Official Review
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, the titular hero sets out to save Japan from some sort of demonic Yokai force that's been unleashed upon the land. Or something like that. The plot is primarily told through a series of nicely animated, comic book-esque cutscenes, and while these story bits are literally incomprehensible to non-Japanese speakers, the art is still nice to look at. Plus, once you've had enough, you can easily skip the cutscenes and just jump straight into the action.
Gameplay takes the shape of a wide linear 3D platformer, sort of like Super Mario 3D Land or Kirby and the Forgotten Land. Levels are accessed one after another on the world map and each one tasks you with finding and breaking three rainbow lamps so that you can unlock the end-of-level drum. These lamps are usually conspicuously placed along the path, and there are often more than three of them in a level to account for players who may miss one along the way, so clearing a stage is typically a straightforward endeavor.
Along the way, there are a host of enemies and obstacles that stand in your way, and this is where the beat-'em-up elements come in. Bakeru has two drumsticks he can use to beat his foes just as hard as his drums, and combat is surprisingly snappy. He will typically lock on to the nearest enemy, and has a small variety of combos and charge attacks he can rely on to dispatch the hordes. If enemies are getting too aggressive, you have a dodge roll and a block, the latter of which can be triggered at the last moment for a parry that negates all damage and stuns the attacker. Skirmishes are usually only a few seconds long and most foes go down in one or two hits, but there's a deeply satisfying Dynasty Warriors-esque feeling to mowing down groups of enemies and collecting their spoils.
To keep combat from getting too stale, you're also granted a series of transformations as you defeat bosses through normal progress. These are governed on a cooldown by an energy meter you refill via pickups and defeating enemies, and each one substantially powers up Bakeru in combat while altering his moveset in some key ways. Our favorite transformation gives him a magical fishing rod—Bakeru can use the lure to defeat enemies from afar and it utterly shreds large groups. Our only complaint here is that the transformations can feel like overkill; this is already a very easy game clearly aimed at young players and the alternate forms eliminate the barest trace of difficulty.
If you somehow feel you're still struggling too much, most levels feature a cute character with an item shop where you can spend the coins that are scattered generously throughout each stage. Most of the items on offer here are consumables that'll do things like top up your health or bolster your damage output, and while these, too, feel like they make an easy game even easier, it can still be fun to just let 'er rip every now and then by rushing a stage with a totally juiced Bakeru.
For completionists, each stage also hides a small series of collectibles to encourage you to scour every corner and teleporter. The main collectibles are the three gachapon containers holding various snacks and trinkets, while there are also five little critters you can find who will give you some kind of journal entry. Obviously, this latter class of collectible was less enticing to us given that all the text is in Japanese, but it's still fun to ferret them out in each stage and some of them prove to be impressively well hidden.
We also appreciated how Good-Feel completely mixes up the gameplay every now and then with a level centered around a new minigame. You can participate in levels that task you with things like a waterski race or a Space Harrier-style 3D shooter. None of these overstay their welcome, and they offer up some fun palate cleansers every few levels.
Visually, Mameda no Bakeru adheres to an impressively sharp and ultra-colorful art style that makes every stage a treat to take in. Whether you're scaling an autumnal-themed mountain rife with crisp leaves and warm colors or rocketing down a water slide on a massive cruise ship bursting with beach balls and dance performances, each stage features unique theming and just the right amount of graphical spectacle to remain consistently engaging.
The downside to these great visuals, however, is that it comes at the cost of consistent performance. There are fleeting moments where Mameda no Bakeru manages to muster the 60fps target it aims for and these moments are wonderful when they occur, but most of the time the frame rate will be oscillating quite a bit around the 30fps mark. The difficulty is low enough that this doesn't really lead to unfair errors, but it can still be rough when you pan the camera over a more open part of a level and watch everything get instantly choppy.
We'd like to highlight that, despite being entirely in Japanese, Mameda no Bakeru is still a perfectly playable experience for the average English-speaking player if you're looking to import or download on the Japanese Switch eShop. Obviously, you're completely losing out on the story, and it can be initially a bit tough to navigate the menus, but overall this is a very gameplay-first experience that's all about getting you right into the action. We'd wager that this game has a very low chance of receiving a full official English localization (there is, however, an ongoing fan translation effort), but all the same, we'd encourage you not to be scared off by the lack of English language support, as this is really enjoyable even without it.
Luckily, Good-Feel has seen fit to finally give this game an English-language release, which makes the more simply titled 'BAKERU' even easier to recommend to Western players now.
The voice acting may still be in Japanese, but the subtitles obviously make the story comprehensible now, and while the plot is nothing especially gripping, having the opportunity to connect with charming characters like Bakeru and Sun goes a long way towards making this stylized version of Japan that much more fun to explore. We also appreciated the little things about this localization that give the game a fun and impish tone. The confirmation command you click when speaking to a recurring character who dispenses random little factoids isn't a simple "OK," but an emphatic "I See!"
For the English release, Good-Feel also saw fit to make some (relatively minor) changes to the overall gameplay, mostly quality-of-life updates and a few small content alterations. For example, Bakeru had an attack in his moveset that the developers noted players of the initial release didn't make much use of, so it has been replaced by some new moves that have more utility in fights. Then there are other smaller tweaks such as Bakeru running faster and enemy placements being switched up in some levels to make for slightly more challenging gameplay.
Language barriers aside, the adjustments made for this English release don't change things up enough to win you over if the original release didn't appeal. Still, we nonetheless are glad to see that Good-Feel wanted to give the overseas version a little more than a simple translation job; the changes made here are all for the better and make Bakeru feel a touch snappier.
Conclusion
Bakeru is a sweet, snappy, and satisfying linear 3D platformer that feels like a wonderful callback to a genre that doesn't get a ton of representation these days. It's really easy (although the Western version ups the difficulty slightly) and has some performance problems, but the gameplay variety, snappy combat, oodles of collectibles, and gorgeous art style all come together to make for an adventure that you won't want to miss out on.
