Katana's Kiosk: Games You Should Play, Day #2: La-Mulana

Welcome to Games You Should Play Day 2! Today I'm going to be talking a bit about a game called La-Mulana, a platformer game that, surprisingly enough, has been around for quite some time. In fact, this game has been available for free off of the internet since 2005. And it's one of the deepest platformer games in terms of sheer amount of content that its hard to believe that people didn't know about its existence until a few years ago. Well, didn't know about its existence, or perhaps it was nearly impossible to play due to the entire game being in Japanese? You're probably wondering how that would stop anyone from playing a platformer, but rest assured, I tried it a few years ago. And I've confirmed it to be nearly impossible to actually finish the original version without a heavily written Gamefaqs FAQ explaining everything. Yup. Pretty difficult.

There are five enemies on this particular screen.

The real question is, Where's Waldo?

Tackle all that with the fact that this game was designed to look like it belonged on a MSX console, and Houston, we're already in pretty deep shit here. When it was originally released, I'm surprised anyone took the time out of their day to figure out how to accomplish every task, find ever hidden shop, discover every single trap, AND defeat every single one of the bosses without having a guide to do so. Not only that, but during the game, you collect these ROMs, which can help you in various ways if you know how to get to the menu screen to use them, which you might not figure out until after the first temple gets cleared. Oh, and did you know you can combine ROMs? That's also something that they didn't tell you.

La-Mulana's release on the internet certainly wasn't a release in America or Europe, as the game was virtually unplayable for the faint of heart, or people without a comprehensive knowledge of the Japanese language. Needless to say, I tried anyway. Got fairly far before giving up on the game due to sheer difficulty curve on the 4th or 5th area, but it was quite the wild ride. Filled with a lot of suffering through FAQ after FAQ looking for the precise codes to unlock...

Yeah. Y'know what? Enough bitching. Time to get to the point of this article. Now, not more than two months ago, Nigoro (the guy who made La-Mulana) decided to release La-Mulana with an updated, HD-look and a much, much more forgiving English translation. Not only did Nigoro make the game playable and beatable, he made it beautiful.

Now, try to tmagine those lasers are pixelated.
Go ahead. Try.

The updated La-Mulana is absolutely fantastic in every way. Nigoro managed to completely re-do the entire game from scratch, remaking the physics of every enemy in a much more defined way, and introducing the concept of rotating parts on his bosses and enemies! It makes the game quite a bit harder than it was previously, not to mention a hell of a lot more enjoyable when you can actually see the angle of the thing shooting at you, instead of it just rotating a beam of light to kill you.

The animations are also completely redone, making everything look extremely fluid, from your whip cracks to the massive bosses, everything just feels so polished. I'm not sure I've played a game this airtight since Super Meat Boy. And Super Meat Boy didn't look nearly this good.

To be fair, Meat Boy has never looked good.
Well, at least his girlfriend is hot.

Now, getting into logistics here, La-Mulana is about an explorer, who also happens to be a professor (Indiana Jones, anyone?). This particular explorer has decided to investigate a series of ruins called La-Mulana, which have been known to devour every single traveler that have walked its hallowed halls. Now, in comes this professor with nothing more than a whip and the clothes on his back, and he just freaking strolls on in. Already, I can tell we're looking at a man's man right here.

I like how the game updates the main character's look on the menu when you equip him with new gear.
It's really just a constant reminder that HOLY SHIT DO YOU SEE HOW MANY SHURIKENS THIS GUY HAS.

Also, I'm not sure what it is about guys in green, but I'm thinking there's a new trend here. Link, Naked Snake, hell, even Luigi in Luigi's Mansion. All manly. Super manly. They should make the next Smash Bros. game called Smash Bros. Manly and just put in anyone who has ever ROCKED the color green.

Ah, I digress. Back to La-Mulana. Now, as you can see above, there are a lot of items to collect in this game. From main weapons to sub weapons to artifacts to software (an updated name for the ROM system). This game just has a lot of things you have to do. And it shows, as the actual ruins of La-Mulana are massive. We're talking Super Metroid levels of big.

Not shown above: 4 of the largest areas in the game.

Make that Symphony of the Night levels of big.

Oh, and last but not least, the soundtrack to this game. Oh my gods, there is no way a game should sound as good as this game does. Even the original version had some amazing tracks that were made to sound like they belonged on an MSX console. The updated version? Honestly, at this point, just play it to find out. It will blow your mind a little bit.

In this case, the original version sounds better.
HRRRRRNNNNNNNNNNNGH!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, obviously, this game isn't for everyone. If you hate platformers, or have trouble beating games like Super Metroid or Castlevania, then it's probably a good idea to just skip this one altogether. However, if you're looking for an amazing platforming title that hasn't succumbed to the rust-covered test of time, or just a game with a classic Metroidvania feel that is actually new, go ahead and pick this game up. It costs like fifteen dollars, but its very worth the pricetag.

And, I mean...