Today, I feel like reviewing another non-doujin game, the cult-hit platformer, Umihara Kawase. I'll be reviewing the SNES version. Just in case you've never heard of it, it's a series of platform games starring a cute little schoolgirl called... well, Umihara Kawase (real imaginative, huh?) but what's in a name? It's all about the game and Umihara Kawase certainly delivers in that aspect. Let's break it down.
The graphics are solid just like any other snes platformer from the mid-nineties era; cutesy, colorful anime stylings and smooth animations that don't suffer from the stop-motion syndrome seen in some japanese games. Umihawra-chan and her fishing line move seamlessly through the various interconnected levels using semi-realistic physics.
Which brings us to the meat and potatoes of this game, the gameplay. You control our appropriately named female protagonist. and basically make your way through the various multi-platform levels using nothing but your fishing line and a the good old jump button. The goal is always to make your way to the level's exit door while avoiding falling into the water or getting hit by enemies, which is no small feat since one hit is fatal. However, what makes this game unique is the maneuverability and versatility of the fishing line. It can clamp on to any anything it touches (acts as an attack against enemies, which stuns them and you can them reel them in and Umihara will store them in her backpack for points) and you can control its length via the d-pad and even swing around to a certain extent. It's a lot like Bionic Commando's arm, but the fishing line is surprisingly (and not) more versatile in the fluid and intuitive way it responds. After a few minutes of immersion, using the line to hook onto nearby platforms will feel like second nature. Of course, Umihara herself is a lot harder to maneuver through the levels without having a good grasp of the fishing line's physics. Her jump just isn't high enough to get her across most gaps. It's a great platformer in that there are various ways to tackle any level (and I'm sure there are some daredevils out there who can pull off innovative ways of using the fishing line to breeze through some levels)
The music is cute, catchy and very Japanese in feel. Anime/Jrpg fans will feel right at home with the bgm for this game. It kinda reminds me of the music for Lunar and Falcom games like Legend of Heroes and the Ys series.Over-all, this is an excellent platformer for gamers of any level - from the hardcore types to the casual players. It's quite a challenge going through the multi-platform levels and many of them require quite a bit of creativity and some luck to pass through unharmed. There are no continues and a limited number of lives available. Lucky for us, there are emulators and savestates nowadays ;). Also, this game was never released outside of Japan, but some fans have released an unofficial translation patch for the game (for what minimal text there is).
