Collection essentials #284: Umihara Kawase (SNES)

The SNES is home to a ton of 2D platformers. But here we have one that uses a unique gameplay mechanic that makes it stand out completely from the crowd. 

In this game you control a young girl named Kawase Umihara (in Japanese you often put the surname first, hence the game’s title) who must navigate a series of treacherous levels with a lot of hostile marine life that somehow is functioning out of water. Kawase does not possess superhuman jumping ability like Mario or his imitators, and jumps more like a regular human being. Instead, Kawase is armed with her apparently-magic rubber fishing line. This thing can grapple and latch onto nearly anything, and it’s what Kawase will often have to use to get around. It’s also her way of defeating enemies, as latching the fishing line onto most of them will stun them, and Kawase can real them in and put them in her backpack to “defeat” them.

Now, this may remind gamers of a popular NES game called Bionic Commando where the hero uses a grappling arm to get around rather than jump. But Umihara Kawase takes this to a whole new level. You see, this game boasts a complex physics engine. When you grapple onto something with the fishing line, you’ll find you can increase or decrease how much slack the line has. And decreasing the slack means that Umihara will be pulled up toward the hook. Once Kawase’s feet are no longer on the ground, you’ll notice that the rubber fishing line causes her to bob in mid-air. And then you’ll learn that what happens to her varies greatly depending on the momentum and direction when you release the button. For example, when suspended in mid air, you can build up a lot of momentum by bobbing up and down harder, and then fling Kawase so she goes flying a long distance (which she will never be hurt by). The physics employed with this mechanic are quite sophisticated, leading to a ton of possibilities. And most importantly, it’s really fun! And what makes Umihara Kawase great is that the entire game is built around the grappling mechanics. You must grapple to cross gaps, avoid enemies, and all that good stuff. 

The game has a few dozen levels, but you can’t play all of them in one session. You see, the game employs a “branching paths” progression system. Some levels will have multiple exits, and which one you choose determines which level you’ll play next. This is great because it helps players of different skill levels enjoy the game. Often an alternate door will be harder to get to, and players looking for a challenge can enter them to access more challenging levels that require some mastery of the grapple mechanic. Of course even the easy paths ramp in difficulty eventually, but newer players will have plenty of fun going through the easier exits at first. 

Enemies start out pretty simple, and become more of a nuisance as you progress. Some may take a little more than a simple hook to reel in. There are also boss enemies which you can’t really defeat; rather, you have to survive until they leave you be. 

This game also has the ability to save a replay video of a given level, for people who want to show off their best times, or perhaps a way to record something that happened. Features like that were quite rare back in the mid ‘90s.

I discovered Umihara Kawase in my teen years and loved it. To me it was a great example of why delving into the world of Japan-exclusive games was worth it. I suppose a lot of American gamers like me were able to discover the game to the point where it received a considerable cult following, because the game and its sequels have since been released internationally in different forms. This original game was ported to PC and made available on Steam, where you can go purchase it right now. I’m really glad that a lot of people have been able to discover and enjoy what was once a rather obscure and unique game stuck in Japan.