain on the Japanese Swap eShop. Clearly, you’re utterly shedding out on the story, and it may be initially a bit powerful to navigate the menus, however total this can be a very gameplay-first expertise that’s all about getting you proper into the motion. We’d wager that this recreation has a really low likelihood of receiving a full official English localization (there may be, nevertheless, an ongoing fan translation effort), however all the identical, we’d encourage you to not be scared off by the dearth of English language help, as that is actually gratifying even with out it.
Conclusion
Mameda no Bakeru is a candy, snappy, and satisfying linear 3D platformer that looks like a beautiful callback to a style that doesn’t get a ton of illustration today. Though it’s actually straightforward and has some efficiency issues, the gameplay selection, snappy fight, oodles of collectibles, and lovely artwork type all come collectively to make for an journey that you just gained’t need to miss out on. So long as you don’t thoughts trawling via a little bit of Japanese, we’d advocate you give this one a shot when you’re keen to import it.
