Kururin Series - Under the Radar

In the minds of any gamers when you ask "Hey have you ever played Kuru Kuru Kururin?" their first thought is usually always "oh kuru kuru... kuru... kururururrin I've heard of that! Isn't that some 'shovelware' launch title for the GBA..?" WRONG there are actually a total of 3 separate games in the Kururin series and they are among some of the most challenging puzzle-adventure games I have ever played to date. For those of you that have never heard of Kururin heres a brief break down on this exceptional series:

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'Kuru Kuru Kururin'

Released: 2001 (launch title)

GBA

Developer: Eighting

Simple concept, you are flying a 'Helirin' which is a helicopter viewed from the top down but to the player it is a constantly clockwise rotating stick. You must navigate said stick through increasingly difficult extremely well designed stages without touching the walls, bump your ship 3 times and your dead. You cannot stop the stick from spinning, it always spins and this is where the challenge is. 

Reaching the end of the maze without bumping the walls is harder than it looks.

The game has you guiding your Helirin through gut wrenchingly narrow gaps, changing directions on springs, dodging giant objects and bullets and around tight bends that require perfect blink-less timing. Other than the ability to speed up the navigational movement of the spinning stick  into 2 slightly quicker speeds, its a death run through a maze and your the one under the pressure. There are also some 4 player levels you can play with friends where you race to the end. although typically by the time you feel like giving this a shot your a full blown Kururin master and your mates don't stand a chance against your vast skills... its fun to watch them try though!


Kuru Kuru Kururin trailer:

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'Kururin Paradise'
Released: Late 2002 (Japan only)

GBA

Developer: Eighting

Kururin Paradise was a Japanese only release but requires almost zero Japanese to play. Paradise advances on the formula set in the first game but adds a few new elements such as now being able to hold down the R button to also increase the speed of rotation of the helicopcter, this is immensely useful as you no longer have to sit and wait for the stick to be on the right angle to slip through a gap, you can hurry it up. It also adds challenge as now some levels require you to use this function to glide around super tight corners and alleyways. 

Kururin Paradise throws even more obstacles at you then you can shake a stick at.

The game also has a slight graphical upgrade, the visuals are a little sharper, animations smoother and the color pallet is no longer dull and faded tones its bright and sparky candy colors that genuinely catch your eye. They have also added in alternate paths that contain secrets for you to collect, things like decorations for your chopper and new ship designs. Again like its prequel  paradise includes 4 player multiplayer levels, however now there is the inclusion of some truly hilarious minigames that break the usual stick-through-maze formula and have you doing other things like pong and bird herding. These mini games can be played solo also.


Kururin Paradise trailer:

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'Kururin Squash'
Released: 2004 (Japan only)

GC

Developer: Eighting

The third and final release to date in the Kururin series and is the first home console title. Squash once again expands on the graphics this time by a huge margin, the game is still played on a 2D plain but all the levels are fully 3D rendered, the graphics are a big improvement. Also whilst keeping the new rotation speed function from paradise, squash pushes the formula again this time adding a whole new depth to the gameplay. This time however there are coins through the levels some of which are far off the beaten path to grab, if you collect all of them and dont bump a single wall you receive a star rating on that stage.

Collecting all the coins in a stage along secret side-paths extends the lengths of the levels.

Another big new feature are the different variants of helicopters each with their own level changing ability. There are water levels where you must dive under water and navigate below the surface hastily before your air runs out (about 3 seconds), there are levels where you have giant boxing gloves on the ends of your ship and you must bash your way through the level whilst maintaining control over your ship around twists and turns without hitting the walls. There are 2 more types of ships as well all bringing their own new challenge to the table. The game is split up into themed worlds that progressively more difficult until they are hellish, this is by far the toughest kururin in the series by the final levels. This game has a boss at the end of each world that requires you to use a different type of ship each time to win. Again there are multiplayer challenges, mini games and level races.


Kururin Squash trailer:

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Overall

Its a very underrated sometimes even totally unrecognized series that is a tremendous amount of teeth grinding challenge and a lot of fun. The first game is very easy and affordable to pick up as it was out at launch and sold very well, however the 2nd and 3rd titles are much harder to find as they are japanese only, although they dont fetch too higher price point. Paradise can be imported and played on any GBA systen regardless of region as GBA consoles are not region-locked, but Squash on the gamecube is. In order the play Kururin squash you will ether need a GC boot loader disc for your gamecube, a modded GC console or a modded WII system. Modding your wii is free and extremely easy, i recommend doing it as its a great way to bypass the region lockout and go import crazy. DO AT YOUR OWN RISK***** a great guide written by somebody else can be found here.


- Alexander Bruce