Monday, March 16, 2015

I'm going to publish my impressions of Awatama (DS) in just a bit, but in the meantime, let's ogle its beautiful box and cart-label art

Although I spent a good amount of time with the North American version of this game--called Soul Bubbles--shortly after it I got my DS Lite back in 2010 or so, the copy I cozied up to wasn't my own. (An acquaintance lent it to me.)

I enjoyed the game so much, though, that I vowed to buy my own copy at some point down the road.

Oddly, it took me until late last year to follow through with that vow--and even then I didn't buy the North American version. Instead, I bought the Japanese version, Awatama, which was released in that region in 2009 by a company known as Interchannel. (Eidos Interactive published it elsewhere the year before.)



After even a brief glance at this game's beautiful cover art, though, I'm sure you'll understand why I went with this iteration over the ones mentioned above. (For the sake of comparison, here's the Euro version's far less appealing box art.)


Awatama's cart label, showcased in the snapshot above, is similarly stunning, if you ask me. I especially like this game's deceptively simple, yet still surprisingly attractive, logo.



I'd be hard-pressed to call the art that covers the backside of Awatama's case stunning, but it's still pretty darn nice, right? After all, it includes a couple of unique illustrations along with the usual array of screenshots.

Have any of you played the European, North American or even Japanese version of this Mekensleep-made title? If so, what are your thoughts on its art style, its gameplay or any other aspect of it?

6 comments:

TheGameroomBlitz said...

It's good. Kind of the love child of Loco Roco and the GameBoy oldie Bubble Ghost, if anyone remembers that one. Glad you got around to talking about it!


My favorite part of Soul Bubbles is the disclaimer that warns you there will be no alien blasting or carjacking of any kind. Pretty ballsy of the developers to thumb their noses at modern gaming trends like that.

thegaygamer.com said...

Oh, yes, I remember Bubble Ghost, Jess. In fact, I have a copy of the Japanese GB version of the game that I've been meaning to blog about for ages. Maybe soon...

apricotsushi said...

Super cute! I haven't played any versions of it though, hahah

thegaygamer.com said...

Oh, you should try it someday, Anne. It's really pretty innovative, gameplay-wise, and it looks nice, too!

apricotsushi said...

I'd love to give it a go sometime!

thegaygamer.com said...

Good! Hopefully you should be able to find a copy on the cheap side these days...