Clu Clu Land

This weeks game is a recommendation from my wife. I didn't actually play the game myself back in the day, but it certainly is a precious memory and a gem of a game to her.

Box Cover

Clu Clu Land was released 1984 in Japan to the Famicom with the title クルクルランド.
In 1985 it was released in North America as a NES launch title together with 15 other titles such as Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. In 1987 it was released in Europe, one year after the console was released.

What makes the game such a gem is the fact that you can play two player simultaneously (as opposed to alternately like so many other games, like Super Mario Bros.), and the fact that you can both help the other player or sabotage for the other player.

2 player mode. Player 2 controls a green Bubbles

クルクル is actually romanized as Kuru Kuru a Japanese onomatopeia word that refers to something going "around and around". In order to navigate the stages you have to grab to poles, which makes you go around.

The story is that the Unira steals Clu Clu Lands treasures, and the heroin, a balloonfish named Bubbles (グルッピー Guroppii) sets out to retrieve the treasure.

You control Bubbles with the plus button and she can shoot sound-waves to stun the enemies (the Unira). You must avoid black holes, that will suck you in and kill you. There are also rubber-bands (or something) that will make you bounce back in the opposite direction. This is also the effect if two players run into each other.

The object of each stage is to uncover all the gold ingots, which usually creates an image.

The ingots on this stage creates a smiley face.

Once you have completed all the stages, the game begins again from the first stage, but now whenever you run over an uncovered ingot it will disappear again, making the game a lot harder and requiring some strategy.

You can buy the game for around €2-€5.

It is also available for the Wii virtual console, Nintendo 3DS virtual console, and Wii U virtual console.