System: Swap
Launch date: March 1, 2024
Developer: Sunsoft
Writer: Crimson Artwork Video games
Again in 1991, online game developer Sunsoft – maybe best-known lately for its Blaster Grasp collection – was attempting to get a brand new franchise off the bottom, partly to assist cement a brand new mascot for the corporate. Ufouria: The Saga was the consequence – a unusual 2D platformer whose predominant gimmick was its skill for gamers to swap between 4 totally different characters. Whereas the sport did nicely sufficient to spawn a collection of puzzle video games that includes the identical oddball solid and charming presentation, the unique title been virtually solely unavailable for western gamers exterior of a now-inaccessible Digital Console rerelease and a restricted run in Europe. That’s why it’s such a pleasant shock that now, over thirty years later, Sunsoft has launched a sequel – and fortuitously, a superb one. Ufouria: The Saga 2 not solely tightly modernizes the satisfying gameplay of the unique, however imbues its world and characters with a way of caprice and humor that had me smiling from begin to end.
At a floor stage, Ufouria: The Saga 2 gives the look that it’s going to ship a considerably simple 2D platforming expertise – albeit one with an lovely craft-material aesthetic that feels impressed by the likes of Yoshi’s Wooly World. That being my expectation, I used to be shocked to seek out that the sport pulls parts from from each exploration-platformers and rougelike sidescrollers right into a uniquely structured bundle. Whereas Ufouria 2 is temporary and virtually comically straightforward, it’s additionally a surprisingly dense sport with fairly a bit for completionists, and I discovered myself compelled to expertise as a lot of it as doable in my six-hour preliminary playthrough.
Ufouria 2’s map is break up into totally different areas, all fairly normal fare – your grassy valley zone, your volcano space, your icy underground caverns, and so forth. The world is technically open and frivolously interconnected – nothing stops the participant from attempting to discover to the left when the target is to the precise – however what’s fascinating is that Ufouria 2 performs extra like a run-based sport than you’d anticipate. In lieu of any kind of kind of labyrinthine construction, every biome feels extra akin to a self-contained stage, typically with a boss struggle on the finish. The twist is that each time the participant accomplishes an goal alongside the principle story path, they’re then flown again to the middle of the map by the useful chicken Bobodori, at which level upgrades could be bought earlier than setting again out to discover deeper.
Upon returning to the identical area once more, the format of the realm will typically change; I’d estimate every area has someplace within the ballpark of between 4 and eight handcrafted designs, with enemies and collectibles positioned in another way in each. The good thing about this format is that it helps every location really feel recent when revisiting it later, and that is additional amplified by the the truth that as gamers progress by way of the sport, new skills will allow them to seize hard-to-reach collectibles they couldn’t entry the primary time round. Whereas I want the phases had been larger and had some more durable platforming segments, I finally actually loved this construction, and at all times seemed ahead to seeing what I might now do every time I backtracked to a well-recognized zone.
The actual stars of of the present are Ufouria 2’s 4 playable characters who return from the primary sport with a considerable glow-up this time round. There’s the albino penguin named Mr. Hebe, a cat-girl named O-Chan, a ghost carrying shades named Sukezaemon, and an anglerfish, named…. uh, Jennifer (word: if you happen to performed the unique Ufouria, among the characters might have had totally different names relying on which area’s model of the sport you performed). They’re a motley crew and shut pals, and have lived peacefully within the land of Ufouria for presumably a long time at this level. Effectively, till the latest arrival of returning villain Utsujin, who’s polluting the planet with gelatinous purple lifeforms referred to as Bumyons that may connect themselves to residing creatures. And so, predictably, Mr. Hebe and firm set forth to place a cease to all of it.
At first of Ufouria 2, our flippered good friend Mr. Hebe is the one playable character – actually, a very good chunk of the primary half of the sport includes touring to the totally different corners of the map to recruit his pals. Ultimately, with the push of a button, the participant can swap between the 4 characters at will, accompanied by a pleasant high-five animation as they alter locations. There’s good cause to take action, as some characters are better-suited to totally different conditions than others. For instance: Jennifer is the one one that may dive below the water to entry complete parts of the map; O-Chan is a quick swimmer and received’t slip on icy surfaces, and Sukezaemon has a floatier bounce that lets him glide throughout massive distances. They’re all a delight to play as, and the sport actually needs you to swap between them typically – though frequent dialogue popups during which characters ask when it will likely be “their flip” to take the lead can positively get just a little annoying over time.
The world is populated with some actually unusual and surreal foes, from a human mouth that makes use of its tongue to tug itself throughout the bottom, to a crawling child in a diaper, to chonky birds that poop all over. Fascinating designs apart, they’re all dispatched the identical approach – by butt-stomping them with the ZR button in mid-air. The one wrinkle is that if an enemy has been corrupted by Bumyons first – in different phrase, if it has purple goop on its face – you’ll first must stun it earlier than you possibly can safely “use your butt” to defeat it, as the sport’s tutorials cheekily clarify it. You do that by throwing your individual blobs of goop – referred to as Popoons – at foes first. It provides a small wrinkle to the method of defeating an enemy, however aiming isn’t troublesome, and the fact is most foes could be averted solely just by leaping over them, with no actual draw back to doing so aside from lacking out on some cash.
Even boss battles are shockingly straightforward, to the purpose the place they really feel inconsequential. Not solely do boss enemies virtually all look equivalent, the one actual menace they pose to you is that if they contact the participant character – they by no means launch projectiles, carry out AOE assaults, or actually do something that will require the participant to vary their technique. Generally they’ll transfer a bit sooner, or fly within the air just a little, however that’s it. I nonetheless had enjoyable with them, however that’s largely as a result of I loved the tight core gameplay sufficient that the 30 seconds it took to dispatch a boss didn’t actually transfer the needle in both route for me.
For gamers on the lookout for some elective problem, there are some options for that. Ufouria 2 has some problem rooms that process gamers with finishing particular aims, like clearing all foes in a sure time restrict with out taking any harm. A number of of those had been just a little difficult, however by no means to the purpose the place I received annoyed. Revisiting an space you’ve been to earlier than additionally offers the participant an opportunity to fulfill comparable standards, like getting by way of a stage in a good time restrict. There’s additionally a more durable issue mode, however it needs to be unlocked throughout the course of a playthrough, at which level you’ll seemingly be already virtually full with the sport – I’d have most popular to have the choice out there from the onset.
Upgrades and new skills are bought from a merchandising machine in entrance of Mr. Hebe’s home. Many of the essential ones – like crouching, and carrying a couple of Popoon at a time – are reasonably priced and could be unlocked inside an hour of play. You’ll positively wish to spend money on a capability that lets characters see by way of partitions to seek out hidden areas, and there are different helpful ones that allow inactive characters in your social gathering provide you with further cash and well being at random intervals. Past that, most of what’s right here simply exists so as to add quality-of-life options to your playthrough. For instance, there’s a compass you should buy earlier on that tells you what number of Utsu-cans – the sport’s major collectible, that seem like an power drink – are scattered in every area, which is nice for completionists. Further merchandising machines are scattered the world over that solely promote therapeutic objects, so its straightforward to keep away from dying and getting despatched again to Hebe’s home so long as you carry some further cash with you.
Whereas the gameplay loop will not be difficult, what issues most is that it’s enjoyable, and I feel Ufouria 2’s temporary runtime helps hold it from overstaying its welcome. That being stated, the factor that originally caught my consideration about this launch was its beautiful creative route, and it’s one of many sport’s strongest parts. Ufouria 2 seems like an arts and crafts challenge that’s come to life. The world seems prefer it was constructed of patches of cloth and lumps of clay, and characters look virtually like stuffed animals which have been crocheted and stitched. Look intently on the particulars and also you’ll even discover the stray strands of string protruding from their stuffed varieties. It’s an enormous shift in aesthetic in comparison with the unique sport’s 8-bit graphics, and if you happen to had advised me that Good-Really feel had made this sport, I’d in all probability imagine you. All the pieces seems crisp and textured in each docked and handheld mode, and efficiency was glorious, too.
There’s astonishing consideration to element in each different visible aspect of the sport, too. Dialogue bins and character portraits seem like they’re made out of Perler beads, and the buying display screen juxtaposes 3D-modeled objects in opposition to pop-art backgrounds. Even the map display screen seems prefer it was modeled after the kind of backdrops you would possibly see in a youngsters’s puppet present, with felt parts haphazardly Velcroed in opposition to a cloth backdrop. In movement, all of it seems even higher. Characters are expressive, all with their very own distinctive animations, a few of that are low-key hilarious – like how Jennifer simply sits on the bottom and slides when “crawling”. There’s a pleasant bounciness to the best way every thing strikes, and it’s all made funnier by the delightfully blunt writing, particularly when it unexpectedly breaks the fourth wall.
The music is one other robust level in Ufouria 2’s favor. It evokes the chiptune soundtrack of the unique sport, however its barely off-key vocal harmonies add to surreal-yet-cute ambiance that’s emphasised by the artwork type and animation. Droopy synthesized brass notes and a boppy rhythm will undoubtedly depart among the sport’s melodies caught in your head lengthy after the actual fact. A number of extra tracks right here and there would have been helpful, however due to the quick runtime, I wasn’t as bothered by the repeating songs as I in any other case might need been.
The Verdict
Ufouria: The Saga 2 is a quick and breezy platformer that’s bursting on the seams with appeal and creativity. Whereas its moment-to-moment working and leaping could also be easy, it’s additionally tight and responsive, and the intelligent construction of the sport’s run-based exploration leads to satisfying development that simply will get higher as gamers unlock extra characters and talents. Whereas some might even see the low total issue as a draw back, it additionally offers extra room for the top-notch visuals to shine. The writing is usually genuinely chuckle-worthy, and the music helps elevate the quirky, unusual themes of the sport to the next stage. As a uncommon sequel to an over thirty-year-old NES sport, Ufouria: The Saga 2 excels, and leaves me genuinely excited to see what else Sunsoft can do down the highway with these characters and this world. Followers of 2D platformers and Nintendo-like experiences owe it to themselves to provide this sport a glance.
Ufouria: The Saga 2 copy supplied by the writer for the needs of this evaluate.