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La-Mulana is an Action Archaelogical Ruins Exploration Game. It was released in 2005 as a freeware game for Windows, as a non-freeware Remake in 2012, and a non-freeware remake for WiiWare.
The game's plot stars an Indiana-Jones-esque archaeologist named Lemeza Kosugi whose quest is to explore the set of ancient ruins known as La-Mulana, or simply the Ruins.
The game is an action-adventure 2D platformer that plays like a "metroidvania" game: you are given an area to explore open-endedly, with paths that can open up as various power-ups and other items are obtained.
Development History[]
La-Mulana was developed by a group of three Japanese indie developers called "GR3" (now known as NIGORO). The name "La-Mulana" is derived from reversing the Japanese (effectively reversing the syllables) of the name of one of the developers, Naramura.
The game's development and manual are notable for their criticism of the easiness of recent games. Thus, the game was developed according to a premise of bringing "tension" to the player's experience. (Of course, this is done within reason, excepting the bonus dungeon known as Hell Temple.)
La-Mulana was heavily influenced by the MSX game Maze of Galious until they modified the game into a completely different style after the developers concluded what they had "was nothing but a cheap Maze of Galious knockoff". The outcome of the game loosely resembles Maze of Galious. A good part of La-Mulana's content is a tribute to the MSX computer system in general.
As a result of the game's success in both Japan and overseas, NIGORO and NicaLiS decided to publish the game for WiiWare. Due to a series of business-related issues, the English version of the WiiWare title got cancelled. Luckily, due to the dedication of both NIGORO and its fans, NIGORO decided to publish the game for PC with the help of Playism Games. Then at the end of 2012, NIGORO successfully published La-Mulana to WiiWare in regions outside NTSC-J.
8-Bit Version[]
- Release: 2005
In the 8-bit version of the game, all ROM items in the game are Konami games, and Konami ROM Combos can be done with them. In the game, the development team is referred to, sometimes, as "Kobami". This game was never officially released outside Japan, but it was translated to English by Aeon Genesis. The English patch was released in 2007.
WiiWare Release[]
- Release (Japan): June 21, 2011
- Release (NA/EU): September 20, 2012
The 32-bit style remake was released for the Wii in Japan in 2011. The visuals and music were upgraded to reflect a style similar to 2D games from the PlayStation and Sega Saturn, and there were many changes from the freeware version, intended to better balance the difficulty, though not necessarily to make it easier. Its original western publisher Nicalis canceled the game's release, but it would eventually be released by Enjoy Up in 2012.
32-Bit PC Version[]
- Release (worldwide): July 13, 2012
In 2012, Playism released a port of the Wii title for Windows PCs. The game would further be available on various storefronts, including Desura, GOG, and Steam. The Steam release came along with more promotional art and Steam Trading Cards.