OSAKA -- It's entirely forgivable if you've never heard of Umihara Kawase before.
This cult classic Japanese action game is a bit like Bionic Commando, only your character is a little girl and instead of killing Nazis you battle overgrown fish.
Umihara Kawase first appeared on Nintendo's Super Famicom and had a sequel on the Sony PlayStation but neither was released outside of Japan. I played the latest chapter, Umihara Kawase Shun Second Edition, on the Nintendo DS at Osaka's recent Games Japan Festa.
The original Bionic Commando happens to be one of my favorite games, and Umihara Kawase hits on exactly what made that game so memorable. Your character uses a fishing lure both as a grappling hook and a weapon. What makes Umihara Kawase so different is that you can jump and the fishing line is elastic, allowing for all sorts of bouncing, stretching and slingshot possibilities.
Each level is relatively straightforward: your objective in each stage is to reach the exit without falling into the water or running afoul of your amphibious foes. There is always one obvious route through each level, but creative use of the fishing lure can often lead to exciting shortcuts and alternate exits. The DS puts a map on the lower screen to give you a full view of the level, marking your position and other key elements with colored dots.
The game offers tutorial lessons in between each level, though I often found that I needed to figure out moves before the game actually revealed them to me. This wasn't a problem as the controls are quite simple to pick up: One button jumps, one button throws the lure and the D-pad does everything else.
Of course, understanding the controls and mastering them are two very different things. It's not easy, but at least the early levels don't aggressively put your newly-learned skills to the test. In fact, I took my time just bouncing and stretching for practice's sake.
I did encounter a boss in the form of a walking tadpole. It was invulnerable to my lure, but it did lay eggs that hatched into frogs. Once I collected a certain number of frogs, Mama Tadpole ran away and I was presented with an exit. The trickiest part of the encounter was dodging Mama as she marched and jumped on the platform.
The staff on hand at Games Japan Festa said that there are "no plans" to release Umihara Kawase Shun Second Edition overseas, so like its predecessors, this game may stay in Japan.
The good news is that it's already on sale, and the Nintendo DS is a region-free platform, so this installment is easily accessible to overseas gamers. More good news: this DS edition includes the ability to play the game as it appeared on the Super Famicom and PlayStation, so this could serve as your introduction to the long history of this classic.
Image courtesy Genterprise
