bakeru is fun, straighforward, and unapologeticially japanese.

on a basic level, the game is very much an action-adventure romp. you go through stages, beat up enemies, knock off a couple objectives, maybe do a pit of platforming here and there, and move on. while there's something to be said about the length of the adventure, which could be cut by maybe 10-20%, the pace is relatively brisk and nothing really lingers.

with that said, i don't think i'd recommend 100%ing the game. when i said it is unapologeticially japanese, that translates to a couple things : stages are themed around the region they are set in, but it also extends to the collectibles. which are souvenirs and 5 pieces of trivia per stage. honestly? i do not think they are super worth it. i think it's worth exploring a tiny bit to see the full layout of the stages, but i don't think you should wrack your brain trying to find all the tiny collectibles and pieces of trivia the game has to offer.

arguably, one of the collectibles, the hidden tanukis, serves an actual purpose. namely, upgrading your ship in the second half of the game. with that said, i don't think the game is hard enough to warrant hunting those down, unless you absolutely need to see those achievements pop. similarly, there's achievements for not being hit by bosses, which i think is cool, but once again, not worth losing sleep over.

ultimately i guess that is some nitpicking (other than the length of the game), because what the game does, it does well in troves. stages are fun and diverse - some are shmups, some are races, some are side scrollers, some are boss fights, some are mecha fights, some are fixed angle stages. backing it up is a relatively simple (dodge, parry, attack) but fun combat system : enemies are very common across the stages, and beating them up for coins and power-up gauge feels very satisfying. the game also throws new enemies into the mix once in a while, for some enjoyable diversity.

as a whole, it feels like a tight package, that while it could've been shorter, is definitely at least worth your consideration and probably your time. good-feel makes good games, and i do not think bakeru is an exception to that rule.

bakeru is fun, straighforward, and unapologeticially japanese. on a basic level, the game is very much an action-adventure romp. you go through stages, beat up enemies, knock off a couple objectives, maybe do a pit of platforming here and there, and move on. while there's something to be said about the length of the adventure, which could be cut by maybe 10-20%, the pace is relatively brisk and nothing really lingers. with that said, i don't think i'd recommend 100%ing the game. when i said it is unapologeticially japanese, that translates to a couple things : stages are themed around the region they are set in, but it also extends to the collectibles. which are souvenirs and 5 pieces of trivia per stage. honestly? i do not think they are super worth it. i think it's worth exploring a tiny bit to see the full layout of the stages, but i don't think you should wrack your brain trying to find all the tiny collectibles and pieces of trivia the game has to offer. arguably, one of the collectibles, the hidden tanukis, serves an actual purpose. namely, upgrading your ship in the second half of the game. with that said, i don't think the game is hard enough to warrant hunting those down, unless you absolutely need to see those achievements pop. similarly, there's achievements for not being hit by bosses, which i think is cool, but once again, not worth losing sleep over. ultimately i guess that is some nitpicking (other than the length of the game), because what the game does, it does well in troves. stages are fun and diverse - some are shmups, some are races, some are side scrollers, some are boss fights, some are mecha fights, some are fixed angle stages. backing it up is a relatively simple (dodge, parry, attack) but fun combat system : enemies are very common across the stages, and beating them up for coins and power-up gauge feels very satisfying. the game also throws new enemies into the mix once in a while, for some enjoyable diversity. as a whole, it feels like a tight package, that while it could've been shorter, is definitely at least worth your consideration and probably your time. good-feel makes good games, and i do not think bakeru is an exception to that rule.