Kawase style games

[nathan]

I'd be interested in knowing if you guys have any knowledge of games that share the same "gameplay philosophy" as Umihara Kawase. I'm not talking about clones, but games that have quick individual levels and high skill caps.
My example would be the first 2 Super Monkey Ball games on Gamecube. I think the fast, optimizeable gameplay makes it fulfill this criteria.

[Alc]

I think the key characteristics of the Umihara Kawase games are 1/ deep physics-based gameplay producing a high learning curve, 2/ short, well-polished levels on a timer, and 3/ expect the player to attempt many runs. The following tick all three pretty closely (listed in no particular order):

N+. Nice platforming physics, really polished game.

Elastomania. It looks like an MS Paint nightmare but the gameplay is just fantastic. Early forerunner of the Trials games - play those instead if the graphics are a deal-breaker.

The first four main Tony Hawks Pro Skater games. I got really deep into 2.


Honorary mentions:

Pinball. Seek out a real-life table, ideally, but Pinball FX 3 (on a rotated monitor if possible) is still a pretty good time.

Particle Mace, kind of like Asteroids but you're swinging a mace around your ship instead of shooting - fantastically entertaining physics engine, but the levels are variations on modifiers, more or less.

Geometry Wars, iterative twin-stick arena shooter with a ridiculous skill ceiling. Skip the sequels, they just dilute the greatness.

Tetris, ticks 2/ and 3/ depending on mode but debatably lacks the deep physics. Definitely gives me the same kind of endorphin rush that the UK games do, and after thousands of hours over 20+ years I'm still noticeably improving.

Roguelikes in general, like Spelunky, Downwell and Isaac - may not have complex physics but they prioritise quick thinking and many runs at the same game.


Finally, I left out Remnants of Naezith because it's a bit too close to being a clone and because I didn't really get into it, but I'd describe it as "Umihara Kawase meets N+", so it feels like it should definitely get a mention.

[sol-alpha]

Finally, I left out Remnants of Naezith because it's a bit too close to being a clone and because I didn't really get into it, but I'd describe it as "Umihara Kawase meets N+", so it feels like it should definitely get a mention.

As soon as I saw Remnants of Naezith appear on the eShop I went to look for this post.

Anyway, Remnants of Naezith is releasing on the Nintendo Switch eShop on 12th of June 2020.

I'm waiting for Mochi A Girl to release on Nintendo Switch in the west since it released only in Japan in December 2019.

[Alc]

As soon as I saw Remnants of Naezith appear on the eShop I went to look for this post.

Anyway, Remnants of Naezith is releasing on the Nintendo Switch eShop on 12th of June 2020.

That's cool. I saw it run at a GDQ and bought it on the spot, but found myself getting into a masocore-esque "restart loop" with it almost immediately, where I'd restart a level over and over and over trying to optimise. It wasn't doing it for me, but I respect the game.

Let us know if/when Mochi A Girl arrives on Western store fronts, I can't be bothered to track down Nintendo points cards for the Japanese store just for that one game, but it looks interesting.