I only discovered this marvellous game recently, on the back of posting screenshots of its predecessor on here. But I’m extremely glad I did, because Kururin Squash! is a fantastic update of the same game mechanics that made Kuru Kuru Kururin so compelling to play: guiding a spinning stick around a series of mad, twisting mazes.

And in this game the stick can even fight back with punches… Which is great!

There’s a story mode, time trials, and two different split-screen multiplayer modes for up to four players. Well, from what I can ascertain. I can’t read Japanese. And this game was only ever released in Japan.

Don’t let that put you off though: it’s easy enough to get into.

Kururin Squash! is cute, colourful, a great party game, and a great antidote to all those interminable first-person shooters. I’d definitely put it in my top fifty GameCube games of all time. Maybe top twenty.

Kururin Squash! was developed by Eighting and published by Nintendo in 2004.

More: Kururin Squash! on Wikipedia

Kururin series:
Kuru Kuru Kururin, Game Boy Advance
Kururin Paradise, Game Boy Advance
Kururin Squash!, GameCube