Originally posted on TheSpeedGamers
Wut U Talkin Bout is a quick look at overlooked titles in gaming history, or a overlooked entry in a franchise.
Kururin Squash!, for the Nintendo Gamecube, is an arcade style maze title similar to that of the Monkey Ball franchise. The original Kururin title was developed by Eighting, who eventually went on to develop Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, and was published by Nintendo in 2001, the Kururin series hasn’t been vastly popular.. But at the same time, most gamers are unknowingly familiar with it as the Kururin ship appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee and as an Assist Trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
If you like the Monkey Ball franchise, there will be a lot to like in Kururin Squash!. The title follows a similar arcade formula of placing you on a course, or maze, and having you race to the finish while collecting coins on the way. The big difference between Kururin Squash! and Monkey Ball are the controls and how you navigate the levels. Instead of rolling around in a ball, you are a ball with propellers. These propellers are constantly spinning at a fairly slow pace. While your propeller spins, you try to avoid touching enemies, or, more importantly, the walls of each stage. It is a simple concept. But as with Monkey Ball, the concept goes a long way and eventually becomes horrendously challenging towards the later levels. Throughout the game, there are a couple of twists on the gameplay thrown at you where you have propellers with special equipment including boxing gloves, laser guns, and flamethrowers.
One thing that really sticks out about Kururin Squash! is its colorful visual style. If you are looking for space marines or the color brown, you have come to the wrong place. The title is pretty much the polar opposite of the oh so popular nitty gritty shooters of today. The music matches the art style with very relaxing and upbeat tracks. The cutscenes themselves are really entertaining to watch, and have a cool stick puppet style complete really weird high pitched skwaking voices, which makes it a very bizarre experience . It is just a very happy-go-lucky style of game.
There is one catch to Kururin Squash!. “That’s right. This game was NEVER RELEASED IN AMERICA! LOL” as our Psychotaku says it. The Gamecube title never saw a release outside of Japan. North America has been unfortunate enough to not receive a single release in the series. On the bright side, Europeans got the first entry that hit the Gameboy Advanced. Australians made out like a beast though, as they got both Gameboy Advanced entries.
If you happen to already have a Japanese Gamecube or some other way to play region locked titles, Kururin Squash! won’t set you back much and is incredibly import friendly. Play-Asia tends to be a fairly pricey site, but for years they have had it for only about $10. But if you live in Europe or Australia, you can probably pick up a copy of Kururin on the Gameboy Advanced and get a very similar experience. But maybe with slightly less super happy bright colors. Nevertheless, it is a fun game for a fun system such as the Nintendo Gamecube.
