Virtually Overlooked: Umihara Kawase

Welcome to our weekly feature, Virtually Overlooked, wherein we talk about games that aren't on the Virtual Console yet, but should be. Call it a retro-speculative.

The recent reveal of a new Bionic Commando game for the PS3 and Xbox 360 got us very excited. Not about the new game, which looks heartbreakingly bland, but about old grappling hook games. But we can't exactly detail the NES Bionic Commando here. You've all searched for Super Joe, accidentally fired off shots in neutral zones, and blown up Hitler Master D. And the arcade version isn't as awesome. But there's another grappling game, for the Super Nintendo, that is even more grappling-focused than Bionic Commando.

TNN's Umihara Kawase (the name references an idiom that means "Sea fishes are fat in the belly, river fishes are fat in the back") is a puzzle platformer (or, according to the game's box, a "Rubbering Action Game") about a girl, armed with a fishing hook on a very strong, resilient line, stuck in a world full of colorful platforms and populated by ambulatory fish. The only tool at Umihara's-- the girl is also named Umihara Kawase-- disposal throughout the entire game is the hook, which she uses to stun and knock out the fish enemies, as well as to navigate the levels.
Unlike Bionic Commando, with its large levels, various weapons, and storyline, Umihara Kawase is totally focused on the challenge of finding the best path, or even a workable path. The levels are short set pieces whose traversal is increasingly difficult. Bonus items sit nearby, separated by a space whose crossing is non-obvious and difficult. The enemies are strategically-placed obstacles. In short, despite the platforming and the enemies, Umihara Kawase is very much a puzzle game.


The most interesting part of Umihara Kawase's grappling mechanic is the stretchiness of the line. Once you've hooked on to a surface (you can hook on to many surfaces) you can bounce on the line, allowing you to perform unusual feats of grapple-ry. You can hook onto a side wall and use the tension to vault yourself up over the ledge, or hook onto the bottom and swing yourself onto the top of the same platform. Apparently the physics of the grappling were so advanced that they taxed the Super Famicom processor to the point of slowdown! Radd Spencer would be embarrassed to hear that he's been out-grappled by a teenage girl with a backpack on and a totally normal arm.
In conclusion, grappling is the best thing ever in sidescrolling video games, and every game that has grappling in it is way awesome. Grappling hooks are one of those game features, like Kuribo's Shoe, that will always be fun, no matter how many times you play. And since Umihara Kawase is the most grapply game we know, it is super great. We wouldn't mind some more tightly focused puzzle-action games in our lives, anyway!