Lost Nintendo classic Kuru Kuru Kururin resurfaces on Wii U

By Danny Cowan Published February 12, 2016

nintendo kuru kururin makes stateside debut on wii u header — Image used with permission by copyright holder

A long-lost Game Boy Advance classic makes its first ever appearance in North America this week as part of Nintendo’s latest eShop update. Previously available exclusively in Japan in Europe, the Nintendo-published puzzler Kuru Kuru Kururin is now available for download on the Wii U.

Kuru Kuru Kururin joins a broad selection of new eShop releases this week, including standouts like Big Brain Academy, Outside the Realm, and Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty.

Originally released for Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance portable console in 2001, Kuru Kuru Kururin is a reflex-testing puzzle game that challenges players to navigate an oblong, constantly spinning aircraft through narrow passageways and labyrinthine mazes. Stages must be completed without touching each level’s surrounding walls, requiring players to develop precision navigation skills throughout.

Though an English-language version of Kuru Kuru Kururin eventually surfaced in Europe, the game never saw an official release in North America. It later served as a direct inspiration for 2014’s popular indie release Roundabout, which adapted Kururin‘s gameplay mechanics in the context of an off-kilter action game featuring a revolving limousine.

Joining Kuru Kuru Kururin on the Wii U eShop this week is Polarium Advance, a tile-flipping puzzler that first appeared on the Game Boy Advance from publisher Atlus in 2006. This week also marks the eShop launch of Big Brain Academy, a Nintendo-developed educational game originally published for the Nintendo DS.

The Wii U additionally hosts a port of Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty this week, along with the multiplayer action game Cutie Clash, casual puzzler Outside the Realm, and fishing sim Cutie Pets Go Fishing.

eShop customers can also sample a selection of bargain-priced Atlus games this week, including The Legend of Legacy, Citizens of Earth, and Shin Megami Tensei IV. Sale prices remain in effect through February 18th.

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https://twitter.com/GameHistoryOrg/status/1494398068346654720
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Why is Nintendo shutting down the 3DS and Wii eShops?
Officially, Nintendo’s FAQ on the eShop closures says “this is part of the natural life cycle for any product line as it becomes less used by consumers over time." The answer doesn’t get into specifics and might confuse those still playing games on the system or fans of games only available on Wii U or 3DS. Omdia Principal Analyst Matthew Bailey explains Nintendo’s user base argument in more detail, highlighting the massive gap between the number of people playing the Switch as opposed to the Wii U.
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“As these systems age, they require patches, security, special contracts, updates, and personnel that know how they were built (and maintained),” his Twitter thread explains. “As time goes on, there are security holes, servers, code, infrastructure, etc., that can’t be brought up to modern standards. It becomes a constant struggle between maintaining legacy systems, paying people to do so, and trying to keep up with global regulations. It’s not cheap by any means. They can’t just ‘leave the lights on’ and stop supporting them. What if someone hacked the payment processor?”
With every passing year, the Wii U and 3DS eShops likely became more expensive to maintain and an increased security risk for the video game publisher. Instead of investing the time and resources into pleasing a smaller amount of players, the easier option is to turn everything off entirely. While he isn’t affiliated with Nintendo, Game Over Thirty’s assessment aligns with what we’ve heard from Nintendo and Omdia.
"The Wii U’s global active installed base will drop under one million in 2022."

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