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The classic game that inspired La-Mulana may receive a remake for modern platforms. Konami announced at Tokyo Game Show 2022 that the proposal for the remake of The Maze of Galious was the grand winner of its Action & Shooting Game Contest. The proposal's submitter was none other than Takumi Naramura, the head of Nigoro and creator of the La-Mulana series himself.

Konami accepted submissions for the Action & Shooting Game Contest from September 30, 2021, to January 6, 2022. People could submit proposals to create a new game based on the company's classic games, such as Gradius and Ganbare Goemon.

While the company would also award 57,300 yen to five other winners, it would send a formal offer to the grand prize winner in addition to 2 million yen in prize money. Following the necessary contract agreements, Konami may pledge more to the game's development, localization, and promotion, with additional funds of up to 30 million yen.

The fact that Takumi Naramura won the contest with the proposal brings a lot of context to the developer's history. Naramura's interview with Siliconera in 2019 included discussions about how The Maze of Galious served as an inspiration for La-Mulana, which came out first for PC in Japan in 2006. His company, Nigoro, later created and released the sequel, La-Mulana 2, following a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2014. Both La-Mulana titles are now available worldwide on PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One.

The Maze of Galious is a classic platform adventure game where the player controls two characters—Popolon and Aphrodite—simultaneously. Each character has a different set of abilities, and the player must use both of them to traverse through the stages.

Konami released The Maze of Galious on MSX and Family Computer (NES) in 1987 in Japan. The MSX version was also available in Europe. A remake of the game may appear following Takumi Naramura's victory in Konami's Action & Shooting Game Contest.

The post La-Mulana Creator May Inspire The Maze of Galious Remake appeared first on Siliconera.

Several years ago, I first got wind of La-Mulana when it arrived on the PlayStation Vita. It kicked my ass pretty soundly, mostly because I had no idea what I was getting into. I loved the look and feel of it, loved what La-Mulana represented and the very specific gaming history it carried. But my ADHD-rattled brain wasn’t prepared for the challenge. I struggle with directionless exploration sometimes, but I really struggle with directionless exploration with specific answers and vague hints. I bounced off it and am currently tickled at how I landed back here, some five years later. I was afraid, too! But thanks to the sequel’s changes and NIS America dropping La-Mulana 1 & 2 as a package deal, I’ve been able to go back to the first game with more confidence.

La-Mulana isn’t difficult the way video games that resemble La-Mulana usually are. It’s less about how often or easily you die, and more about figuring out what the heck you’re supposed to do to get around. It’s also about not getting lost. You see this game saddled up with the Metroidvania tag sometimes, but I think that's a stretch. You barely get a map, and while there are upgrades and special items, you’re mostly solving environmental puzzles to get through. And in order to solve said puzzles, you have to interpret super vague clues you get from random ancient slabs and skeletons. It’s a lot of mental effort involving ing small details, navigation, evading traps and only sometimes combat.

I hold none of these things against the game. When it comes to something a bit out of my wheelhouse, it either clicks or it doesn’t. When a game is particularly complicated to me, if I can find a way to wrap my head around the loop, I can get past my own roadblocks. This sort of thing used to trip me up in a lot of RPGs and mobile games, but over the years it got better. Sometimes, a sequel or similar game in a space comes out and presents its form of play in a way that gels better with me.

In turn, that can have a sort of retroactive impact on the more troublesome title. That’s exactly what happened when, out of curiosity, I hopped over to La-Mulana 2 after some tinkering with the first game. What’s great about the sequel is it’s practically an expansion of the first game. Much of the structure is the same, but presented differently alongside a wealth of new story and content.

The way La-Mulana 2 is presented makes the whole concept easier for someone like me to digest. It eases you in a little more gently, but largely includes a lot of similar elements compared to the first one. You still have to find map tiles, you still have to find the Holy Grail to warp between save points, and you’ll still die in a second if you mess up. But the instructions are a little more clear, the opening rooms of the dungeon are designed with more teaching in mind, and the UI is a lot more -friendly. La-Mulana 2 isn’t cleanly easier, it just does a much better job setting itself up for the player.

Armed with an hour or so of La-Mulana 2, I felt educated enough to go back and try the first game again. It’s still tougher and more obtusely designed, but I felt like I spoke the language a little more fluently. I understood what my mindset needed to be in order to succeed, and have made it much further than I did back in 2015. I understood and respected La-Mulana before, but now thanks to the spitshine on the sequel, I “get” it now. I’ll still need to poke at it, and possibly look at a guide at times, but I’m much more eager to make my way to the end of both La-Mulana 1 and 2.

La-Mulana 1 & 2 launches for the Switch, the PS4, and the Xbox One on March 17, 2020.

The post La-Mulana 2 can Help Make 1 More Digestible appeared first on Siliconera.

People won’t have to wait too much longer for La-Mulana 1 & 2. The console compilation will be arriving in the (already crowded) month of March 2020. People in North America will get it first on March 17, 2020. Then, a few days later, it will show up in Europe on March 20, 2020. Finally, Australia will get the collection on March 27, 2020.

In addition to the release date, NIS America showed off the limited edition available for La Mulana 1 & 2. People could pick up a $59.99 Hidden Treasures box from the NIS America Online Store. This gives people a physical copy of the game, the Hidden Treasure: The Tomb of La-Mulana art book, a two-disc La Mulana 1 & 2 Archaeological Anthems soundtrack, and a Siesta in the Ruins jigsaw puzzle.

La Mulana 1 & 2 gives people access to both of Nigoro’s Metroidvania games. Its localization was first announced back in August 2019. Siliconera spoke to Takumi Naramura about both games (and Rose & Camellia) a few months back.

La Mulana 1 & 2 will come to the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in North America on March 17, 2020, Europe on March 20, 2020, and Australia on March 27, 2020.

The post La-Mulana 1 & 2 Arriving in North America, Europe, and Australia in March 2020 appeared first on Siliconera.

Next year, console owners are going to get an opportunity to play the two installments of an iconic indie Metroidvania on their systems. La-Mulana 1 & 2 will be heading to the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. To help get an idea of what Nigoro hoped to accomplish with these two games, as well as find out what might happen to earlier Flash games like Rose & Camellia after ends, Siliconera had the opportunity to talk to Takumi Naramura, the Director and Designer of La-Mulana and La-Mulana 2.

Siliconera: The original La-Mulana is almost 15 years old now. When you first created it, did you imagine it would be this beloved and relevant for so long and what kind of effect has its success had on you when developing other projects?

Takumi Naramura: When I first made La-Mulana, I was hoping the 20 or so people who came to my site would play it. One day, a foreign fan ed me saying “Let me translate this!” After giving him the data, the game became known in the West before we knew it.

It is precisely for the reason that the game became popular abroad that we decided to start Nigoro as an indie creator.

Which La-Mulana and La-Mulana 2 bosses did you have the most fun deg and what do you appreciate about them most of all?

Naramura: For bosses, it would have to definitely be Palenque. It turned out to be one of the best bosses that incorporated the design of the walls inside the ruins.

As for the games themselves, I really like the entire map design for La-Mulana 2. In of the game creation process, I enjoy coming up with the maps the most. Because of that, for La-Mulana 2 I was really able to put into practice what I had learned from making the original La-Mulana.

The La Mulana song "Wonder of the Wonder" is one of those tracks that perfectly suits the situation. How long did it take to create it and what was the inspiration for it and its opening seconds?

Naramura: We have a rule when composing songs for La-Mulana: the town songs must be arrangements of the dungeon songs. We also like to have at least one quiet song in the game, and “Wonder of the Wonder” wound up being that quiet track. I don't really have any recollection of it taking a long time to make. The first go that we took, we ended up trashing, but after the initial idea, it took maybe two days?

When composing the originals, we used Konami songs as inspiration, so we had something like the Temple stage song from Gradius 2 as the goal in mind when we made this. The scream at the intro of the remake was put in there simply to startle people.

What lessons did you learn after making the original La-Mulana and how did you apply that experience and knowledge to La-Mulana 2?

Naramura: When making La-Mulana, we didn't have our own particular philosophy. We just put in elements that we wanted into the game. Luckily, those elements ended up being well-balanced and I think that’s why the title was so well-received.

By listening to players’ , we were made to realize that this was a Metroidvania with a special aspect of solving puzzles, thereby increasing your area of exploration.

Therefore, when making La-Mulana 2, we made sure to put the most of this special aspect at the forefront of our development.

Are you planning any kind of unique content for the console releases of La Mulana 2?

Naramura: It’s unfortunate, but we don't have enough people to be able to add some special elements to the console versions. The content is about the same as the PC version. However, when the game released in Japan, we had several characters from other indie games appear as the shop clerks expressing their best wishes. It was fun working with these other creators and coming up with the characters’ in-game designs and their lines.

What tips do you have for people who might be playing La-Mulana and La-Mulana 2 for the first time, what with these being the sort of games where note-taking and constantly earning money are necessary to succeed?

Naramura: When watching playthroughs of people who give up in the middle, I noticed they tend to not read the long inscriptions or take notes. I understand that a lot of games nowadays have flavor text, but in this game, every piece of text is an important hint. Not only are there hints on stone monuments or in conversations, but also in the background walls and even inside the menus. It might be a pain, but players should take notes--as taking notes is actually one of the fun points of the game.

As far as money goes, both La-Mulana 1 and 2 are actually balanced appropriately. If you don't have enough money for a given item, you can consider that item as not being necessary at that time. If you think it’s important to buy more weapons... then please do your best.

The MSX version of The Maze of Galious was the inspiration for La-Mulana. How do you feel about the later Famicom version?

Naramura: The NES version of Maze of Galious was well done and I don't think the core of what makes it fun differs from the MSX version. However, I think the heavy atmosphere of the limited color palette of the MSX version is what gives Maze of Galious its ultimate appeal. Naturally, La-Mulana gets a lot of inspiration from the MSX version’s graphics.

Could we end up seeing a Rose & Camellia 3 and, if so, would you consider bringing it to multiple platforms worldwide?

Naramura: Actually, the five characters and story for Rose & Camellia 3 already exist. However, the production for it has halted and that’s the current state. To give you even more insight, we already have ideas for Rose & Camellia 4 and 5 as well. We can create any number of games like Rose and Camellia that have stories that are driven from our ion.

With Adobe ending for Flash Player, what steps will you be taking to preserve games like Future Development Company and Rose & Camellia?

Naramura: The flash games that Nigoro has created were made to raise awareness and were released as free browser games. Although they are small works, all of them were made with care and we think of them as our children. I think it would be a shame if they were unable to be played.

Maybe an emulator or the technology to archive Flash games will be made. But, before Flash ends, we want everyone to play these games to their fullest as well as videos of their playthroughs to YouTube and the like.

Of course, we are also thinking of how we can preserve these games, and one of those has been to work on developing Rose & Camellia for smartphones. If that goes well, the illusionary Rose & Camellia might come out as well.

La Mulana 1 & 2 will come to the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in 2020.

The post Nigoro’s Takumi Naramura Talks About La-Mulana 1 & 2, The Maze Of Galious, And Rose & Camellia appeared first on Siliconera.

NIS America announced today that the first La-Mulana is now heading to the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, alongside La-Mulana 2.

Nigoro stated that they hope players who began the series with La-Mulana 2 will enjoy the adventures of Lemeza, the father of La-Mulana 2 protagonist Lumisa.

The game will release together with La-Mulana 2 on consoles, and will release overseas first in Spring 2020, courtesy of NIS America. Here’s the trailer below:

Experience a double dose of exploration, puzzle-solving, and deadly action with LA-MULANA 1 & 2! In their first-ever debut on modern consoles, these two intense platforming classics task you with exploring ancient ruins filled with nefarious traps, brain-tingling puzzles, and deadly monsters. Can you survive the trials and claim the powerful treasures within?

La-Mulana 1 & 2 releases on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in early 2020.

The post La-Mulana 1 & 2 Are On Its Way To Explore Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One appeared first on Siliconera.

Publisher of Japanese indie games Playism is hosting its own special sale on Steam with 10 of its games going for cheap.

You can check out the Playism Publisher Sale right here. The full list of games it includes is below:

• Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae
• REVOLVER360 RE:ACTOR
• Gunhound EX
• One Way Heroics
• La-Mulana
• Magical Battle Festa
• Unholy Heights
• Astebreed
• Meadowland
• Rime Berta

The post Playism Publisher Sale On Steam Has Indie Japanese Titles For Cheap appeared first on Siliconera.

La-Mulana is coming to the PlayStation Vita, Rising Star Games have announced. Rising Star are partnering with a developer named Pygmy Studio to bring La-Mulana EX—a new version of the game—to the device.

The EX version will contain new features (although, these haven’t been detailed yet) and will be released sometime later this year.

At present, La-Mulana is available on PC and WiiWare. Meanwhile, La-Mulana 2 is in development as well.

The post La-Mulana Headed To PlayStation Vita Next appeared first on Siliconera.

This week’s Nintendo eShop highlight is a demo version of The Denpa Men: They Came By Wave, an original RPG by Pokémon Colosseum developer, Genius Sonority. The full game will be out on September 27th for $9.99. You can read more about it here.

On the WiiWare side, La-Mulana has finally been released in North America, following numerous delays. The WiiWare version is published by EnjoyUp Games and costs 1,000 Wii Points ($10).

Finally, also on the Nintendo eShop for 3DS is a game called Rising Board 3D, and Nintendo also point out that the Pokédex 3D application will only be up until the end of the month, after which it’s going to be taken down and eventually replaced with Pokédex 3D Pro, which will be a paid app.

The post The Denpa Men: They Came By Wave Demo And La-Mulana On Nintendo s appeared first on Siliconera.

Last year, we reported on Playism, a new digital distribution platform for indie games. Playism aims to bring western indie games to Japan and release Japanese doujin games for the west.

While the Japanese version of Playism has been up and running for several months now, the English site is scheduled to open in two days. One of the first titles offered by it will be the remake of La-Mulana, which was in publishing limbo for quite some time until its WiiWare release was finally cancelled in April.

Other titles available at Playism’s English launch will be:

Yume Nikki:

A popular adventure game where you explore a surreal dream world.

I'm Gonna be God of the Forest:

Control an eco-system by culling plants and animals, and turning them into nutrients, which form seeds and eggs. This gives rise to new creatures.

Pock's Friend:

An adventure game in a picture book style.

The post Indie Games Platform, Playism, To Publish La-Mulana Remake appeared first on Siliconera.

Well, that’s that. After what seems like an excruciatingly long development cycle, La Mulana’s western release on WiiWare has been cancelled, the game’s publisher, Nicalis, announced via their Twitter feed today.

“Regarding La-Mulana, we have chosen to cancel publishing in North America and Europe for WiiWare,” Nicalis wrote in their tweet. Later on, they followed up with another tweet, saying: “If Nintendo says a game isn't ready for release, then it's not ready for release. Called it unfinished or unapproved—whichever you like.”

This isn’t the first we’ve heard of development problems with the WiiWare remake of La Mulana. The game’s developer, Nigoro, originally planned it for release in 2009. It was finally released on the Japanese WiiWare service in the summer of last year.

Fortunately, those looking forward to playing the western release will still be able to grab it for PC when it’s released on that platform. Nigoro say that the PC version is in the middle of being tested by debuggers.

The post La Mulana’s WiiWare Release Cancelled For The West appeared first on Siliconera.

Last we heard, La-Mulana on WiiWare was undergoing its final check and was a little closer to release, following a string of delays that began in 2009. Now, that final check is complete, and the game is planned for release in 2012.

Developer, Nigoro, write on their blog that things “haven’t worked out as they had planned” almost six months ago, and that, while there were several reasons for the game’s delays, they can’t be discussed. “We can say that sometimes making games and the elements surrounding them can be a massive pain in the ass because it’s not all just game development,” the blog post reads.

Additionally, La-Mulana will be released on non-console platforms as well. While Nigoro don’t specify what other platforms the game will be released on, phones and/or PC are likely bets. This non-console version is currently in development, and the screenshot above is from an early build.

The post La Mulana Coming To WiiWare In 2012 And Then “Other Platformers” appeared first on Siliconera.

Back in February, Japanese indie developer, Nigoro, announced that their WiiWare remake of La-Mulana was almost complete. Now, it has an actual release date...for Japan.

WiiWare in Japan will see La-Mulana on June 21st. Nigoro say that as far as overseas release is concerned, the final check on the localized game is ongoing, and all that remains is for a release date to be determined. This has been a little delayed due to different processing systems at the Nintendo end for those territories, which Nigoro weren’t familiar with. They also reconfirm that the game will be released in Australia.

La-Mulana for WiiWare has been in development for over two years and has seen multiple delays. The game was originally supposed to be released in 2009.

The post La-Mulana Will Explore WiiWare In Japan This Month appeared first on Siliconera.

Japanese indie developer, Nigoro, have been working on a remake of doujin game, La-Mulana, for WiiWare for over two years now. La-Mulana is a game that draws inspiration from Metroid style games, and stars an Indiana Jones-like character, Lemeza Kosugi, searching for hidden treasure in the ancient ruins of La-Mulana.

While the original La-Mulana was developed by GR3 Project for Windows PCs, the game’s art style is inspired by MSX games. Kosugi even carries an MSX laptop with him during the game, and you can insert a variety of cartridges you collect along the way into it to enable different power-ups.

While the WiiWare remake of La-Mulana was originally scheduled to release in winter of 2009, it was eventually delayed to 2010. In 2010, however, Nigoro posted an apology on their developer blog, revealing that the game had been delayed yet again, and that the debugging process was keeping them busy. Ever since August 2009, they’ve been keeping fans updated on the state of the game.

Yesterday, Nigoro updated their blog with yet another post on La-Mulana’s progress, this time with happier news. The game is almost complete, they say, and the Japanese version will be submitted to Nintendo for approval “in a few days.” While Nigoro are developing the game, Nicalis will be publishing La-Mulana outside Japan.

Nigoro will also be running a live-stream of the game later today. You can check the stream timings out on their blog.

The post La-Mulana Remake On WiiWare Almost Complete appeared first on Siliconera.

The recently announced La-Mulana for WiiWare has been getting a ton of attention lately. It was originally a freeware doujin game created by GR3 Project for PCs.,

When I first saw the above picture on the official site for La-Mulana, it reminded me a lot of Indiana Jones. In fact, it'd be kind of hard for anyone not to think of him, given that the game's protagonist brandishes a whip and dons a very similar hat. Although, if you look closely, he also has a shuriken sticking out of his shirt pocket.

Indiana Jones isn't the only familiar franchise La-Mulana draws inspiration from either. The game itself is a 2D side-scrolling action platformer similar to Metroid and Castlevania. -- and when I say "Metroid and Castlevania," I actually mean it. I've never understood why people felt those two were similar at all, but La-Mulana does in fact emphasize exploration and power-ups that grant you access to new areas, and well, you carry a damn whip and shuriken for God's sake.

The adventure involves you -- Lemeza Kosugi -- searching for hidden treasure in the ancient ruins of La-Mulana, competing against your own father who is trying track down the same booty.

The entire aesthetic of La-Mulana from the UI to the music and the graphical style is meant to resemble an MSX game. On boot up, the game displays the available memory and MSX logo before letting you access the main menu, although, whether or not this feature will remain in the WiiWare version remains to be seen.

Kosugi even carries an MSX laptop with him on his adventures, and you can insert a variety of cartridges you collect along the way into it to enable different power-ups. Items like a "hand-scanner" (scan visor?) allow you to examine tablets and the bodies of previous unfortunate explorers in order to collect items and solve puzzles.

Unlike Metroid, however, La-Mulana provides players with few opportunities to restore their HP, and the environment puzzles are particularly devious. There's a lot of restoring health at savepoints and attempting objectives multiple times to make sure you get through with as little damage taken as possible.

La-Mulana is being published by Nicalis, who are also publishing Cave Story and Night Game for WiiWare. While the final release date hasn't been locked down -- WiiWare developers are often left at the mercy of Nintendo's less than stellar online division in this regard -- we do know the game will see a North American release sometime this fall.

Many thanks to Denpa no Sekai for the tip!

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