Ufouria: The Saga 2 delivers a long-overdue comeback for a cult classic from the NES era, but can it live up to a legacy?

The original Ufouria: The Saga was one that got away. Its North American release was canceled back in 1991, and even though the game made it out in Japan and Europe, it stood alone in a sense. Sunsoft built the entire Hebereke series from it, but those games were spin-offs devoted to puzzles and mini-game collections. And that was a loss, as the first Ufouria was a charming side-scroller more complex than other cute action games and more approachable than other maze-driven games on the NES.

Never did Sunsoft revisit that formula—not until this year, that is. Ufouria: The Saga 2 has a remarkable new look and a modernly self-mocking tone, but it's intent on making up for decades of missed opportunities. This return to form begins with a highly laid-back alien invasion. Penguin hero Hebe awakens one day to find his homeland infested by blobs brought by the UFO pilot Utsujin, and the only antidote comes from native Popoons, face-sporting spheres collected and tossed by a penguin named Hebe and his friends. Those friends are all hijacked by alien blobs, but soon Hebe frees them and recruits O-Chan, a seemingly human girl in a catsuit that lets her tread water and grip icy surfaces; Sukezaemon, a formal, tea-sipping ghost who glides along in sunglasses and a winged hat (evoking either Mercury or Dr. Slump's Arale); and Jennifer, a fish-dude who plunges freely through depths that impede his companions.

Like the original game, Ufouria: The Saga 2 roots itself in gradually unfolding exploration, falling into that genre some call Metroidvania and others call "search action" and I call "You might need a map for this." Each new character recruited and each new ability gained opens up sections of the world, but here, such exploration follows the rules of a typical side-scroller. There are items to collect and enemies to pounce upon, but Ufouria 2 retains the first game's quirk of requiring you to hold down on the directional pad to properly trounce a foe.

Hebe and his companions also summon Popoons from thin air and hurl them to stun attackers or clear away alien slime structures while vending machines beckon with further power-ups and new features. Those vending purchases drive the game forward, but getting funds for new items is not hard. Ufouria 2 sectionalizes things more than the usual search-action game (and the first Ufouria), breaking its world into discrete stages. Each level presents an optional challenge, requiring you to take no damage, finish the course within a time limit, or perhaps just defeat one particular enemy.

The true test of any action-platform game, and perhaps any game at all, lies in how much fun it is to do nothing in particular: to run, jump, explore, and bounce off large springboards at odd angles. Ufouria 2 nails this down firmly. The controls are just flexible enough, and swapping characters is easily done—you might leap off a precipice as the all-purpose Hebe, switch to the floating Sukezaemon in mid-air, and then splash down as Jennifer. Most levels are random in their selection of obstacles and enemies, which further trims tedium when traipsing through the Popoitto Caves for the twentieth time.

It's a further plus that Ufouria 2 is constantly, acutely, almost primally cute. The characters sport fuzzy, plush-toy looks and animate with stop-motion stylings, similar to Yoshi's Crafted World, and the levels are cozy, colorful backdrops. Some may miss the vacant and surreal aura of the first Ufouria, but Ufouria 2 is welcoming at every turn. The characters are full of precious details: Hebe fluttering his stubby wings as he jumps, O-Chan flopping on her back and scooting across the ground instead of merely crawling, or Sukezaemon calmly seating himself for some tea.

Sunsoft was behind some of the most memorable soundtracks of the NES library, and Ufouria 2 wisely leans on remixes of Naoki Kodaka's original score. It's a great mixture of catchy earworms, and the game wisely doesn't give the characters spoken dialogue beyond their squeaks and beeps and less easily described noises. There's even a button dedicated to making them sing for no apparent tactical advantage. It's just cute.

Their quest is also amusing, with the quartet reacting to discoveries with deadpan and analytical quips. It's easy to become a fan of them (and wonder why Sunsoft hasn't pushed them harder as mascots over the years). They're entertaining even in routine gameplay, as cast members in reserve occasionally pipe up about their lack of playtime or the helpful items they've found. Tap the button, and they'll deliver coins and power-ups…or perhaps just a turd they're so very proud of finding. The game even sneaks in cameos for the altered characters from the original Ufouria's Western release, where Hebe became an alien snowman named Bop-Louie and O-Chan was a dinosaur named Freeon-Leon.

Ufouria 2's only real drawback? It's very seldom a challenge. Common enemies are predictable and show little variety; most of the bosses can be beaten with the same general strategy, and overall, the game is no tougher than a mild Kirby title. A greater difficulty setting can be unlocked to make foes a little more aggressive, yet even then, it's possible to finish Ufouria 2 without ever losing your small stock of lives. And if you do lose them, you're penalized only by Hebe using half your money for comfort-eating.

Ufouria 2 is neither as intense nor as expansive as modern outings in its genre. There's no vast network of caverns where you can delight in prodding every nook with a newly acquired weapon. There's no intense boss battle that pushes you to use every trick you've learned. There are no plot twists apart from a little one at the very end. Yet this was the original Ufouria's appeal; on a system with punishing, labyrinthine Metroids, Blaster Masters, and Legacies of the Wizards, here was a game where nothing was too far away and getting there was never dull. It wasn't about concealing brutal difficulties in cute wrapping, as its late-period NES companion Mr. Gimmick did. True to that, Ufouria 2 is just as cuddly as it looks.

Beneath its finely crafted felt exterior, Ufouria 2 feels much like a Super NES title, the sequel Sunsoft should have made around 1993, and there's nothing wrong with that. Indeed, something is refreshing and pure about a game that's not trying to stretch itself to suit some forced idea of "content" over innate enjoyment. It doesn't have the breadth of similar Mario and Yoshi and Kirby outings, yet it's just as enjoyable in the end. For those who appreciate an easygoing side-scroller, Ufouria 2 is a delight that never fades.