Ufouria: The Saga / Hebereke

Ufouria: The Saga is a charming NES/Famicom metroidvania that came to some prominence among collectors due to cartridge rarity. The game was originally released in Japan and (limited) Europe, and only became available in the US nearly 20 years later as part of the Wii’s Virtual Catalog. As of this writing authentic PAL cartridges routinely sell for $129.99 on eBay and repros are available.

The main character, Bop-Louie, must find his friends and beat the shit out of them (because they’re amnesiac) at which point they become controllable characters with unique powers that can be used to progress further. The player also discovers items like the password generator (early on, thankfully), map, and compass. Speaking of passwords. Remember that post on password systems that are a pain to record and input? Well.

Robert Hart has kindly created a Ufouria Password Decoder and Encoder, if one is so inclined.

I found this while seeking weird and cute titles with shorter playtimes and at 4 hours Ufouria handily passes muster. It’s a fun little game and an example of early metroidvanias. I feel like the Ufouria philosophy, “I must fight you and win so you will remember we are friends,” is a pragmatic one. Sometimes, one must defeat one’s friends in battle to earn true loyalty and the use of their resources.