Bakeru Review

Gameplay

Graphics

Audio

Value

Summary: A fun, and funky platform brawler fans of Mystical Ninja will adore.

4

Party Pooper

Bakeru is a bright and varied 3D platformer that fans of Mystical Ninja, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, and random facts will love.

Taking a lot of visual queues from the Ganbare Goemon games, Bakeru mixes 3D platforming with basic brawling in a brash and rambunctious tour of Japan that had me hooked from start to finish.

Bakeru is set in a fairy tale version of Japan somewhere between a period drama, folktale, and the modern-day land of the rising sun. It opens with Sun, a member of the borrower-esque Issen clan, desperately searching for the four legendary heroes she hopes will be able to save the land from the machinations of Oracle Saitaro who has put the whole of Japan under a curse turning the populace into a mass of hedonistic, festival-loving zombies.

After almost being eaten by a bug she is rescued by Bakeru, a slovenly member of the Tankuki clan (who bares more than a passing likeness to a certain Mystical Ninja), who in turn is ordered to accompany Sun on her mission by the Tanuki clan’s cantankerous Elder until she can find a proper hero to help her.

Thus it’s up to the mischievous shape-shifter, armed with a pair of nasty-looking drumsticks to find the legendary heroes and save Japan.

To do this, you’ll need to traverse dozens of levels with a similar setup to Kirby and The Forgotten Land (or any other semi-linear 3D platformer made in the last decade). Each is replete with platforming challenges, a wealth of coins to collect, and fun extras to find, if you’re up for a rummage.

Though your main task is to smash three glowing lanterns found along the main route of the level, and then release a blast beat on the festival drum to break Saitaro’s hold over the area. There are always far more lanterns than you need to burst throughout the level so simply getting to the end of a level is never too difficult. However, like all good collectathon platformers the difficulty (and the fun) is ramped up when you attempt to complete a level by finding all the hidden goodies.

In each level, there are three gatchapods containing souvenirs relevant to the prefecture you are fighting through, and a little guy called Scoop: The Issen clan’s chronicler, who provides you with five fun facts per stage. These include pearls of wisdom like that gargling green tea can help treat a sore throat, Bonito fish is one of the hardest foods in the world, and that a ship’s control room is called a bridge because old boats used to have two steering wheels with a bridge in between.

As a fan of facts, especially odd ones, I was searching every nook and cranny for the little guy, and he’s often where you least suspect

Each level is littered with enemies that need a good drubbing (or should that be drumming) from sentient lanterns and wild revellers, to giant Oni and Shrine guardians, there’s plenty of bad guys to pummel with your expanding arsenal of combos and charge attacks.

Combat is slap-happy, swift, and satisfying as Bakeru bounces from one enemy to the next slapping his foes like a taiko drum. If one slaps Bakeru back, you can quickly block or dodge at the last moment to party most attacks, negating any damage and stunning the enemy ready for you to smack ‘em about.

To stop it from getting too repetitive throughout the game you gain Henge powers which allow you to use the abilities, and take on the form of defeated bosses for a short time. These include big armoured fists that flatten bigger foes, pistols, and rollerblades for some swift drive-by blasting, and a pair of fishing rods that shreds enemy mobs in seconds.

Throughout each level you’ll bump into Uriko, a helpful travelling tanuki who sells you all kinds of useful items including delicious street food that refills your health, shields made out of gummy, a waving cat that boosts the amount of cash defeated enemies drop, and tasty crackers that confer permanent health upgrades.

The platforming stages are broken up by vehicle sections where you pilot a transforming robotic dog called Browsby who either tears it around tracks in checkpoint chasing racing levels or takes to the sky to blow up waves of enemies in literal dog fights.

There’s even the occasional Kaiju fight as you pilot the Tanuki clan’s prized mecha to punch the lights out of Saitaro’s robotic lieutenants that include a giant laser spewing daikon, a boxing bot made of takoyaki, and a strapped-up onigiri.

Bakerus’s presentation is as bright and breezy as its characters and combat. The world is rendered in a cartoony, technicolor art style that brims with charm and whimsy, backed up by a superb toe-tapping soundtrack that often feels like classic Sega.

The only drawback (on Switch at least) is that when this cacophony of light and sound gets particularly hectic with half a dozen enemies exploding into a shower of coins and glowing orbs and there another dozen waiting to get whacked, the frame rate drops right down to the low 20s.

Final Thoughts

Bakeru is a snappy, slap-happy 3D platform brawler, that feels like a long-lost GameCube game in the best possible way.

Combining frenetic combat, some great minigames, and plenty of collectibles to satiate your inner cleptomaniac, Bakeru is the kind of old-school silliness that we don’t see enough of anymore.

About the Author

Gareth Newnham

Bakeru Review