Yumi's Odd Odyssey
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3DS
| Yumi's Odd Odyssey

Sitting down at my keyboard with my review notes scattered around me, I feel like I'm writing the sort of follow-up text or email you'd get sent after a lacklustre first date.

I had a lot of fun with you, and I think you're going to make someone else really, really happy... but I don't think I'm looking for something like this in my life right now.

Make no mistake: Yumi's Odd Odyssey is a charming platformer with a ton of heart - and it does what it does very well - but it's not the sort of game that you can really lose yourself in.


You can, however, deliver flying jump kicks to walking fishmen

This is mostly due to the steep difficulty of each level -something that's cleverly hidden in the disarmingly cute level design and fanciful artwork.

Yumi's Odd Odyssey relies on a core gameplay of guiding Yumi through levels of platforms, puzzles, and environmental hazards (mostly spikes).

Your only means of navigating this surreal maze of oddities is a simple 'jump' command and a magical fishing line that can expand and contract to physics-defying levels.

You'll use this hook-and-swing means of locomotion tentatively at first, grabbing walls and pulling yourself towards them, but soon you'll start whipping Yumi about like a pebble in a slingshot.

Conversely, you can also use the fishing line to play it safe and rappel down from ledges to make sure there's firm ground waiting below the edge of the screen.

Like Yumi herself, Yumi's Odd Odyssey would fall completely flat if its physics engine and fishing line mechanic weren't up to snuff, but thankfully - and pleasingly - both are robust and responsive, which makes the challenges presented by various levels feel tough but fair.


Or as fair as sending a 9-year-old over a pit of spikes can feel

Calling Yumi's Odd Odyssey "tough" is a bit of an understatement. Because it recalls the gameplay of early '90s platformers with obsessive accuracy, Yumi's doesn't believe in giving you a health bar or lives to worry about.

Instead, you need to restart a level every time you die - and you will die.

A lot.

Worse, if more confusingly, Yumi's keeps a running tally of your deaths per level and autosaves after each one. This last feature is a welcome one, however, as there's a strong temptation to ragequit after spending half an hour attempting to clear a troublesome jump in a given level.

In Yumi's defense, it handles quite well - and every death felt as fair as it did frustrating - but that was cold comfort after the 30 or so deaths I racked up on the fourth level of the game.


Curiously, this boss was much easier than the ice jumps in level 4

For those with deep reserves of skill and patience, Yumi's Odd Odyssey offers 50 levels to play through, but you can easily find your way to the first boss (and end credits) in about an hour and a half if you slog straight through and don't sniff out the secret exits in levels 5 and 7 to open up branching pathways.

But this is a challenge you should absolutely undertake, and preferably without looking online for tutorials. The sense of achievement you'll feel at figuring out the secret paths in those - and later - stages is something that's rarely replicated in modern games.

For those looking to soften the difficulty of Yumi's a bit, you can change characters to play as Yumi's friends Emiko and Noko - both of which come with welcome special abilities.

Emiko sets up mid-level save points automatically, which effectively gives you a single free retry if you tumble later in a level, while Noko can slow down time to plan her fishing line hookshots more carefully.

You don't need to play as either - and, in fact, it's entirely likely that you won't at first since they're hidden deep in the game's menus, as is the ability to enable the Circle pad - but it's nice to have the options all the same.


Emiko's save points will help you get into the swing of the game

Ultimately, Yumi's Odd Odyssey is a hard sell at its $29.99 price tag.

It represents a great experiment in old school platforming, but it's almost completely devoid of story or extra trappings to justify that price.

The graphics, while perfect for Yumi's retro gameplay, are also a bit underwhelming - but its charming soundtrack and undeniable heart more than make up for this shortcoming.

All of this combines to make Yumi's Odd Odyssey a game tailored for short, 10-15 minute play sessions.

It'll lure you in with its cute design and excellent, challenging gameplay, but its charms wear off quickly as frustration replaces the sense of wonderment that it tries so hard to create.

Yumi's Odd Odyssey

Light on story but heavy on gameplay, Yumi's Odd Odyssey will as surely delight platformer connoisseurs as it will confound casual players
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Matthew Diener
Matthew Diener
Representing the former colonies, Matt keeps the Pocket Gamer news feed updated when sleepy Europeans are sleeping. As a frustrated journalist, diehard gamer and recovering MMO addict, this is pretty much his dream job.