Presented in Retrovision: Umihara Kawase
This week I've decided to talk about one of the more bizarre cult classic titles I've ever played. Thanks to the invention of console emulation, I have been able to experience titles that would otherwise be problematic to locate. Included in this roster are obscure, limited release games that barely even impacted the Asia market. Often these games were promotional titles for game shows, or as advertising for products that advertisers wanted to sell. Of these obscure single serving games is the title quintessential obscure cult classic, Umihara Kawase.
Umihara Kawase was created by a mostly unknown game development house called TNN, and published by the Japanese television studio NHK. Very little is known as to who TNN was, what they did. In fact, with the exception of Umihara Kawase, they never produced anything of merit. The title is a fluke in the video game publishing world. Umihara Kawase is a girl, somewhere in her early teens, wearing a pink backpack, orange shorts and a blue button up over a black t-shirt. Who she is, what she does, and just about any background story for her is essentially non-existent.
Umihara Kawase is, however, one of the single most bizarre and enjoyable platformers that I have ever played for the Super Famicom. The game takes place in a surreal world featuring forgettable music, pop-art style graphics and surreal environments. The graphics consist of large, digital photos of things like fruit and pixelated country sides, covered by foliage and brightly colored checkered platforms. The goal is simply to try to find the exit as quickly as possible, while avoiding death.
So far, it would seem that Umihara Kawase is a simple platformer, until you realise how you have to get around. Umihara Kawase has the limited ability to jump, walk left and right. Thankfully, in her pink bag she has a fishing pole with some of the sturdiest, springiest fishing line imaginable. Umihara can cast this line Bionic Commando-style to attach to ledges, to climb walls or to avoid falls. The unbreakable line acts much like a pendulum on a rubber band, springing and slinging little Umihara across the landscape so she can get, well, somewhere.
Umihara navigates these levels to find doors, which are conspicuously located in random locations around a level. Each level may contain several doors, providing a large branching universe with no predefined path to the end of the game. As I mentioned before, this world is filled with various deadly fiends out to stop Umihara Kawase from reaching her goal. The game has an underlying marine tone, as all of the monsters are fish. Even Kawase's name (umi = sea, hara = belly, kawa = river, se = back) is a reference to a classic Japanese saying: "Fish of the sea are fat in the belly, freshwater fish are fat in the back".
Umihara Kawase is difficult. Any mildly aggressive character can kill the poor girl with a single touch, and often the game requires expert acrobatics to find the simplest of exits. Often, simply missing a single shot will send Kawase plummeting to her doom. Veteran players make this look easy, using Umihara's fishing line to make impossible looking jumps and slingshot-ing themselves across floors to help build momentum. Fortunately, this is offset by the game's terribly short game play. A single play though can take a little as 20 minutes for an inexperienced player, and less than 10 for veterans.
After it's release, Umihara Kawase was not well received. It's presence was almost invisible. Eventually TNN folded and was purchased by Japan Clary Business, which changed their name to Jack Pot. Attempting to build some ad revenue and turn some profit off the TNN IP, Jack Pot created Umihara Kawase Syun for the Sony Playstation. The game offered the same 2d game play, now rendered with higher quality backgrounds and 3d platforms. The physics were changed slightly, and entirely new levels were added that focused more on the acrobatics of the fishing line rather than avoiding monsters. Included in this version is the addition of a few comical advertisements between certain levels for Mitchell fishing equipment. This version was later ported to the PSP with changes to the perspective and physics, though it was panned by critics and fans alike for it's buggy engine and now broken levels.
The Umihara Kawase franchise was not a hit by any means, but it provided for a unique experience. It is easy to just sit down for an afternoon, play for a few hours, and move along feeling perfectly satisfied. The quirky game play is really what sells the game, and, after performing your first multi-part jump, you really feel as if you have accomplished something important, no matter how trivial it may seem in the long run. It saddens me that the game was resurrected, only to be dealt such a grave injustice. This is a game I feel that everyone must try at least once, in it's original glory.
Screen shots cannot do this game justice, so rather than the typical gallery I am including a fast, acrobatic, non-tool-assisted video for your enjoyment. For those of you wanting a quick (but bitter) taste of Umihara Kawase, feel free to try the demo of the PSP version at PSP Fanboy. This will give you some indicator of how the game works, but it is by far the worst version I've ever played.
Asterick
Posted to Hot Stuff, Video Games on 20 June 2008
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