Umihara Kawase is a series of platform games, starring a nineteen year old Japanese school girl of the same name, who has somehow become lost in a world of mutated salt-water and fresh-water creatures. She wears her school uniform along with a bright pink rucksack.
The Umihara Kawase games' main distinction is their tranquil fish and bird infested worlds and the Tarzan style gameplay nature.
The name is written as four kanji characters: umi, hara, kawa, se meaning sea, belly, river, back. This is an extraction from a Japanese kitchen idiom "Sea fishes are fat in the belly; river fishes are fat in the back.". Shun means "in season".
The protagonist was first seen in the eponymous Super Famicom release of 1994 and later the sequel and re-release of Umihara Kawase Syun for the PlayStation in 1997 and 2000.
The game world of Umihara Kawase is constructed from a set of interconnected levels known as fields. Each field connects to one or more fields deeper within the game via doors.
Fields are enclosed areas containing a number of static and moving platforms, ladders, spikes, enemy sea-life and one or more exit doors. The doors are often positioned in hard to reach places and it is the player's goal to plan a safe route to one. Each exit door in a field takes the player to a different field.
One completes the game by finding a safe route through the fields and finding a door to exit the world. Each of the Umihara Kawase games contains multiple routes through the fields and multiple exits.
The move to the PlayStation launch of Syun opened up the fields to more complex layouts using a great deal of angled and jutting blocks. The central gameplay change is slightly improved line physics along with no hint of slowdown. The number of enemies within fields is lower than in the prequel game as is the rate at which enemies appear allowing the player more time to interact with the fields.
An important addition to the game is the introduction of a field select for time trialing. Time trial within the Umihara Kawase games have become popular due to the complex fields and game physics. Some question the wisdom of moving to a 3D game world pointing to the lessened ability to identify the exact point in space where platforms begin and end.
Umihara Kawase Shun - Second Edition features different stages from the original release of the game. The game got 2 modes: Normal mode and replay mode.
The second edition was launched almost three years after Syun at a lower price as part of the Maruan series and contains some notable changes. This release contains five additional fields taking the total to fifty five. The games cut-scenes have been altered however with the removal of all Mitchell branding.
Manufacturer's description:
By utilizing the elastic lures, climb walls, fly tears, rubber ring action game aims to clear the stage while you catch your enemy. The rubber-like elastic elements, may provide an entirely new action. All ??Sou to maneuver around the stage and clear the field!
Features:
- Third person perspective.
- 2D graphics
- Cartoon graphics
- Fantasy themes.
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