Ufouria: The Saga

Ufouria: The Saga is a 1991 Metroidvania video game developed and published by Sunsoft. It was first released in Japan on September 20, 1991, before being released in PAL regions on November 19, 1992. It was later re-released in 2002 via Memorial Series Sunsoft Vol.5, which also included Journey to Silius. In 2010, Ufouria: The Saga was rated by the OFLC before getting re-released on the Wii's Virtual Console that same year.

The game was made in the style of Metroid and Blaster Master, in which the player must traverse a giant single-level world in which they collect items, defeat enemies and bosses, and using power-ups to reach otherwise inaccessible areas.

The game has a cute design, done in the style of Hello Kitty, Bomberman, and The New Zealand Story.

Due to the PAL version's limited release, it had since become a collector's item.

Gameplay
Ufouria: The Saga is a side-scrolling Metroidvania platformer. Bop-Louie must traverse through a giant world named Ufouria, who has to collect items, defeat enemies and bosses, and obtaining power-ups to access secret areas.

3 of the bosses in the game are Bop-Louie's friends. Defeating them unlocks the character, which can do some things, such as reaching otherwise inaccessible areas.

The game has a health meter, starting at 10 lives; having no lives will result in a Game Over, though the player can continue with their items and characters via a password system.

Ufouria: The Saga
One time, Bop-Louie and his friends lived in a world named Ufouria. Their friends has fallen into a crater. Bop-Louie tried climbing, but suddenly blanks out, only to finds that his friends suffered from amnesia and take on Bop-Louie as a threat.

Hebereke
There's a big war, with a battle involving, due to a twist in space time, thus collapsing the world.

All of the heroes are due to go and fight, falling to the cleft of time and space. Hebe's friends had been possesed. So it's up to him to save them.

Development
"Main pages: Prerelease:Ufouria: The Saga and Proto:Ufouria: The Saga (on The Cutting Room Floor)"Ufouria was originally titled Forple in development.

After the PAL version was completed, a Japanese version was in development, titled Hebereke, which did release before Ufouria.

A U.S. version was planned, but cancelled (alongside Mr. Gimmick) due to its "quirky character design".

Legacy
Due to the game's success in Japan, spin-offs and merchandise were made.

In addition, a mobile port was also released in 2003.

In 2013, a fan translation of the Japanese version was made.

Reception
The game received a 8/10 from Nintendo Life.

German magazine Video Games gave the game a score of 68%.

Despite the game's success in Japan, the game sold poorly in PAL regions, hence future games in the series not having any changes to its character design, even in localization.

Trivia

 * The Wii Shop Channel in the Americas listed it as a Japan-exclusive, despite seeing a release in PAL regions.
 * In addition, this version also ran faster due to the emulator running in 60hz, rather than 50hz. This issue was also in the Wii U Virtual Console version.
 * The 3DS Virtual Console version is the only Virtual Console re-release of Hebereke to be exclusive to Japan.
 * This game most likely inspired the creation of Mr. Gimmick.
 * The back of the European box contains screenshots from an earlier build of the game.
 * The title is a pun on the word "euphoria". The full title would likely be "You take control of four characters in a world filled with euphoria".