A 3D action game starring taiko drum-wielding tanuki boy Bakeru, who assumes the form of a human, going on a journey to save Japan from the clutches of a festival army led by the notorious Oracle Saitaro.
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Sehr schade, dass dieses Spiel wohl nicht mehr außerhalb von Japan erscheinen wird. Das erste Spiel, was Goof Feel selber published und es ist Good Feel in Reinform. Ein 3D Collectathon mit relativsimplen Mechaniken aber unendlich viel Charme im Leveldesign und der gesamten Optik. Umso trauriger dass aufgrund der fehlenden Lokalisierung und dadurch bloß Japanischen Texte ein Collectible für uns quasi verloren. Das Spiel ist eine Reise quer durch Japan und bietet zu jedem Ort Fakten zum einsammeln, welche Menschen ohne Japanischkentnisse leider verborgen bleiben.
Bakeru is a fun platformer but one that never really wows or perfects anything it does, instead it's pretty alright. I wish they'd just put the time they put into making 60 levels into instead halving that list and making each one feel more memorable, because the slog that the number of levels psychologically and tonally creates is honestly the worst thing about the game, everything else is pretty good but hopefully the seemingly poor sales don't kill the chances of a sequel.
P.S. Also technically unrelated to game design but the performance is abysmal. Worse than Scarlet and Violet but at least those games have a fantastic game lying underneath the issues, Bakeru is just a very slightly above average platformer. I played on an overclocked Switch which was 1.5x faster than a standard Switch and it still 90% of the time ran at 20FPS or lower. Plus lots of input drops which don't just happen at inconvenient times but all the time.
P.P.S. I played through this using Team Oceanic's fantastic fantastic fan translation which I would highly recommend if you are interested in checking this game out.
P.S. Also technically unrelated to game design but the performance is abysmal. Worse than Scarlet and Violet but at least those games have a fantastic game lying underneath the issues, Bakeru is just a very slightly above average platformer. I played on an overclocked Switch which was 1.5x faster than a standard Switch and it still 90% of the time ran at 20FPS or lower. Plus lots of input drops which don't just happen at inconvenient times but all the time.
P.P.S. I played through this using Team Oceanic's fantastic fantastic fan translation which I would highly recommend if you are interested in checking this game out.
I adore this. Everything is lively and colorful, there were so many times where I'd stop progressing through a level to take it all in.
Speaking of levels there's a lot more than I thought there'd be, but the different gameplay styles really help keep things fresh! It's an easy game but I didn't mind at all. Plus I feel like those hidden tanukis you find in certain levels sorta made up for it, most of them were tricky to find!
I also love the way levels are completed in this game. Switching between the L and R buttons to use your drumsticks to restore the calamity towers and hearing that little jingle at the end never got old and always brought a smile to my face. One of my only gripes are the occasional framedrops. It can chug when there's a lot on screen, but other than that this is fantastic.
I played this with the english fan translation patch which was nice to have. Manifesting a localization announcement during the Nintendo Partner Showcase tomorrow because more people should check this out!
EDIT: Looks like it wasn't there... maybe next time Bakerubros
Speaking of levels there's a lot more than I thought there'd be, but the different gameplay styles really help keep things fresh! It's an easy game but I didn't mind at all. Plus I feel like those hidden tanukis you find in certain levels sorta made up for it, most of them were tricky to find!
I also love the way levels are completed in this game. Switching between the L and R buttons to use your drumsticks to restore the calamity towers and hearing that little jingle at the end never got old and always brought a smile to my face. One of my only gripes are the occasional framedrops. It can chug when there's a lot on screen, but other than that this is fantastic.
I played this with the english fan translation patch which was nice to have. Manifesting a localization announcement during the Nintendo Partner Showcase tomorrow because more people should check this out!
EDIT: Looks like it wasn't there... maybe next time Bakerubros
this is a ps2 game
it's not really doing anything special, it's pretty janky and starts to drag near the end but the level design is solid and i found it pretty charming and fun overall
it's not really doing anything special, it's pretty janky and starts to drag near the end but the level design is solid and i found it pretty charming and fun overall
This review contains spoilers
Gotta hand it to Good-Feel. Their art and music are best in class. Yoshi’s Crafted World and this game, yessh! Not sure I could name 10 prettier 3D platformers than either of them.
Mameda no Bakeru in particular, the animations and levels are artistically rich with cute detail, and everything has punch rivaling New Donk City and the best stuff in 3D World.
Oh yeah, and making a platformer where each level is based on a real life place in Japan? Brilliant idea, and I love the mix of real world and cartoon design. Hot spring level! Pool level! Katamari-esque Escape from the City level! Mameda no Bakeru has 5-star ideas, and every so often it actually manages to execute on those ideas. The “run really fast through a level like you’re in a racing game” level here, for example, WIPES THE FLOOR with the Mario Kart levels in newer Mario 3D platformers. At moments, MnB approaches brilliance.
But there’s just a little too much holding it back, something I feel is common in Good-Feel games. MnB is a Kirby/3D Land-style collectathon platformer with light beat em up elements where you play as a Tanuki boy who attacks via taiko drumsticks. Sick, right? It is!
But as GF games tend to be, there are a lot of levels (which is good) and they can go really long. In addition, the combat is a little too brainless at times and not balanced particularly well around the (fun) power ups you unlock through initial boss fights. As in, the big fists you get can 1-2 shot most giant enemies in the game. The level design is good, great at times even (think 3D World/Forgotten Land/Sackboy PS5 but the levels are way wider and chiller, almost like Astro Bot but even more so) but the difficulty doesn’t escalate much and everything just drags a bit under the slow pace. Doesn’t help that MnB gets super framey in TV mode.
But I still love a lot about it. There are tons of new level concepts and ideas introduced constantly, bosses are fun, it’s cute, and despite a lack of difficulty escalation I had a lot of fun. I would just recommend blasting/rushing through once the game starts to drag (if you’re not a completionist).
First import game I beat!
Mameda no Bakeru in particular, the animations and levels are artistically rich with cute detail, and everything has punch rivaling New Donk City and the best stuff in 3D World.
Oh yeah, and making a platformer where each level is based on a real life place in Japan? Brilliant idea, and I love the mix of real world and cartoon design. Hot spring level! Pool level! Katamari-esque Escape from the City level! Mameda no Bakeru has 5-star ideas, and every so often it actually manages to execute on those ideas. The “run really fast through a level like you’re in a racing game” level here, for example, WIPES THE FLOOR with the Mario Kart levels in newer Mario 3D platformers. At moments, MnB approaches brilliance.
But there’s just a little too much holding it back, something I feel is common in Good-Feel games. MnB is a Kirby/3D Land-style collectathon platformer with light beat em up elements where you play as a Tanuki boy who attacks via taiko drumsticks. Sick, right? It is!
But as GF games tend to be, there are a lot of levels (which is good) and they can go really long. In addition, the combat is a little too brainless at times and not balanced particularly well around the (fun) power ups you unlock through initial boss fights. As in, the big fists you get can 1-2 shot most giant enemies in the game. The level design is good, great at times even (think 3D World/Forgotten Land/Sackboy PS5 but the levels are way wider and chiller, almost like Astro Bot but even more so) but the difficulty doesn’t escalate much and everything just drags a bit under the slow pace. Doesn’t help that MnB gets super framey in TV mode.
But I still love a lot about it. There are tons of new level concepts and ideas introduced constantly, bosses are fun, it’s cute, and despite a lack of difficulty escalation I had a lot of fun. I would just recommend blasting/rushing through once the game starts to drag (if you’re not a completionist).
First import game I beat!
It may not completely scratch the Goemon itch on a gameplay front. This is more of an action brawler instead of a rpg light platformer. But the creativity on display is commendable to say the least. The way they take each Japanese prefecture and break down the culture into action stages is really neat to see. It's very much a quality product and I hope good feel are planning on making this a full fledged franchise. Maybe with an fully open 3D world ;) .