$20 Game of the Week: La Mulana (PC, WiiWare)

If La Mulana had been released on the SNES, it would have stood right up there with games like Castlevania and SUper Metroid as one of the greatest titles of the 16-bit generation. The game isn’t pretty shabby today either. La Mulana is an upgrade of an independently developed game. The original La Mulana (available for free on Tiggit) was done as a tribute to classic MSX games, and was developed by Takumi Naramura. A company known as Nigoro snatched up the game, upgraded it’s visuals to resemble 16-bit gaming systems, and ported it to WiiWare, while GR3 Project ported it to Microsoft Windows. Having a exploration-heavy style of gameplay similar to Metroid and later Castlevania titles, La Mulana puts players in the role of a young archaeologist who explores an ancient tomb. You’ll gather items and abilities to progress, and the game is non linear. The game has a high difficulty level and leaves it up to you to figure out how to progress. You’ll run into several bosses and characters throughout your journey. If you’re a fan of classic action games, you will want to add this to your collection. It’s available at Gog.com, where it’s discounted as part of the site’s winter sale.