BAKERU

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BAKERU is a game all about the feels. It feels like what you’d get if you mashed Super Mario Bros, Kirby, and Sonic into a single package inspired by Konami’s great Mystical Ninja games from the 1990s, resulting in a 3D platformer that is aggressively and delightfully more Japanese than just about any game I’ve ever seen published outside of, well, Japan. Its English title may be less exciting than it was in Japanese (Otogi Katsugeki Mameda no Bakeru: Oracle Saitarou no Sainan!!), but that doesn’t make the actual game any less エキサイティング!

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BAKERU has been called the ‘spiritual successor to Goemon”, and there’s a good reason; developer Good-Feel was founded by Etsunobu Ebisu, who was responsible for many of the best Mystical Ninja / Goemon games during his tenure with Konami. More recently, they’ve worked closely with Nintendo to develop more experimental entries of franchise favorites like Yoshi, Kirby, Wario, and even Princess Peach. So while BAKERU can feel like an homage to its many influences, it also manages to feel entirely unique by mixing a huge amount of different genres playstyles into one irresistible package.

The story is your typically anime-inspired cheese, which means it’s appropriately wacky and irreverent. Bakeru, a member of the Tanuku clan out and about in his human form, bumps into Sun, a tiny member from the Issune clan, and it’s not long before the two must work together to stop the villainous Oracle Saitaro and his evil Festival Troops from brainwashing the entire country.

To aid him, the Elder Tanukis give Bakeru a magical Haradaiko drum, which can “purify” spirits by whacking them into the hereafter. With his trusty Haradaiko and bachi (taiko drum) sticks, Bakeru and Sun set out on a whirlwind tour of Japan as they track down friends and foes alike in their quest to save Japan from an unending amount of festivals.

Bakeru’s repertoire of attacks is pretty large. One button bangs Bakeru’s left drum, another the right. Pressing both unleashes another move. Mashing both buttons adds Sonic-like combos when attacking for even greater damage. This rhythmic divide comes into play as each arm becomes enhanced with special charge powers (multi-hits and dash attacks), and even a super powerful ground-pound damage when powered up. This banging, complete with fun bouncy sound effects, makes the button-mashing gameplay feel tactile and immersive, much like Donkey Kong Country.

BAKERU is generally a 3D platformer, much like Super Mario 3D World, with action much like Sonic the Hedgehog, blended and pureed into its own things. Bakeru even does a Mario-like somersault flip, complete with a Mario-like yahoo! Smashing enemies grants you gold coins and items, with small upgrades are items available to purchase. The Kirby influences are evident as Bakeru will collect henge licenses that grant him extra abilities and powers, like being super tiny (and super floaty) to enter small spaces, get extra strong to make short work of tougher foes, wield a powerful fishing lure to take out multiple baddies, or even add guns to shoot projectiles.

The campaign is essentially becomes a travelogue through a fever dream version of Japan high on caffeine and anime. And I mean all of Japan; there are dozens of levels to explore here, taking you through a surreal version of Japan brimming of onsen baths and tea ceremonies while having a transmogrified tanuki piloting a robotic tea kettle battling a giant mecha-squid monster among skyscrapers, Godzilla style.

Did I mention that BAKERU is also educational? Throughout the levels you’ll find and interact with Scoop, revered sage of the Issun clan, dressed in a cozy parker, who will share bits of trivia, some more Japan related than others. You’ll come away a lot more knowledgeable about lion urine, nose hairs and farts than when you started, but I wouldn’t sign up for Jeopardy just yet.

This inventiveness extends to the gameplay variety itself, as platforming gives way to driving, flying, boating and even giant robo battles with our hero shouting “Tokusatsu Mode!” before taking on giant pyramids, robots, and daikon radishes.

BAKERU is also super fun to look at, with brightly colorful characters and detailed backdrops that bring this acid-washed version of Japan to life. Levels range from smaller to absolutely huge, and the variety on display can seem overwhelming at times as you’ll traverse open fields, snowy landscapes, giant castles in the sky, fireworks-lit nights, ancient villages and even neon cityscapes. Considering how large the game ends up being, the level of creativity is really something to look at. There are occasional performance issues, especially in the Switch version, but never to the point these hiccups impact gameplay.

Likewise, the soundtrack is appropriately bouncy and hummable, and while all narrative-driven text is rendered in English, there’s a huge amount of Japanese characters on background objects, items, enemies, etc., though the voice actors all speak in excited Japanese.

In fact, my only real issue with the controls is a lack of lock-on mechanic, both for locking-on enemies and reorienting the camera. This would have helped make tackling the endless armies of baddies easier (both in vanquishing and keeping track of them), but it would help with some of the stickier platforming elements where absolute precision is required. You’ll adjust, and the right-stick camera control isn’t bad, but we’ve definitely been spoiled by lock-on goodness.

BAKERU is a lot of things, and will likely mean different things to different players (especially those who have fond memories of the Mystical Ninja / Goemon games), but anyone wanting an extremely polished 3D platformer will find much to love and enjoy here. And speaking of love, BAKERU is also a love letter to Japan, at least the hyper-stylized Japan that could only exist in movies, anime, and classic platforming games like this. 頑張って!