In 1986, Shigeharu Umezaki was one of the main programmers for Ganbare Goemon: Karakuri Dōchū; the first Goemon game on a console. These were some of the best 2D and 3D action platformers on their respective consoles, combining humor and Japanese legends. He became the main visionary for the franchise as it moved into the 16-bit era with Legend of the Mystical Ninja on SNES and was the executive producer for all Goemon projects until he departed from Konami sometime in the mid to late 2000s.
Umezaki would become Good-Feel’s chairman and find himself the senior producer of Wario Land: Shake It!, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, and Yoshi’s Wooly World. Even though he was finding success at Good-Feel, he probably missed the days of a mischievous, plucky blue-haired hero going on adventures in a comically exaggerated historical Japan.
Goemon may be doomed to the pachinko salt mines at the Konami gulags, but Shigeharu Umezai has got Good-Feel’s top men to give gamers what they have been craving. Does this spiritual successor to Ganbare Goemon fill the void that Konami has left in our hearts? How does it stand on its own? Find out in our BAKERU review!
BAKERU
Developer: Good-Feel
Publisher: Spike Chunsoft
Platforms: Windows PC, Nintendo Switch (reviewed)
Release Date: September 3, 2024
Price: $39.99
BAKERU is set in a fantasy version of Japan where its legends and myths are real and larger-than-life heroes. The story begins when an evil, burly Kabuki guy begins a mind-control campaign where he turns Japan’s mightiest heroes into his task force. Issun manages to evade the brainwashing and is saved by Bakeru, a tanuki who has the power to transform into a human boy.
Issun is small in stature and has a pretty pathetic superpower, so she needs Bakeru to go and free the other heroes from the big bad’s mind control. With an awesome coiffed pompadour and a small taiko drum with a set of sticks, Bakeru’s journey will have him explore almost 50 levels based on Japan’s prefectures. It’s a simple but effective set-up that fosters jaunty platforming action with some satisfying brawling.
This isn’t the kind of game you play for a story. Most of the time the dialogue is played for laughs and has a specific brand of Japanese humor; the mundane meeting absurdity, with a sardonic twist. Other times levels will be designed around a trait that a real-life Japanese prefecture is known for.
BAKERU‘s core gameplay combines a 3D platformer with beat-em-up action. The left and right bumpers control Bakeru’s left and right taiko sticks and players can freely and smoothly perform combos on foes. The controls are very fluent and Bakeru quickly flows between enemies and easily changes targets on the fly thanks to a soft loft lock-on mechanic.
Alternating taps with the shoulder buttons popping ninjas has a satisfying drum bump. It’s as if Umezaki himself is sliding his fingers into the grooves of your brain and giving you a mind-massage. As Bakeru progresses through the game, he will learn a couple of new attacks. Holding the left bumper will unleash a multi-hit vertical spin attack; perfect for causing massive damage against a lumbering ogre. Holding the right bumper makes Bakeru perform a powerful dash attack that penetrates multiple foes.
Players’ options for offensive maneuvers are effective, but there are defensive and evasive maneuvers too. Blocking with Bakeru’s mini taiko can prevent damage, but skilled players with perfect timing can reflect projectiles or stun foes. Dodge rolling like in a Dark Souls game is fun, but a perfectly timed dodge leaves foes open for a quick counter-attack which looks as awesome as it feels.
While combos and aerial juggling are always the main event, Bakeru also gains four Henge transformations based on Japanese mythological figures after he beats them in a boss battle.
Momotarō‘s transformation will put Bakeru on some skates and arm him with dual pistols that soft lock onto targets he’s facing for some rapid-fire but low-power attacks. Kintarō‘s powers endow Bakeru with a huge power boost and a deadly spin attack with axes which make short work of large foes with massive HP pools.
Urashima Tarō‘s Henge transformation is a balance of Kintarō and Momotarō’s abilities, where Bakeru can wield two fishing rods that have medium reach but are almost as powerful as Kintarō’s massive fists.
Tarō’s powers were the most useful because they were more powerful than Bakeru’s base strength and they allowed for rapid-fire attacks while maintaining a distance between foes. Sadly, Bakeru can’t use the rods to go fishing.
Regretfully, Issun-bōshi‘s is the least useful Henge transformation since it’s only used in very few situations. All it can do is make Bakeru tiny to fit into tiny areas and grant him a Yoshi-like hover jump, which is not as useful as you’d think despite being a 3D platformer.
There is just hardly any practical use for Issun’s powers and feels like a wasted slot. The Henge abilities mostly serve to give the combat variety and are not used much for exploring or puzzle-solving since Bakeru can solve most problems with his sticks.
BAKERU is a massive game with lengthy levels. Despite the Japanese motif, the game remains surprisingly fresh throughout. It’s a Super Mario 3D World-esque game with brawling and gimmicks. In racing levels, Bakeru drives a robot dog head.
Sometimes, he flies it in the sky, turning the game into a Star Fox-style rail shooter. Sometimes there’s an autoscrolling stage and other times you might be boxing a boss in a giant robot tea kettle.
Challenge-wise, BAKERU is a breezy game that is only marginally tougher than a Kirby game. The hardest moments are when the game dogpiles massive amounts of enemies that can make situations so chaotic that it tanks the frame rate.
There are plenty of measures for young gamers to rely on so they may have a fighting chance. Money can be used to buy consumable bombs, food to restore HP, and even a dummy to give players a second chance instead of respawning at a checkpoint.
BAKERU is aimed at younger gamers and the difficulty reflects that. Some of the optional collectibles might be tricky since they can be hidden pretty well, but they don’t serve much of a purpose apart from providing some trivia about the prefecture that inspired its respective level. It’s great for kids because it teaches them a little something about Japan in a fun way, which makes BAKERU an edutainment game.
BAKERU is a tremendous joy to play and it keeps on giving the deeper you go into it. While it is a kid’s game, it is on par with the same level of quality and polish you would expect from a Nintendo product. It is disappointing that it is a digital-only release in the West since its target demo will be less likely to notice it on the eShop than they would on a store shelf.
If you miss Goemon and the kind of off-beat Japanese humor that came with it, BAKERU delivers the fun while also being a gigantic platformer epic. This is the kind of game you used to see during the PlayStation 2 and Gamecube days but made with the dazzling veneer of modern technology and effects.
BAKERU was reviewed on a Nintendo Switch using a code provided by Spike Chunsoft. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here. BAKERU is now available for PC (via Steam) and Nintendo Switch.
