Acquisition Time with The Gay Gamer™: Umihara Kawase Shun (PlayStation)

So, you know how I told you a few weeks back that I bought a bunch of (mostly retro) Japanese games via eBay shortly after Christmas? Well, the game you see below was part of that mighty haul.

You're all well aware of Umihara Kawase Shun, right? Especially after reading last week's "Which Box Art is Better" post? If not, all you really need to know about it is that it's the sequel to a two-dimensional Super Famicom-based platformer that stars a girl with a pink backpack and a fishing pole.

Oh, and that girl, the titular Umihara Kawase, uses the latter accessory to grapple onto ledges and even swing from them, Bionic Commando-style.

It's all rather awesome, of course, which is why I've been meaning to pick it up for ages. The only thing that's kept me from doing so until recently: the prices copies tend to fetch on line (generally upwards of $50, although copies of the "Second Edition" can go for a lot more).



The copy you see in the photos above and below, though, was quite a bit cheaper than average, though, so naturally I snapped it up as soon as I was able.

With that out of the way, Umihara Kawase Shun's cover art is pretty great, don't you think? I especially like that its watercolor-esque sheen. The back page of the game's manual (above) is nice, too, with the plucky protagonist using her trusty fishing pole to swing from her own name.

Last, but not least, there's the actual game disc (below), which displays a subtle attractiveness not unlike that of the aforementioned cover art.



If after reading what I've written here you'd like to learn a bit more about the Umihara Kawase series (and you should), I'd highly recommend reading its Hardcore Gaming 101 entry and watching this (translated) episode of GameCenter CX at your earliest convenience.

Note: I recently decided to change the title of this series of posts from "Acquisition #123" to "Acquisition Time with The Gay Gamer™" because, well, I've worried for a while now that the original name could be considered kind of off-putting. The replacement was inspired by the "Adventure Time" TV series, by the way, and the ™ was tossed into the mix because everything looks more professional with a ™ symbol attached to it.

Let's Play: 'Which Box Art is Better?' (Umihara Kawase edition)

Now that Sayonara Umihara Kawase's box art has been unveiled (I came across it yesterday on NeoGAF), I thought it would be a good idea to dedicate a "Which Box Art is Better?" post to this vaunted series of platformers.

Before we get to the cover art that's been created for the newest Umihara Kawase title, which will be released this summer for the 3DS, let's check out the covers that came before it.

For starters, here's the illustration that was used on the original Super Famicom release (which hit the streets in Japan all the way back in 1994):



Three years later, Umihara Kawase Shun was released for the PlayStation, with the following piece of art gracing that version's packaging:

Strangely, Umihara Kawase Shun features between-stage commercials for a company called Mitchell. They were replaced (with pieces of illustrator Toshinobu Kondo's artwork) in a "Second Edition" of the game that saw the light of day in 2000. Here is that iteration's box art:

Fast forward eight years and you encounter Umihara Kawase Portable, a supposedly bug-riddled port of Umihara Kawase Shun:

That was followed a year later by Umihara Kawase Shun Kanzenban, a DS cart that contained both the Super Famicom and PlayStation titles as well as a handful of additional stages. Thankfully, it's reported to be bug-free.

Finally, we come to the recently announced Sayonara Umihara Kawase, a full-on sequel that's being developed by the same folks who made the series' initial offerings. Its cover art can be seen below.

Which piece of Umihara Kawase box art is my favorite? The one produced for the original pressing of Umihara Kawase Shun, no question. That said, I'm also pretty fond of the covers made for the Super Famicom and PSP releases.

I'm not much of a fan of Sayonara Umihara Kawase's cover art, sadly. It's by no means terrible, mind you, but it's also kind of boring--in my opinion, at least. Of course, all of the creations seen above are variations on a rather ho-hum theme, aren't they?

Now that I've had my say, what do all of you think? Do you prefer one example of Umihara Kawase box art over another?

See also: previous 'Which Box Art is Better?' posts

I'm going to be all over Sayonara Umihara Kawase like white on rice this summer

For those of you who are, like, "sayonara what?"--Umihara Kawase is a wonderfully unique platformer that was created by "developer Kiyoshi Sakai, illustrator Toshinobu Kondo and several others," according to the game's Wikipedia page, and published by a company called TNN for the Super Famicom in 1994.

A sequel of sorts was released for the PlayStation in 1997--which was later ported (rather shabbily, it seems) to the PSP in 2008. Oh, and a DS version containing both the Super Famicom original and the PlayStation follow-up hit store shelves--only in Japan, of course--in 2009.

Anyway, Umihara Kawase stars a Japanese school girl who, for some reason unbeknownst to me, has to make her way through a series of water-filled stages while avoiding various sea creatures such as tottering fish and gigantic, bouncing tadpoles. She does this, mostly, by using her trusty fishing rod and line to both reel in stunned baddies (which she places in her pink backpack) and swing between platforms.

If all that sounds a bit odd, well, it is--but it's also charming and exhilarating and even pull-out-your-hair tough.

As you probably can tell, I'm a big fan of these games--the one that started it all, especially--and, given that, I was beyond excited to learn yesterday afternoon that a new entry in this series is coming to the Japanese 3DS this summer.

The game will be called Sayonara Umihara Kawase, according to the latest issue of Famitsu, and apparently it will be an all-new game (as opposed to another compilation of the Super Famicom and PlayStation titles a la the DS iteration).

Other than that, though, all that's known about Sayonara Umihara Kawase is it will cost 4,980 yen and it is being made by the same team that made the first two titles.

Assuming the finished product looks OK, I'm planning to pick up a copy as soon as it's available. I know that's not an option for every 3DS fan, though, so here's hoping some bold company brings it to the rest of the world sooner rather than later.

(News via tinycartridge.com, images via sufamithoughts.com)

Ashley Davis x Umihara Kawase

I've been meaning to publish a post about the following illustration for ages, but all of you fellow bloggers know how it is: Other things have popped up since it first caught my attention and served to push it down my longer-than-I'd-like-to-admit "to publish" list.

Anyway, enough about that. The point of this post is to shed some light on an awesome, game-inspired illustration, so let's get to it.

The awesome illustration in question (below and here) was produced by the similarly awesome Ashley Davis, by the way.



So, why am I all hot and bothered by Davis' drawing? Because it focuses on a couple of characters from one of my favorite games from the 16-bit and 32-bit eras, TNN's Umihara Kawase.

For those of you who've never heard of this gem of a game (which has been released for the DS, PlayStation, PSP and Super Famicom), here's Davis' short-but-sweet description of it: "Umihara Kawase is Bionic Commando if Rad had a bouncy fishing line instead of a robotic arm. It’s super hard, but incredibly fun!"

Not enough info for you? Check out this article at Hardcore Gaming 101.

I'd also suggest you check out Davis' tumblog, No Marios Allowed!, if you haven't done so in a while--especially if you're a fan of Bubble Bobble, Flicky, Mappy, Mischief Makers and No More Heroes.

(Via tinycartridge.com)