Umihara Kawase BaZooKa! Game Sample - PC
27As far as gaming franchises go, the "Umihara Kawase" series is something of an anomaly. It started out as a bit of a hidden gem back when it was first released as a Japan-only platformer for Nintendo's Super Famicom in late 1994. The game was a physics-based gauntlet of levels with multiple routes where you assumed the role of the titular Umihara Kawase, a young and cute college girl who is an aspiring chef and just trying to get home one day when she gets lost and winds up taking the reaaally long and weird way home... and does battle with fish and other odd creatures. It's appropriate then that she's armed with a fishing rod that she can use to thwart enemies but is "mainly" used to maneuver and cleverly avoid most encounters. It was whimsical, unorthodox, and one of the more commonly referenced Japan-only imports to pick up back in the day. Fast forward 26 years later and you have a few sequels, several ports, and the odd reboot /spin-off. While different devs and publishers have tackled the game over the years, the games never really did much with the formula and while Kawase's sex appeal grew (see her then and see her now), the games started to stagnate. While most iterations of the games are cool in one form or another, this latest offering, "Umihara Kawase BaZooKa!", really makes you wonder if the franchise has hit a wall.
There is nothing glaringly wrong with the initial setup of UKB: it's a spin-off in the vein of single-screen Arcade games like "Bubble Bobble", and it even honors a few other franchises from Success and Studio Saizensen's acquired / combined libraries such as "Cotton" to "Ring Dream" to "Doki Doki Poyatchio" to "Youkoso Hitsuji-Mura" (released outside Japan as "Sheperd's Crossing") to even "Akai Ito" and a random Japanese Youtuber (Dozle). The game uses a modified version of the engine used in "Umihara Kawase Fresh!" and the multitude of characters operate differently (though there are duplicates), each having three primary special functions (which consume special energy) and the tried-and-true fishing rod mechanic to hook enemies and objects to get around or do battle. The real issues with "BaZooKa!" come from its brevity, baffling design decisions, odd play control and initial price tag.
UKB has a short main game mode with only four primary worlds with ten short levels each -- while that doesn't sound too bad, there were plenty of single-screen games that offered more variety or polish from the 80s, 90s and 00s (besides "Bubble Bobble", titles like "Wrecking Crew", "Snow Bros." and "Zupapa", to name a few). While the characters can be played in different ways, some adversaries require you to use the rod or jump in order to defeat them and instead of defeating all the enemies to advance, you have to clear waves of particular enemies to collect coins (meaning you don't have to defeat every last enemy). When characters get hit, they deal with an unnecessarily long hit effect and while you "should" use the rod in the spirit of the series, this is often offset by better means of dispatching enemies or level designs that allow you to navigate more easily even without the rod. Even if you should use it exclusively, the game offers various modes (Beginner, Semi-Auto and Technical) and none of them feel quite as precise as what you would expect from the original UK (they are manageable though). The one redeeming aspect of this mode is the "bazooka" mechanic which can become a special bazooka that you can use to hit multiple foes and get score multipliers, which is modest score-chasing fun.
If you tire of this mode, you can attempt the dead online multiplayer mode or the local multiplayer mode (thankfully) which involves you fighting for stars or battling your friends in a very light "Smash Bros." style. It adds a smidgen of extra padding to the experience, but it doesn't keep the game from feeling kinda barren. Worst of all though is the PC port -- it runs okay, but has no additional options in which to speak of, is locked at 720p and even has the same prompts as the original Nintendo Switch version, which just reeks of lazy. At least it looks okay (albeit flat and lacking effects, like for the springs, water, etc.) and sounds pretty neat.
At the end of the day, if this was sold at a low price point, it would've been a relatively harmless recommendation, but this low budget game has a medium budget price tag with an original MSRP of $40+ physical / $30 digital. I picked the game up on sale recently for $20 and that is perhaps the absolute most I would've paid for this game, and that's only due to the various cameo characters and morbid curiosity. If you don't like what you see, don't pick it up.
This is a video illustrating the tutorial and some gameplay with my gals, Cotton & Silk (Original). Enjoy.
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