Okay, so: Remember those old mazes you could get as a kid where you'd have to navigate a metal stick through a metal maze and if you hit the sides you got a little shock? And how it was weirdly addicting despite being way too hard for little kids? I had one of those that literally came with a headband that had bells attached to it so if you messed up it would set the bells off and make your whole head rattle. I have no idea how it made it past product testing because it probably gave some poor kids actual head trauma. If anyone reading this knows what I'm talking about let me know because I've been trying to find this thing online for ages and I can't remember the name of it.
Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because Kurukuru Kururin is basically one of those games but with a little more depth and a very charming visual presentation. You're still a stick trying to avoid hitting the edges, but the gimmick is that the stick rotates either clockwise or counterclockwise - you can also hit springs spread out throughout the level to change the rotation. It has a little bit of a learning cuvre, but once you get the hang of timing the stick movement to coincide with juuuust the right angle to make it through a curved path, it's pretty dang satisfying.
Also, the visuals and aesthetic in this game add a lot to it. Your character is a cute little bird in a silly little airship and you're going around saving your lost siblings. The music is catchy and the pastel visuals are easy on the eyes.
However, a massive caveat for anyone playing this game: it gets fucking hard. I went into this thinking "well, the art style is clearly kid-friendly, I have to imagine they leave the actually hard stuff for the postgame, right?" Folks, I was wrong. The last two worlds in the main campaign got so stressful that I nearly stopped playing (and honestly, that's the only reason I'm giving this 3.5 instead of 4). By the end of the game I was still glad I played it but you'd have to pay me to get perfects in every stage to unlock the postgame content.
Kurukuru Kururin is a game of contrasts: It is simultaneously a pleasant romp through colorful worlds and a hell game designed by Satan from which no one can escape. If nothing else, I would say give it a shot on the GBA NSO if you enjoy a puzzle game that's easy to pick up but hard to master.
Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because Kurukuru Kururin is basically one of those games but with a little more depth and a very charming visual presentation. You're still a stick trying to avoid hitting the edges, but the gimmick is that the stick rotates either clockwise or counterclockwise - you can also hit springs spread out throughout the level to change the rotation. It has a little bit of a learning cuvre, but once you get the hang of timing the stick movement to coincide with juuuust the right angle to make it through a curved path, it's pretty dang satisfying.
Also, the visuals and aesthetic in this game add a lot to it. Your character is a cute little bird in a silly little airship and you're going around saving your lost siblings. The music is catchy and the pastel visuals are easy on the eyes.
However, a massive caveat for anyone playing this game: it gets fucking hard. I went into this thinking "well, the art style is clearly kid-friendly, I have to imagine they leave the actually hard stuff for the postgame, right?" Folks, I was wrong. The last two worlds in the main campaign got so stressful that I nearly stopped playing (and honestly, that's the only reason I'm giving this 3.5 instead of 4). By the end of the game I was still glad I played it but you'd have to pay me to get perfects in every stage to unlock the postgame content.
Kurukuru Kururin is a game of contrasts: It is simultaneously a pleasant romp through colorful worlds and a hell game designed by Satan from which no one can escape. If nothing else, I would say give it a shot on the GBA NSO if you enjoy a puzzle game that's easy to pick up but hard to master.