Believe it or not, La Mulana has actually been around for a decade and a half. While it didn’t make it to North America until 2012, the original version of the game was released in Japan in 2005. It was later remastered in 16-bit format and released on PC and the Nintendo Wii eShop. Since then, it has taken on new life, being ported to the Vita as La Mulana EX (which was difficult to play due to screen size), and now to the Nintendo Switch along with the sequel, La Mulana 2!
La Mulana 1 & 2: Hidden Treasures Edition from NIS America and developer Nigoro is the latest release of the La Mulana series. It includes both games in a single release in physical format. Additionally, for the Switch, it seems you can purchase each game separately in a digital download. This is the definitive release of La Mulana and is the first release for consoles of La Mulana 2, which has been available on Steam since 2018.
La Mulana is Indiana Jones by way of Dark Souls. It’s always irritating to compare things to Dark Souls, but that’s how hard the La Mulana series is. It’s ridiculously challenging, purposely obtuse, and incredibly frustrating. Sounds great, right? Well, it’s also a hell of a lot of fun. You’re a professor of archaeology Lemeza Kosugi, following your father’s trail into the fabled La Mulana ruins. Along the way you’ll discover the secrets to the origins of the human race, as well as a bunch of smarmy villagers, uncounted death traps, and a whole lot of weird enemies. You know, the usual.
La Mulana is a 16-bit side-scrolling action game and is intentionally designed to feel like a game from an older generation, specifically, the MSX computer/game system. For those of you that aren’t familiar with the MSX, it was a Japan exclusive computer system that also took game cartridges. One of the most famous titles released on the MSX was Metal Gear: Solid Snake, one of Kojima’s greatest games, and one that was never released in English until Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence on the PS2. Strewn throughout the La Mulana series are references to the MSX game system, its carts, and software formats.
On top of that wealth of references also lies a pretty solid game. La Mulana is gruellingly hard, but it’s fair too. Pick up the right items, decode the right tablets, and find the right hidden pathways and you’ll survive, but it won’t be easy. Software you buy needs to be installed, and save points are few and far between. Conveniently, they double as warp points back to the village if you need a breather. While you’re there, you can take on some insults from Xelpud, the village elder, and talk to a few people, but this is primarily a game of exploration and combat. As you play, you acquire a vast repertoire of items and weapons, and you’ll need them. Bosses are challenging and your life bar is small, especially at first. Progress, again much like Dark Souls, is incremental at best and frustrating at worst. This is a challenging journey through a labyrinthine maze of ruined temples.
Physics are a bit odd in La Mulana. Your jumps, specifically, are particularly floaty, for lack of a better term, and you have to learn to time everything correctly because you can easily overshoot the mark and land in a bed of spikes over and over and over again. Enemies fly or jump right into your path as you jump and there’s no way to stop. You can also jump out, up, and back to a platform above you in complete defiance of the normal laws of physics. It’s a bit challenging to get used to, but it’s fun as hell once you master it. Initially, you’ll have a whip and not much else, and you have to get pretty close to enemies to fight them. This can be pretty intimidating, since the bosses are massive and often only have tiny weak points.
La Mulana may try the patience of the average gamer. It’s a rewarding game with a ridiculous number of hidden areas, rooms, and items, but it will not lead you by the hand in any way, shape, or form. For example, early in the game, there’s an area of the Mausoleum of Giants that seems impossible to reach. The only way to get through and reach the very first boss is to walk from another screen into thin air, which happens to be an invisible bridge, walk across the open space of the ceiling of the next room, and then jump to the final platform before you fall down a completely invisible pit and have to start over. That’s before you even get to the first boss, who will likely utterly trounce you as well. Patience pays off however, and the sense of accomplishment you get from progressing in La Mulana is palpable.
La Mulana 2, also included on the Hidden Treasures Edition is more of the same. A direct sequel to the original game, La Mulana 2 follows the exploits of Lumisa Kosugi, the daughter of Dr. Kosugi, as she searches for her father in an upside-down version of the original La Mulana ruins that could possibly even be perceived as a tribute to the second half of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Everything that holds true for La Mulana carries over to the sequel as well, including difficulty, physics, and fun factor. On top of that, La Mulana 2 updates the graphics of the original, with much nicer character images, crisper, more detailed graphics, and some slight improvements to the gameplay. Notably, the ability to jump on and off of ladders was a welcome addition, but overall, the controls definitely feel tighter on La Mulana 2. The puzzles of Eg-Lana are even tougher than those in the original ruins, and you’ll find a wealth of more complex enemies and bosses as well. It’s an excellent evolution of the original game and well-worth playing in its own right.
Both La Mulana and La Mulana 2 feature excellent soundtracks, dramatic and entertaining. The music pairs well with both titles and accentuates battles and exploration, adding just the right adventurous flair as you wind your way through the depths of the ancient temples. The music and sound effects are an essential part of exploration too, as items use audible cues to show that there are hidden rooms and items to discover as you explore. Between the excellent tunes and the smooth retro graphics, there’s a lot to love here.
In terms of gameplay on the Switch, La Mulana 1 & 2 both play incredibly well. There’s a bit more load time than expected in the second game when transitioning between areas, but nothing too outrageous. The best thing about the Switch version of the game is of course, portability. The screen on the Switch is big enough that both games are still easily playable, an issue that plagued the Vita version of the first game. Items and hidden areas can be fairly small on screen, but the Switch is up to the challenge, and you might find yourself playing both games in undocked mode more often than you expect, as they’re wildly addictive titles! In docked mode, the game is gorgeous and smooth, and the intentional 16-bit design feels both retro and modern at the same time, especially in La Mulana 2.
Only the most dedicated platform gaming enthusiasts will truly experience everything there is to find in La Mulana and La Mulana 2. The La Mulana series is a love letter to the games of yesteryear, incredibly fun, well-designed, and absolutely immersive! That being said, they also feature unforgiving difficulty requiring an abundance of patience and practice. You will be tested, and you will earn every step of your progress, but you’ll have hours of fun in the process! And that’s no exaggeration, as the first game can take upwards of 30 hours to beat fully. La Mulana 2 is even more complex, taking up to 60 hours to work through!
La Mulana 1 & 2: Hidden Treasures Edition is one of the most challenging platformers available, and to have both games in a complete collection is an absolute delight! While it’s a pricey collection, weighing in at $60, you get enough game for the price that it’s worth every penny! It doesn’t hurt that the physical edition comes with some goodies too, including a two disc soundtrack that you’ll actually listen to, an art book, and an actual puzzle as well. All in all, a pretty solid offering without the premium prices that we’ve seen from other physical editions with extras in the last couple of years! NIS is great for including fun extras with their physical releases and La Mulana 1 & 2 has really set the bar higher with this one. So walk, don’t run (because you might get crushed to death) to pick up your copy of La Mulana 1& 2: Hidden Treasures Edition! You won’t regret it! Just don’t break your controller along the way!
This review was based on a digital copy of La Mulana 1 & 2: Hidden Treasures Edition provided by the publisher as separate digital copies. It was played on a Nintendo Switch in both docked and undocked modes and was absolutely excellent in both! La Mulana 1 & 2: Hidden Treasures Edition is also available on PS4 and Xbox One and the original games are both available individually on Steam as well. Perhaps the series might even inspire a few budding archaeologists! Take a trip to your local museum and see some of the actual treasures discovered in real ruins around the world! You won’t regret it!