
104. Umihara Kawase Shun: Second Edition|PS1|2000|platformer|37m|7/10

The Umihara Kawase series started on Super Famicom, continued onto the DS, and 3DS eShop and I think it's even on Steam now. I can't keep up with the ports. What I can tell you is that all of the games in the series are basically the same thing. You play as a high school girl walking around a strange aquatic themed world, filled with dangerous sea creatures who also walk around. To maneuver you must use your springy fishing rod to attach to surfaces and swing around. It's a bit like Bionic Commando, but more chaotic with weirder rubber band physics. You can also catch the sea creatures with your rod, and capture them into your backpack for points. To finish a level you must swing around, avoid getting killed by fish/spikes/bottomless pits, and find an exit door. It's simple in concept.

However understanding this game and playing this game successfully are very different things. The original Umihara Kawase is legendary for its difficulty, and the PS1 sequel is even harder. If you don't master this game's wonky physics and strange swinging mechanics, you'll never get far. And even then, there are wicked bosses to deal with. Honestly I enjoyed the Super Famicom original more than this PS1 sequel. The PS1's physics feel a little sloppier, and the polygon based levels sometimes obscure edges in a way that's not entirely fair to the player. What I did love was the OST. Both the PS1 and the SFC games have amazing chillax OSTs, that will help calm your nerves when you want to rage. And you will rage.

So if you're in the mood for a quirky and challenging platformer, give Umihara Kawase Shun: Second Edition a try. Play it on PS1 as an import, or import the DS version instead, which includes this game along with the SFC original. Even if you don't enjoy the gameplay, the music alone is worth it. And if you do enjoy the gameplay, these are games to be mastered for speed runs (there's a speed run system built in). Also a fair amount of replayability as there are multiple paths of progression, leading to different stages and bosses (this is true for the SFC original as well). I can't recommend this series to just anybody, but you true platformer lovers should try an Umihara Kawase game at least once.
For more information on the series: http://kawasefan.net/umihara-kawase-media
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How hard is this game? Well GameFAQs lists it as the number 3 hardest PS1 action game:

And here's what HG101 has to say about the first game's difficulty:
"The game is also draconian in difficulty. Everything kills you in one hit, bottomless pits haunt your existence, and the game demands incredibly crazy stunts just to barely survive. There's no continue or save game function, so once you're out of lives, you need to start from scratch. And yet it's all very possible with some practice; veterans can make this game look really easy, which seems a bit unfair to the rest of us amateurs, and it's a favorite amongst speed runners."
And what HG101 had to say about this more difficult sequel:
"Once again you must trust in your fishing pole to spring, bounce, pull, and swing you around every deadly corner. This game has more bottomless pits, more spikes, more stunts, and less mercy. In other words, the perfect update for fans of the original. The new gameplay challenges you to learn every old trick in a new way. Fortunately, once mastered, this game is actually easier for pulling off stunts. And that's a good thing too, because this sequel has no shortage of crazy challenges, especially if you take the more obscure paths."
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/umihara/umihara.htm