Very cute, silly writing that will have you wearing out your screenshot button, and some pretty good feeling platforming. It's interesting the way this sequel solves the need to backtrack by letting you traverse the same environments repeatedly with slight variations. Unfortunately though I think that choice waters down the experience too much and flattens the need to use all 4 characters interchangeably. Truly I think the art style makes this game worthwhile. I wish more games looked like this!

This is nitpicky but I wish the cut scene music didn't exist, that is probably my biggest criticism.

Ufouria/Hebereke 2 was developed by a small team from a new development studio called Tasto Alpha, the heads appear to mostly be Grasshopper Manufacture alumni. From what I can tell this is only their second game, the first being a card-based RPG from last year. The sound director for Ufouria 2 was one of the composers on Godhand, the director was one of several planners on Rule of Rose. The game has a charming aesthetic, great new remixes of tunes from the original game, and a good sense of humor. It's structured less like the "search action" style of the original, and more like a scaled down Amazing Mirror with extremely lite Rogue elements. The game is about 3 hours long and the last chunk is mostly mirrored versions of previous levels.

2 months into 2024, this is the most fun I've had with a new game this year. In fairness, there are a lot of games that I would be unsurprised if I had more fun with them when I eventually play them, and some of those games are already out. Maybe I'll like Infinite Wealth more than this, but I want to play other games in the series first. Maybe I'll like Relink more than this, but when that game launched it wasn't on my radar.

A couple weeks ago Penny's Big Breakaway "shadow dropped". I don't want to be too hard on it, because it's definitely an interesting game, because I think I could reasonably speculate on what could possibly be going on in the games industry climate for them to want to rush a sellable product out the door as soon as possible, and because some of the issues I have with it could be patched. One of the main things I've found myself thinking as I try to make more progress through the game is whether or not I would care about the game's collision issues, audio problems, and general "jank" if it were a PS2 game. Next to the latest Nintendo platformers Breakaway falls a little short, but it's clear sense of style and sheer amount of content for a game of its type would have made it a must-buy a couple decades ago. It's the exact kind of game you could imagine Treasure making if they were still around today, but the standards a lot of players have today are likely part of the reason Treasure's future exists mostly in rumors.

Ufouria 2 is a much easier game than the original, but could a game with those kinds of expectations still appeal to the intended audience of the IP? We're stuck with a classic problem of bringing back a piece of media like this, is it hard enough for returning adult fans while being easy enough for the possible new generation? A longplay of the original NES game is about half the length of my playthrough of the new one; even if the game's semi-random level layouts offer a bit of padding, it's definitely of comparable length, probably just a bit bigger. If Ufouria 2 was an NES game, or a SNES game like the many Japan-only spin-offs, would we remember it? Does Ufouria: The Saga already give us the answer to that question?

Would I recommend Ufouria 2? Do I think you should wait for a sale? These are absurd questions. If enough small teams existed around the world making games of this exact scope that one game like this released every week, I know exactly how I would spend Friday night every weekend. I want shorter games with worse graphics made by people who are paid more to work less. I hope these guys were paid well.

Ufouria 2 is a genre of game that needs its own name. It's a real hollow nothing bullshit kind of game and I don't mean that derogatorily. The game has such a wonderful cast of characters and a beautifully simple aesthetic and all I want is to have a good time with that core appeal. It's what drew me into playing it in the first place. While mechanically the game is shallow, it is very modern philosophically. The different zones are randomly generated on entry which makes them fresh on revisits, which as a metroidvania, happens frequently. Upgrades are dished out at well calculated intervals. It makes me FEEL like I'm progressing. I don't need to master mechanical complexity in every game I play. Sometimes I just want to enjoy an aesthetic, exist in a world, play a role. But doubly, I dont want to be bored by the game. So while these tricks with the progression and level design may seem cheap (and they admittedly are) they serve the ultimate appeal of the game, which is it's charming aesthetic, and they provide the exact amount of satisfaction and engagement (for my monkey brain at least) necessary to make the short run time fulfilling from beginning to end. The newer Yoshi games could learn a lot from this game.

A poem I wrote from da heart of the rose...

My friend (bop louies)... do you fliy away now? to a world that freeons you and i ?

- love lost

I enjoyed the original Hebereke when I played it back in 2022 and I’m glad to say Hebereke 2 delivers. The game tries to be different with the approach to level design going for more of a linear progression with slight differences and a bit of a new level design in some revisits. The game still does lock some levels behind characters you need to unlock or abilities like the original. It’s clear here that a lot of passion was put into this title. It really does respect the original game with how good it feels like this could have been a game from the 90s outside of the graphics. Even the writing and charm is perfect here outside of the whole schtick of video games sure being different nowadays kind of talk. I also really love seeing more conversations, the group can be really funny sometimes. Freeon Leon and Bop Louie from the PAL version of the original even cameo in this game, I don’t even play that version and that got me excited seeing that.

Going into that early, the game graphically is a treat. I adore how this game looks and while it does in some ways hide the budget the game probably has, I appreciate them going for this rather than something like the usual pixel art. I think one of my favorite details was the text boxes and Famicom sprites of the cast being made out of perler beads. The music is pretty good too in its own way. I wouldn’t say it’s better than the original but think of it more as a nice alternative to the OG soundtrack. I will say though that the Switch version has frame drops so be thoughtful of the version you play, I assume it runs better on Steam.

The only real negative I had with Hebereke 2 was the bosses. Look, the original was not hard and that also went for the bosses. I don’t even mind the game being easy because the journey is just so fun and relaxing at times that I can ignore it being easy. This isn’t the case for the bosses as they feel like a huge afterthought especially with the final boss. It’s a shame they weren’t given more interesting ideas but I guess it’s better than being frustrating.

If you want to play a game that’s fun, has really good graphics, isn’t $40, isn’t using bland 3D graphics and is a remake of a Famicom game, Hebereke 2 is not a bad choice to play. I will say though that you will probably enjoy it all that much if you didn’t care for the original. If you haven’t played the original, I’d recommend loading it on an emulator or waiting for the new rerelease coming this month to Switch to give the Famicom game a try. While the game isn’t $40, it’s still a $25 game and for how short the game is, that will probably be a tough sell for anyone that wasn’t a fan of the original game. I feel like my rating of Hebereke 2 might be too high but for me, I just had a lot of fun playing it and I’m glad it was worth the wait, glad to see Sunsoft return and hope they continue to make more cool games.

Also please Sunsoft, remake Wing of Madoola I’m BEGGING!!

Ufouria 2 priomises at once to be a remake and a sequel to a cute not well-known Metroidvania from 1991. And... It's neither, actually.
I'm a little confused about what this game is trying to be, but I believe the answer to its strange nature is simple: developers had basically no budget.

Ufouria 2 feels like a sequel to Kirby's Dream Land 3 with incrimental gameplay. You have a hub which leads into multiple levels, some splitting into a few more, and throughout you basically just collect coins and cans. Doing that will stock vending machines allowing you to buy more collectibles and upgrades.

This game is short if you beeline the story and grindy otherwise, asking you to go through the same levels again and again. Granted, levels are somewhat random: taking pre-made chunks and rearranging them, but that doesn't make them feel that different on each time you enter.

What saves this game is its absolutely amazing atmosphere: cute graphics mixed with a lot of 4koma-like dialogue really make this game better than its gameplay would.

It's a cute title, but I wouldn't recommend buying it at asking price. My adventure was over at around 3 hours, and even if I were to grind out the last things I doubt I haven't seen much. Even going through the game normally it falls apart in the last 20% or so by reusing levels and for whatever reason presenting them as new.

It's charming, and I've enjoyed my time with it, but it is a mess.