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By Manuel  Players: 1 Platforms: Nintendo Switch, XBox, PlayStation 5, PC Hebereke, known in the West as Ufouria: The Saga, is finally getting a sequel after over thirty years! If that sentence means nothing to you, don't worry, I'll eventually explain it later on in this review. What matters though is that said sequel, titled Ufouria: The Saga 2, is coming to current consoles by way of legendary developer Sunsoft, and publisher Red Art Games. This quirky Metroidvania game is funny, chill, and totally off the wall all at once. We're going to take a closer look at the Nintendo Switch version to see if this new game lives up to its legacy, or it's best left in the past. Strap yourselves in because this one is going to get pretty wild. This is a game that stars a butt-bouncing penguin after all!
One day in the world of Ufouria, our hero Hebe is enjoying a lazy afternoon when his peace is disturbed by a spaceship that crashes in his backyard. Going to investigate, he finds a rather aggressive alien named Utsujin who speaks a lot of nonsense about invading the world. His plans to do so involve the use of invasive slimy creatures known as Bumyons. Hebe points out that these Bumyons resemble the native Popoons of Ufouria. (Silly words I know, but they'll come up again, so remember them!) Utsujin takes off before much else can be learned about his plans, but he does succeed in scattering Bumyons all over the place. Since Hebe can't really decide what his next move is, he decides to visit his friends for help. Unfortunately his friends have all been possessed by the powers of the Bumyons. Defeating them is easy with the help of Popoons though, and Hebe soon reunites with his friends O-chan, Sukezaemon, and Jennifer. Together they decide that the only course of action is to find Utsujin, and stop him once and for all. While this story might sound ridiculous to the extreme, it's made especially so when you realize that our four heroes are an albino penguin, a girl dressed in a cat suit, a literal ghost, and a green anglerfish. A bit too silly or not, this is a really fun game. Through the course of the adventure you learn more about the quartet, reveal Utsujin's true motives, and even get to encounter side characters like the family of birds that fly you back home at the end of levels, and the helpful worker who restocks the vending machines scattered throughout the world. This isn't a game for those looking for a serious take on the genre, but it has a certain charm to it that is impossible to describe unless you play it. Ufouria 2 doesn't offer a deep story by any means, but it does make up for it in terms of gameplay.
Before we move on, I want to talk a bit about the background of this game. I think it's important to give some context behind the series as a whole, and Sunsoft themselves, in order to understand the winding road that brought us Ufouria 2. Sunsoft is a company that's well-known to retro gaming fans as they're the developers behind several classic games, not the least of which are the Blaster Master series, the NES Batman games, several 8/16-bit licensed titles that were actually good, and even the late 90s re-releases of the Game Boy Final Fantasy titles. They also released a game known as Hebereke in 1991 for the Famicom/NES. Originally only a Japanese release, it eventually came to Europe in a slightly altered and censored form as Ufouria: The Saga. While we'd definitely call this something more akin to a Metroidvania today, at the time it was seen as something of a combination of the Blaster Master gameplay formula mixed with the US version of Super Mario Bros. 2. It wouldn't release in the US at this time, but it quickly became a cult classic for retro game enthusiasts due to its unique gameplay mechanics and humor. The Hebereke series would live on throughout the 90s/early 2000s in Japan (and sometimes Europe) as a series of spin-off titles that tended to mainly be in the puzzle game genre. Meanwhile, Sunsoft as a company went through a lot of shakeups during this same period, and nearly dissolved. To be honest, I thought that they did dissolve at this time, and I was actually surprised to learn that they never truly left the gaming scene. They apparently had a hand in release of the newer Blaster Master titles, and obviously have revived the Hebereke series with this sequel. While I'm not sure exactly how close the modern Sunsoft is to the original, I am glad to see that they seem to be moving in the right direction when it comes to reviving some of their dormant franchises. Anyway, with that history lesson out of the way, let's talk more about Ufouria: The Saga 2! Ufouria 2 is both a very simple game, and a surprisingly complex one at the same time. At its core it's a platformer, but you'll also be using the aforementioned Popoons to be doing a lot of the action. By default you are able to summon one Popoon at a time, and they're used to either stun enemies or two defeat Bumyons. It's best to throw them as accurately as you can as they take a while to respawn if you drop them on accident, or miss a throw. Every boss in the game is possessed by a Bumyon, so your first action against them will always be to hit them with a Popoon so you can actually damage them. Bumyons will also block your path, and any Bumyon can be defeated instantly with a single Popoon. Things work a little differently against enemies and bosses though, as Popoons will only stun them after their Bumyon has been defeated. Stunning enemies is important though as there are some enemies and bosses that can only be hurt after they're first stunned. Your main line offense actually doesn't come from the Popoons though, but by performing a butt bounce. It's best to always keep this in mind as simply jumping on an enemy will most likely cause you to take damage instead. Speaking of that, you can take up to three hits by default, and have three lives to complete any of the game's stages. Lives and health refill if you return back to Hebe's home, and all of the stats I've mentioned so far (Popoons, health, even the butt bounce itself), can be altered by purchasing upgrades at the vending machine.
The vending machine is probably the single most important item of the game, as it sells all the items needed to progress. This items include things like treasure maps, extra platforms, a mine cart to get through the mines quicker, coins that let you challenge bosses again, and items that permanently upgrade a character's skills, just to name a few. You purchase items by using coins you pick up throughout the world, but you're only able to keep the coins you get by completing an area and returning back to Hebe's house. If you lose all your lives while on an adventure, you are returned to Hebe's house with half of the coins you collected. Simply having coins isn't enough though, as new items only restock at certain points in the game. Also, they're often not available to purchase right away. You first have to collect enough Utsu-cans in order for the item to be properly in-stock and purchasable. These Utsu-cans are special collectables that you can find within each level, but you'll have to replay each of them multiple times in order to find them all. While there are dozens of items to purchase from the vending machine, you never have to worry about figuring out what a purchased item will do because a cut scene will play after each one that explains its use. Lastly, all of this technically only applies to the vending machine found outside of Hebe's house. The other vending machines in the game can only be found before boss rooms, and only sell healing items. Those healing items are all instant-use, and aren't able to be stockpiled. It's a system that probably sounds fairly complicated on paper, but works really well in keeping the game along in a consistent fashion. If you ever feel like you're stuck and not sure how to progress, you can almost definitely find a way forward via the vending machine. Vending machines aside, the other important aspect of the game has to be the four character rotation system. Each of Hebe's companions have to be defeated in order to join him, and then you have to purchase a vending machine item in order to make them usable. Once all this is done, you're able to switch to them at any time with the shoulder buttons. The biggest factor to where you're able to go will be what character you're using. Items do change things up a lot too, but the characters, and their upgradable skills, are what will make further exploration possible. Each character has their own special ability, and you'll often have to change between them all to clear each area. Hebe is the all-around "normal" character who eventually gets the ability to climb walls. O-chan is able to swim across bodies of water, but only on the surface. Sukezaemon is very floaty on account of being a ghost, but this means that his jump operates more like a hover, allowing him to cross wider gaps. Jennifer can also swim like O-chan, but she can also dive underwater. They all have most of the other abilities across each other, such as being able to throw Popoons or do a butt bounce, but I'm not really sure if they're able to perform all actions in exactly the same way. This may just be me overthinking things, but I always felt like Jennifer's butt bounce was the most unreliable. I'd tend to rely on Hebe more for that, but then switch to Sukezaemon for most of the platforming. O-chan felt rather useless as her abilities were quickly superseded by Jennifer, but she also felt the tightest to control. This is all probably something just in my head, but I couldn't help but think it throughout my time with the game. Another cool feature of this mechanic is that characters will often interrupt gameplay to give you an item they found, perform an attack, or simply ask for you to give them a turn to play. This is a funny little addition, even if it does crowd the screen a bit at times.
Levels in Ufouria 2 are a rather strange bunch. Most of them are fairly short, but they're also different each time you go into them. This is because they're all procedurally generated, and you can expect things to be fairly different each time you enter them. This comes into play big time when collecting Utsu-cans, as you'll have to play some levels over and over again to get enough to unlock certain vending machine items. You're never able to collect everything in a stage in one go, but thankfully the (purchasable at the vending machine) map at Hebe's house shows the items left to collect in each area. This entire collecting mechanic is actually less grindy than it seems, as the levels often change enough so you don't really notice the repetition. Hebe's house is also the central point of the Ufouria world, and that means that you'll have to go through previously completed areas in order to get to later ones. This could become repetitive if not for the fact that you eventually do unlock a fast travel option. The core gameplay loop revolves around exploring a new area, learning you need a new skill/item to go somewhere else, collect the cans and coins needed to get said item, and then go to the new area to begin the process again. A Metroidvania basically, but with a lot more platforming and light RPG elements thrown in for good measure. The cool thing about this system is that you can tackle areas you're more familiar with to get those necessary Utsu-cans. Don't like that the tight camera placement makes the jumping difficulty in stages like Horizon Tree? Well just go to the mines or forest instead! The gameplay loop is really fun, and the near constant upgrades mean that you'll always have something to work towards. Putting Ufouria 2 into a genre is more than a little difficult, but it's definitely the most laid-back Metroidvania game you're likely to ever play!
Enough about gameplay, let's talk visuals. One thing you'll notice instantly about Ufouria 2's graphics is that they have an arts and crafts look similar to games like Yoshi's Wooly World or Kirby's Epic Yarn. Everything looks like it was cut out of felt, made using popsicle sticks and colored paper, or just generally hand drawn or painted. It's quite the impressive visual style, and it permeates everything. It even meshes well with the characters and occasional sprite-based graphics. Speaking of which, I really loved the design of the main cast, and they all come to life via their smooth animations. Even things like Hebe drinking out of his toilet, or O-chan throwing a temper tantrum, look so great that I didn't mind how weird they were. There's also nice touches like the game's title screen smoothly bringing you into the game without a screen change or a cut. All of this makes Ufouria 2 look more like a AAA Nintendo first-party release rather than the indie game it is. While the world and characters look awesome, I do have to admit that the attention to detail doesn't really translate to the game's enemies. Both standard level enemies, as well as the non-main bosses, have a very generic look to them. Besides the birds that poop on you at a moment's notice, there wasn't a single enemy that stood out to me. There were many times that I sort of forgot this game even had enemies because they were just sort of there. This might be down to the procedurally generated nature not being able to process complex enemy placement, but more enemies that looked unique or imposing would've really helped the game. I love the visuals of Ufouria 2, but I think they fall just slightly short of perfection. One thing that really made classic Sunsoft games stand out from the crowd was their amazing soundtracks. While I can't speak for all their recent releases, I can say that Ufouria 2 keeps that tradition alive. I should mention that a lot of the music seems to be arranged versions of the original game's soundtrack, but the sheer amount of tracks here means that there definitely has to be a lot of new additions thrown into the mix too. Remixed or not, all the music sounds great and has a particular retro-ness to it that still manages to sound perfectly modern too. Describing the music is a bit more difficult, but you can expect most of it to be as silly as the game itself is. The main theme that plays whenever a cutscene happens has been stuck in my head the entire time I've been writing this review, and I'm not complaining about that one bit. Seeing as the music from the original Ufouria is so well-loved, already-existing fans will have an easy point of reference to jump right into. I honestly don't think a single track is a let-down, and my only gripe regarding the soundtrack would have to be that the phonograph you buy from the vending machine doesn't unlock a Sound Test option like I was hoping for. While I have no issues at all with the music, I have say that I think the game could've benefitted from voice acting. I was very confused when I was doing research for this review and noticed that each of the main characters have a voice actor attached to them. I'm not sure if they were voiced in other games in the series, but I definitely think that a voice track of any sort would've helped move along the long sections of text-only dialogue. While I can see that some might say that this would kill the overall vibe of the game, I personally think it would've boosted the humor. That said, I did eventually grew to accept the slightly silent nature of the game, and it's an issue barely worth mentioning anyway.
Seeing as the game moves really fast, especially as you gather up your companions, I initially thought that I'd have the game completely beat in just a few hours. It took me over ten hours of playing to realize that this wasn't going to be the case, but I didn't mind that one bit as I was loving every minute of it. While I'm sure there are some people who will skip some of the optional areas and items I went for, the core game does take quite a while to beat. The way the levels change, the Metroidvania aspects, and all the hidden secrets mean that you can easily spend 10-20 in Ufouria 2 and still not see everything it has to offer. This is probably a good thing as the game currently comes with a price tag of $24.99, and you'd want to justify that price tag with some quality content. Ufouria 2 definitely delivers in that department, and like I said earlier, actually has productions values that seem to belong to a game far above that price point. An actual bigger issue with the game has to do with its replayability, or the fact that it's kind of difficulty to start a second save file. You can definitely quit the game and restart whenever you want, but the game has only one save slot so to speak. I mentioned earlier that the title screen transitions perfectly into the game, but that neat visual treat comes at the cost of a file select screen. That means you'll either have to make another profile on your console (not sure that can be done across all released versions), or delete your old game if you want to start a new one. This isn't really an issue as there aren't a lot of reasons to restart, but I'm still a little upset that the option to do so isn't there. Then again, would anyone REALLY want to collect all those Utsu-cans again?
I simply can't recommend Ufouria 2: The Saga enough. It's an amazing game that gamers of all ages and preferences will enjoy. It's part platformer, part Metroidvania, part Action RPG, and 100% fun throughout. It can be a little on the easy side, but the chill and cozy vibes are sure to keep players around. Not every game needs to be "Nintendo Hard", but there is a bit of that here in some of the platforming challenges if you want it. Seriously though, I think you can give this game to just about anyone and they'd find something to like about it. Seeing as it's available on all the current major platforms, you really have no reason to NOT pick it up. Hebe and his friends need your help, and surely you're not going to let Utsujin get away with his nonsense. Right? I hope you answer that call to action, and I can't wait to see what else the new Sunsoft has to offer! Check Out Ufouria: The Saga 2 on Nintendo Switch: https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/ufouria-2-the-saga-switch/ Story: A Gameplay: A- Graphics: A Music/Sound: A- Value: A Overall: A Pros: + A fun and quirky game that mixes up various platformer and Metroidvania elements. + One of the silliest games you're likely to play, and I mean that in the best way possible. + While the game seems like it might be rather simple at first, it does offer an incredible amount of content by the end. + The DIY arts and crafts look to the graphics is a nice touch, and the entire world looks great. + Procedurally generated levels mean that replayability is high. + Features an amazing soundtrack that has classic music with new arrangements. Cons: - The humor can be a little hit or miss at times. - Constantly having to replay the same areas over and over again may put off some players. - Grinding for coins in the middle section of the game can be a bit tiresome. - The rather zoomed-in field of vision means that you'll be making more than a few leaps of faith. A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.  I like to include one final screen at the end of all my reviews! #UfouriaTheSaga2
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