Bop Louie, a humble hero. Where his Japanese counterpart takes the glory of the "Hebe"reke series, Bop relinquishes the title to the sheer joy that comes from the trusted group of four. Even within the saga itself, an experience in a genre which demands traversal, while Bop Louie may command the speediest playstyle, most relevant abilities are signature to the others. Bop Louie will never morph into the whirling machine of powers and chaos that so many other protagonists in this space delve into. He looks temptation in the eye and responds "No, I say to you. My friends are my strength, and without them I am no better than the very monsters I seek to overcome".

Shades, despite drawing on motifs associated with confident characters of the time period, lacks this sheer willpower. A fragile ego, Bop Louie sugarcoats his abilities as "you can jump very high" despite Shades' athletics being focused on travelling farther, a necessary concession to give to a friend incapable of acting without appearing the most talented in the room. Even with such insecurities, a second side to Shades shines through when using his secret attack, a cartoonish slapstick move in which he draws strength by exposing his true face to the world. This struggle to be taken seriously, even when most wouldn't mind either way, is eternally relatable, and perhaps alludes to some of Sunsoft's own catalog. For what illuminates this conflict better than Trip World's grandiose opening of two puffballs fighting over a flower, only to follow this up with a middling Kirby effigy? And yet, Shades persists in both the Japanese and European versions of the saga, a global superstar loved by all except himself.

Gil, another constant to each retelling of this experience, has remained not out of love but out of indifference. An aquatic denizen with an unflattering image, they fit in both Hebereke's esoteric cutesiness and Ufouria's cartoony coolness, but are at home in neither. Tossed around unceremoniously through rip currents, their boons of fast travel to the team will never be recognized. But Gil never loses sight of themself, even in their most lonely hour. For when there is a task to be done, shouldering the burden for the rest of the team is enough.

Freeon Leon. A name powerful enough to persist well beyond the scope of the world of Ufouria. A trailblazer who challenges frigid wastes and stormy seas without a hint of fear. Much has been said of her declaration to the world, "im freeon leon". But can you even comprehend what it means to stake ones claim in such a mighty existence? To feel every ton of weight that Freeon Leon handles during her legendary journey? Well, there is only one way to possibly perceive the breadth that legacy.

And that is to submerge yourself in true ufouria.

One of the weirdest localizations of all time. Like I know why they made Totally Rad, I understand that. What was the value of turning a penguin into a Funko Pop? Unknown. Freon Leon is an all-time good character name though.

Anyway the game's fine, but mainly held together by charm. The english script has an unbelievably terse quality that makes me smile everytime, and the characters are all lovely to look at. But it's like, it's fine right? It's just pretty much fine. Like it's no Castlevania 2 alright? One of the weird things about the pacing is that there's no health upgrades until the back third of the game at which point you get a bunch at once and have no hope of efficiently filling them. Mostly, the game's not too tough, but there's some tricky bits and you have to go back to one specific point when you die. And also it's a password system but listen. It's 2024 I didn't have to deal with that. I honestly feel like I'll like the new one better! Not planning to find out any time soon though. I have a lot of games to play and it's like 30 bucks.