Umihara Kawase

It's truly a shame that the series didn't have any sort of presence in the west until quite recently. I feel like if the title had managed to grab an overseas audience we might've seen even more titles from the developers besides the three games they did end up releasing over the last two decades. The series certainly deserved it.

93%Game Brain Score

gameplay, music

grinding, optimization

93% User Score Based on 150 reviews

Critic Score 95%Based on 1 reviews

Platforms

Buy Nowfrom $9.99

Buy NowGet on Steam$9.99

About

Umihara Kawase is a challenging physics-based platformer following a skilled fisherwoman. Using her fishing line, players swing, climb, and navigate through levels filled with obstacles and enemies. With a variety of abilities and items, players must outmaneuver and catch creatures while managing resources to complete each stage.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

93%

Audience ScoreBased on 150 reviews

gameplay21 positive mentions

grinding3 negative mentions

The game features incredibly satisfying and complex grappling mechanics that allow for a high skill ceiling and creative movement.
It has a charming aesthetic with a whimsical soundtrack, making the challenging gameplay feel rewarding and enjoyable.
The addition of a practice mode and level select feature in the Steam version enhances accessibility and allows players to improve their skills.

The game is notoriously difficult, with unforgiving level design and one-hit kills that can lead to frequent game overs.
Boss fights are poorly designed and can be frustrating, often requiring long periods of survival rather than skillful play.
Random enemy spawns can lead to cheap deaths, disrupting the flow of gameplay and adding to the overall frustration.

gameplay
63 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
62%
5%
The gameplay of Umihara Kawase is characterized by its old-school precision platforming and a unique grappling mechanic that offers deep, rewarding experiences with a high skill ceiling. While the game presents significant challenges and can be frustrating for newcomers, mastering its mechanics leads to a satisfying and nuanced platforming experience. The level design encourages exploration and experimentation, making it appealing to those who appreciate complex gameplay, though it may not resonate with everyone due to its difficulty and niche appeal.
- “Has surprisingly deep and rewarding gameplay, with a very high skill ceiling.”
- “The entire game is built around the mechanic of the fishing line, and it is almost shocking how much depth and variety exist within that one seemingly simple tool.”
- “Umihara Kawase combines airtight level design with an incredibly deep core mechanic (that crazy elastic fishing line) to create something special.”
- “The game contains a 'forgiveness mechanic' in that it will dump you into one of the ending levels once your current run reaches 30 minutes.”
- “Everything about this feels impossibly niche, from the tiny resolution to the lack of options to the inscrutable mechanics.”
- “For my part, I love the mechanics and the satisfaction of nailing swings, but I’d rather not contend with the eternally-respawning fish and nonsensical level progression.”
music
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
46%
42%
13%
The music in the game is widely praised for its cheerful and playful nature, complementing the vibrant visuals and enhancing the overall experience. While some users noted issues with volume settings, once adjusted, the soundtrack is described as beautiful and fitting for the game's theme. Overall, the music adds a charming layer to the gameplay, despite the challenging level design.
- “The soundtrack is beautiful and fits the game’s theme.”
- “Paired with pleasant music and nice surreal visuals, it's a lovely game.”
- “The music is bright and cheerful and the cryptic backgrounds look just as disturbing as ever!”
- “And don't forget to turn up the music in the settings, for some reason it's so low that you can't hear it by default.”
- “Soundtrack is decent but not really noteworthy, which is good because you're going to be hearing it a lot as you make your way through 50+ levels.”
- “Some of the most absolutely sadistic level design I've ever seen in a platforming game, definitely not for the faint of heart despite its cutesy aesthetic and cheery music.”
graphics
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
45%
15%
The game's graphics are praised for their unique and charming aesthetic, featuring bright visuals and a surreal art direction that enhances the overall experience. While some users noted minor issues like glitching water textures, the visuals are generally considered a standout aspect, complementing the game's challenging gameplay and catchy music. Overall, the combination of cutesy graphics and difficult level design creates a captivating contrast that keeps players engaged.
- “Really amazing platformer with a very specific charm you can't find anywhere else thanks to the graphics, music, art direction, and fish.”
- “Paired with pleasant music and nice surreal visuals, it's a lovely game.”
- “Cute visuals with an interesting use of color, catchy tunes, and an interesting game mechanic is having me coming back for more and more.”
- “I bought this back in 2019 as soon as I saw the SNES aesthetic (completely unaware this originally released in 1994) but soon dropped it because I couldn't make much progress past the tadpole.”
- “Despite the cutesy graphics, the difficulty is psychotic and a lot of practice and advanced techniques are required to consistently beat most levels.”
- “Don't be fooled by the cutesy graphics and laid-back music.”
story
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
20%
30%
The game's story is minimal and often described as non-existent, focusing instead on gameplay and exploration without overbearing narratives or characters. Players appreciate the engaging world and musical tracks, but the lack of a clear motivation or storyline leaves the experience feeling more like an arcade challenge than a traditional narrative-driven game. Overall, it prioritizes gameplay over story, appealing to those who enjoy pure platforming experiences.
- “Greatest story ever told in the medium.”
- “No overbearing story, no annoying characters, no unnecessary padding and cutscenes.”
- “It's hard to say what the story or motivation is, but with a few good musical tracks and an interesting world to explore, it's a lot of fun.”
- “There's no real story as far as I know since reaching an ending just brings up the credits.”
- “UK is a purely arcade experience, with no story or any other unnecessary trappings.”
- “Just when you conquer a challenging field, you'll be filtered by the next immediate level, and have to spend a long time in practice mode trying to get through it before you return to the story mode to try and do it for real with limited attempts.”
humor
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is described as quirky and multifaceted, featuring elements like a funny hat and a humorous yet dark undertone. Players appreciate its blend of lightheartedness and unexpected twists, contributing to an overall amusing experience.
- “I'm sure there's a funny hat related to the events of this game.”
- “It can show you both how funny and how evil this game can get.”
- “This game sure has a quaint sense of humor.”
replayability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
80%
60%
The game offers high replayability due to its non-linear level design and challenging mechanics, encouraging players to explore different paths and master its unique platforming elements. Each playthrough presents new challenges and opportunities, ensuring that players can enjoy a fresh experience every time. Overall, it is highly recommended for those who appreciate platformers with depth and complexity.
- “This gives the game tons of replayability, as you won't see every level in each playthrough.”
- “Fantastic difficult 2D platformer with tons of replay value.”
- “The world of Umihara Kawase isn't some linear trip, but instead is structured like a maze. Each field (level) has a door that you have to find to proceed, some of which fork with two doors; it's impossible to see every field and access every door in one playthrough, so coupled with the never-ending learning curve of the physics, there's tremendous replay value.”
- “The world of Umihara Kawase isn't a linear journey; instead, it's structured like a maze. Each level has a door that you must find to proceed, some of which fork into two doors. It's impossible to see every level and access every door in one playthrough, so coupled with the never-ending learning curve of the physics, there's tremendous replay value.”
- “After completing the game, I found little incentive to replay it. The levels feel repetitive, and the lack of new challenges or variations makes it hard to stay engaged for a second run.”
- “While the game offers a unique experience, once you've mastered the mechanics, there isn't much left to draw you back in. The replayability feels limited due to the predictable nature of the levels.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews indicate that the grinding aspect of the game can be tedious due to the lack of continues or saving, forcing players to repeatedly redo levels and face certain bosses multiple times for completion. While some appreciate the focus on skill improvement over stat grinding, the repetitive nature of certain encounters, particularly with fixed battles, can detract from the overall experience.
- “There are no continues or saving, which I personally don't like. It just gets tedious redoing levels you know how to do extremely well at a certain point, and there are some frustrating moments, which especially suck because there's a lives system. Despite that, this is a good game for a niche audience.”
- “The result of this system is that you get through the game by actually improving - not by getting lucky or grinding up stats.”
- “The most notable problem being the tadpole boss in field 8, which is really not hard and takes about 3 minutes (it's a fixed 'battle', so you can't do it any faster). You'll have to be fighting him many times if you wish to do 100%, and it gets rather tedious.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The optimization of the game has received positive feedback, with users noting significant performance improvements over the original SNES version, particularly in eliminating lag caused by the heavy physics engine, resulting in a smooth gameplay experience.
- “The original SNES game suffered from lag due to the heavy physics engine, but this runs smoothly without any problems.”
- “The gameplay overall is still exactly the same as the Sufami version, with many performance improvements.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is characterized by a pleasant and warm feeling, creating an inviting and enjoyable environment for players.
- “This game has a very pleasant atmosphere and a warm feeling to it.”