Collection essentials #389: Umihara Kawase Shun: Second Edition (PS1)

This game is the sequel to Umihara Kawase for Super Famicom which I covered previously. The basic premise and gameplay are the same, so for more info on that, please refer to that post.


What I have here is actually the second version of this game released, hence the “Second Edition” in the title. This update adds a few levels and tweaks a few things such as removing product placement and fixing glitches. 


This game is great fun for the same reasons as the first game, with the complex physics engine that lets you use your fishing line to pull and fling yourself every which way to your heart’s delight. The biggest difference here is that the level design seems more focused on hazards and a little less so on enemies. You’re more likely to see tricky level layouts that require you to masterfully utilize your fishing line rather than a bunch of enemies you need to defeat or escape from, though there certainly are some enemies here and there.


Like the first game, there’s a “branching paths” style of progression, with multiple exits in many of the levels which lead to different places. This game was clearly made with more levels intended for advanced players who truly want to master the physics to do really crazy stuff. But thankfully this doesn’t mean the game is less accessible for less experienced players. To get to those advanced levels, you typically will have to make your way to a very-hard-to-reach door in a regular level, with a more accessible door somewhere else that will take you to levels that aren’t so difficult.


There aren’t a lot of new features introduced in this game, but one cool one is a time trial mode where you can replay any of the levels you’ve reached before and try to complete it in the quickest time possible.


I got this game in my late teen years not too long after the first one, and I played it quite a bit. It’s great fun and there’s still nothing else out there quite like it. And thankfully, it’s pretty accessible nowadays since it’s been released on Steam! Go check it out!

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