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Yumi's Odd Odyssey journeys to 3DS eShop on March 20
Agatsuma Entertainment's sealife-themed puzzle-platformer Yumi's Odd Odyssey (yes, it's an apt title) is hitting the Nintendo 3DS eShop in North America next week, publisher Natsume announced. Released in Japan last year (as Sayonara Umihara Kawase), Yumi's Odd Odyssey is part of a long-running series that, to date, has never seen a Western release. The game equips players with an elastic fishing line, which can be attached to walls, floors, and ceilings in order to swing to faraway platforms, Bionic Commando-style. You'll also need to keep an eye out for wandering koi, eels, and other undersea critters, who have grown to monstrous size and sprouted legs in their pursuit of delicious human flesh. Yumi's Odd Odyssey was initially announced as a localized port of a PSP entry in the Umihara Kawase series way back in 2008, though the title was abandoned in the years since and reassigned to next week's 3DS release. Yumi's Odd Odyssey will be priced at $29.99 when it premieres on March 20. [Image: Natsume]
Nautical grappling platformer Umihara Kawase returns on 3DS
Umihara Kawase is a bizarre series about a young girl with a fishing line. It's been released on Super Famicom, PlayStation, DS and PSP in Japan, and nowhere here – though there are ways to get it. It's the kind of gameplay you know from Bionic Commando, but focused entirely on the grappling.Members of the original team have reunited for a sequel on 3DS, Famitsu reports. Called Sayonara Umihara Kawase, the latest release appears to maintain everything that makes the series what it is: insanely complex grappling/line physics, weird fish enemies, and abstract level designs.The new version adds multiple versions of the main character, including a 20-year-old Umihara, and unlockable costume items for completed levels. The 3D character models don't look great, but this game was never much to look at anyway.A new Umihara game is exciting in its own right, but it's also another opportunity for someone to localize it. Natsume tried with the PSP version, but it never happened – and that was probably a wise choice given how that game turned out.
