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Siliconera Article
Natsume has announced that they're finally bringing Umihara Kawase stateside, as they've announced the localization of the last entry in the series, Sayonara Umihara Kawase, under the name Yumi's Odd Odyssey. They're slating it for an early 2014 digital-only release.
Sayonara Umihara Kawase
The franchise's debut in the West, this is the latest entry in this long-running series, a series that is something of a cult classic due to its unique and rather simple-yet-deep grapple gameplay. It's packed with new levels, new challenges, leaderboards, and new characters. The new characters are a notable bullet-point for the series, as they provide the game with a sort of "Easy Mode" for people who are unfamiliar with the mechanics.
The normal character is present-day Yumi. Young Yumi and her friend Emiko can restart from mid-level checkpoints when they lose a life. Nokko is a time cop and Yumi's time-traveling descendant who can slow time.
A Brief History of Umihara Kawase
The Umihara Kawase series began on the SNES in Japan as a quirky physics-platformer where you played as Umihara Kawase (Yumi in the US), a girl armed with an elastic fishing line. The fishing line could be used as a sort of bungee grappling hook, which is where the physics come into play. Advanced players can pull off multi-grapple/rubberband/slingshot moves to improve their level completion times, or to reach alternate exits and warp to different levels. Think of it as something like Bionic Commando, with a much greater focus on platforming.
The next appearance of the series was Umihara Kawase Shun for the PSOne. It was a bigger experience, with better graphics, more levels, and more challenges. It proved popular enough to warrant an expansion pack, Umihara Kawase Shun Second Edition, with more levels, fixes, and unlockable artwork.
Shun was later ported to the PSP, and was originally intended to be localized by Natsume as "Yumi's Odd Odyssey." However, the PSP port was terrible, with no new features, tons of bugs, and altered physics that made some levels impossible to finish. As a result of the fan outcry in Japan, the copyright holder cancelled all work on the PSP version, including the localization.
The copyright holder then recruited the original creators to work on a "complete" DS version. The DS version (Umihara Kawase Shun: Second Edition Kanzenban) was, without a doubt, the definitive edition of the classic Umihara Kawase games, as it included the SNES original, the PSOne sequel with the correct physics, and some new levels and unlockable artwork.
Fast-forward to 2013, and developer Agatsuma Entertainment, who once again recruited the original creators, announced a brand-new entry in the Umihara Kawase series, an entry that's intended to be the final one, hence the 3DS game's title...
...But, as always, that is not the case, as Agatsuma recently announced an enhanced port of Sayonara Umihara Kawase for the PlayStation Vita. It will include new stages, new enemies, a 60 FPS framerate, and the SNES original with a level select and a Practice Mode. It's only been announced for Japan so far, so it remains to be seen if Natsume/Agatsuma will bring it over to US/Europe.
USGamer's Retrospective/Interview on Umihara Kawase
HG101's Umihara Kawase Retrospective
Promotional video for the Japanese version (Subbed):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WooPlx3n4Dw
Informational video for the Japanese version (Unsubbed):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu01ZfCL1QY
Game Center CX Umihara Kawase (SNES) episode:
(Sorry, taken down. And the only ones on Youtube now have slowed sound to fool the bots, so you'll have to find it yourself)
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