BAKERU Release Date Revealed

Originally released in Japan as Otogi Katsugeki Mameda no Bakeru last year, BAKERU is now slated for release across the world. With its design crafted by Etsunobu Ebisu, one of the key figures behind the fantastic Mystical Ninja games starring Goemon, BAKERU is very much like a modern-day version of the 3D Goemon games that were incredible on the N64 and PS2. The first N64 game was a very early 3D platformer and one that combined solid platforming with a lot of comedy and a very Japanese feel across the board in an era when anything overtly Japanese in Western media was at risk of being modified a bit due to different cultures. For a 3D action-adventure to come out largely unmodified in that regard was impressive – and the game itself was incredible.

Side-Scrolling Action

It would be followed up by 2.5D adventures on the N64 and more 3D fare, but when Ebisu formed GoodFeel as a company, that led to any Goemon games drying up from him. That style of game has only grown in popularity over the decades, however, and there’s still nothing quite like the Mystical Ninja games on the market, so he aimed to fill a game with a new IP. BAKERU is deeply rooted in Japan and Bakeru as a character evokes GOEMON with blue bullet-shaped hair lining up a bit with Goemon’s spiky blue hair and red shorts instead of Goemon’s red ninja outfit.

Eye-Catching Environments

Bakeru has a variety of attacks he can use thanks to his bo staff and he travels around Japan beating up enemies and taking part in many different kinds of gameplay types - including side-scrolling areas as well. BAKERU was my first import purchase of any kind since the PS2 era and it felt so rewarding to get into that vibe again although as times have changed, so has how we get our translations. The days of GameFAQs printouts are largely a thing of the past for me and the game itself doesn’t have a ton of dialogue. I found that using things like Google Translate, however, helped for menus but were too clunky to use regularly as even though the bulk of the game itself was playable, all context to the events was lost.

Beastly Boss Battles

As a result, I never played BAKERU as much as I wanted to and thankfully, the game is coming out soon and has a demo playable via theeShopas well. The demo is a fantastic offering for fans because this is going to be the kind of game that lives and dies on word of mouth and it has an incredible price point too. Pre-ordering the game on Switch allows you to get a 10% discount taking it to $35.99 – or you can wait until launch and get it for $39.99.

Either way, that is far cheaper than it has ever been available physically new even with promo codes factored in. SPIKE CHUNSOFT is handling the publishing duties on this and they have an excellent track record when it comes to releasing Japanese-centric games overall. They haven’t released a lot on Switch, but have done a lot of PC and PS4 releases over the years. In a pleasant surprise, BAKERU will also be releasing onSteam– making this the first time it’s gotten a PC release too. Strangely, there’s no demo available on that version.

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