Editor’s note: The text below was originally published in January 2024 as an import review of Otogi Katsugeki Mameda no Bakeru: Oracle Saitarou no Sainan!! , which launched in Japan in 2023. To coincide with the Western release of Bakeru on 3rd September 2024, we’re republishing our review with added impressions of the localized version and an updated conclusion. You can find our updated thoughts just above the conclusion .
Nintendo fans may be familiar with Good-Feel, a Japanese developer that collaborated with the Big N to produce titles such as Wario Land: Shake It! , Kirby’s Epic Yarn , and Yoshi’s Woolly and Crafted Worlds . Yet despite its work with Nintendo, Good Feel is still an independent company and occasionally produces new games with its own IP, and at the very end of November 2023 the studio released Switch-exclusive Otogi Katsugeki Mameda no Bakeru: Oracle Saitarou no Sainan!! . Taking strongly after the Ganbare Goemon games (Etsunobu Ebisu worked at Konami before founding Good-Feel in 2005 and was a key figure behind the Mystical Ninja series), this new release mixes 3D platforming with some light beat-'em-up elements to make for an impressively enjoyable experience.
The only catch is that it’s exclusively available in Japan at the time of writing, but don’t let that deter you from trying this worthwhile platformer. The story of Mameda no Bakeru is..
. well, we don’t actually know because we don’t speak Japanese either. From what we can gather, .