This is one of the games of the year for me. A trailer alone cannot do it justice. BAKERU is a spiritual successor to Konami's Ganbare Goemon series, and yet it feels like one of the very few 3D platformers of it's kind that understands what this means. This game ain't a subpar copypaste of Goemon's Great Adventure, rather it's a game that takes inspiration from the roots of it's developers while feeling entirely fresh and brand new.

The level of attention and care packed into everything is something I don't see in most modern games of this size. For example vehicle levels are one of the most controversial aspects of a lot of 3D platformers, and yet they're a treat in BAKERU. The mecha levels admittedly feel a bit sluggish to play, but thankfully the boss levels that utilise the mech are built to accomodate it. There are very few points of no return, so it's a lot of fun to explore the stages at your own pace and pick up any collectables you missed at your leisure. The combat is very unique, as Bakeru's main weapon is a drum which makes the player use the drumsticks accordingly.

If you are on the fence about this game, I'd say it's well worth every dollar. It's one of those games where you don't feel the need to wait for a sale just to justify having it in your library. BAKERU sets the golden standard of what modern spiritual successors of legacy franchises should be.

This is a really fun and colorful game! Yes it's made by the people that did the older goemon/mystical ninja games(which i loved), and even thought it definitely share alot of the same spirit, it still feel like it's own thing. The stage are numerous, colorful and quite varried, the music is quite peppy, the collectibles are almost all optional but you'll still hunt them down because it's just fun to do, and the gameplay mix platforming and fighting real well. It's still mostly an easy game, but not TOO easy and the game is quite long without feeling bloated. It's simply really fun to play. It remind me alot of the PS2/Gamecube era in the way it's all designed and feel like, definitely a good thing.

Definitely worth being given a chance, as long as you don't expect the hardest game ever, it will definitely give you a fun and happy time, and i hope it's not the last we see of that tanuki!