Bakeru

Genre: 3D Platformer

Players: 1

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Review:

Developer Good-Feel should be extremely familiar to Nintendo fans by now, having developed numerous games with Nintendo’s own characters, including every Yoshi game on Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, and Nintendo Switch, half of the StreetPass games on Nintendo 3DS, and this year’s Princess Peach: Showtime on Nintendo Switch. In fact, Good-Feel’s relationship with Nintendo has been so close, that Bakeru is only the second game they have produced that saw release on a non-Nintendo platform, releasing on PC in addition to Nintendo Switch in 2024 (for the record, the first game was Monkey Barrels in 2017, also released on PC and Nintendo Switch).

Bakeru doesn’t stray too far from Nintendo’s comfort zone, being a highly-accessible, family-friendly 3D Platformer. However, the franchise this game seems most reminiscent of is not Yoshi, Kirby, or any of Nintendo’s major franchises. Rather, this seems like a love letter to Konami’s long-running Goemon franchise. The titular Bakeru is a tanuki protagonist (magically transformed into a human for much of the game), whose adventure takes him on a journey through an anachronistic version of Japan filled with a blend of old-fashioned tradition as well as modern and high-tech elements, with players contending at different points in the game with both evil spirits you bash with your trusty pair of taiko drum sticks, as well as giant mechs that you wallop using your own giant transforming teakettle-turned-mech.

Most of the gameplay takes place in fairly linear levels that have you tapping L and R to attack with left and right drumsticks, which is wonderfully visceral, and the game does an excellent job letting you mash them for combos or press them together for more powerful double-stick attacks, with this element of the gameplay feeling like a faster and more fluid take on the gameplay from the Ape Escape series.

While the Platforming is pretty standard fare, the game makes up for this with some really creative level designs, as well as different styles of gameplay sprinkled throughout that add a lot of variety. There’s not much here that’s terribly difficult, but it’s all pretty enjoyable all the same. Also, each level requires you to take out multiple magical lanterns protecting the giant drum at the exit, and I can’t help but feel like players may miss one and be forced to backtrack to find it, but these lanterns are generally bright and glowing in a way that’s hard to miss, so this probably won’t trouble most players too much.

The presentation in Bakeru is very good overall – the game is bright and colorful, with large 3D areas filled with well-animated and interestingly-designed cartoony 3D characters, and all presented with a smooth framerate that seems missing from a lot of Nintendo’s own releases these days. And while there are occasional low-resolution textures and nothing here is especially ambitious, I still appreciate how overall polished the game is. And these visuals are joined by occasional Japanese-language dialogue and a soundtrack with bouncy themes that combine traditional Japanese instruments with a playful, energetic energy that fits this game’s Japanese-themed family-friendly tone perfectly.

Overall, Bakeru doesn’t present anything especially challenging or revolutionary, but it is nevertheless an excellent 3D Platformer that combines Japanese weirdness with a polished, family-friendly presentation and some wonderfully varied, compelling gameplay. 3D Platformer fans should absolutely give this one a look!

tl;dr – Bakeru is a family-friendly 3D Platformer that puts players in the role of a tanuki magically transformed into a human (among other things), in a wacky adventure through an anachronistic version of Japan with spirits, mechs, and plenty of absurdity in between. This game doesn’t do anything especially new or truly extraordinary, but everything it does is fun, accessible, and varied, making for an overall enjoyable adventure well worth checking out for any fan of 3D Platformers.

Grade: B+

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2024 Game Awards:

Winner:

Runner-Up: Best Game for Kids and Casual Players, Funniest Game, The “Wow, this game was way better than I expected!” Award

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