Product Info

Platform

Switch

Publisher

Wayforward

Developer

NIGORO, WayForward

Genre

Action, Fighting

Players

1-2

File Size (Minimum)

1.6 GB

Release Date (NA)

Apr 16, 2024

Purchase From

eShop

Official Store

In the language of flowers, roses symbolize love, passion, and power, while camellias symbolize grace, sophistication, and perseverance. In Rose and Camellia Collection, produced by Nigoro and published by WayForward (with a physical edition by Limited Run Games), players will need to draw upon both in order to succeed in this over-the-top, high society slap-fighting game.

Let Slap the Dogs of War

Rose and Camellia Collection technically consists of five games, three of which were originally created by Japanese developer Nigoro in Adobe Flash (remember Newgrounds?) plus two new ones created for this package. Each game is really just one short chapter in the overall experience, so it’s more like one full game than five. Still, regardless of the semantics, your goal is the same: fight your way past four or five adversaries in Punch-Out style matches. The difference with this series is that you and your opponents are all female members of high society, and as such, you won’t be doing anything as vulgar as punching. Instead, you’ll elegantly slap your way to victory.

The first game follows Reiko Tsubakikoji, a young commoner woman who married the eldest son of the esteemed Tsubakikoji family. Unfortunately, he passed away, but since he was the heir, she stands to inherit his status within the family. However, the rest of the Tsubakikojis are not pleased with a mere commoner trying to take over, so Reiko must defeat them all to secure her claim.

After defeating five opponents, the chapter ends and the next one is unlocked. You now assume the role of second sister Saori Tsubakikoji. She’s still annoyed at the situation and decides to assert herself much like Reiko did. Later, you’ll unlock a storyline that takes you around the world to face foes like Winn Bourbon of England and Seiko the Slappitarius of Greece. To find out what happens, you’ll have to play through the game yourself. It won’t take too long—two or three hours to see and do everything, depending on your skill.

The Rules of Engagement

According to Torie, one of the Tsubakikoji family maids, “Slapping is…considered as traditional sport for noble women.” Like any sport (or video game), you’ll need to know the basics in order to succeed.

Rule #1: You must use motion controls or the touch screen to play.

If you’re hoping to use the Pro Controller, that won’t work here. When they mean you’re going to slap, you’re going to be waving that Joy-Con or sliding that finger back and forth to mimic a real slap. You’ll often need to push a button at the same time for some of the more advanced moves, too. For example, to initiate a critical slap, you’ll have to press and hold the R button while swinging. Try both control schemes and see what works better for you.

Dodging is similarly physical. Flicking the analog stick does nothing. You have to move your arm/wrist/hand or finger to the right at the correct time. The timing can be tricky and honestly feels like it’s off by a second. Be prepared to be hit a lot when first starting out. Definitely make use of the Practice Room, where Torie will teach you all you need to know. Just know that the practice sessions don’t last long enough. You only get up to three chances to perform a move before the lesson ends. To restart a lesson involves sitting through a few seconds of loading and then skipping her introductory text. It would’ve been better if the session lasted until you ended it.

With these physical controls performed often in a fast manner, yes, the game won’t register all your movements all the time. Yes, you’ll sometimes only do a regular slap when you intended for a critical one. Yes, it’ll be frustrating when that happens. However, the game is fairly forgiving difficulty wise, so you’ll eventually waggle your way to victory. All this movement can be quite the workout. Don’t be surprised if your arm aches a little the next day.

Rule #2: Pay attention to your opponent.

You’ll be facing roughly a couple dozen fighters, but they can all be slapped into submission with patience, skill, and a little luck. To start, all fights go in turns. You get a chance to slap your opponent once and then they get one chance. You always go first. When you’re on the offensive, slap when you think you can get a good hit in. You might even have to perform a feint by almost slapping in order to create an opening. If you see your opponent open up, go for it! When it’s your opponent’s turn, you’ll be dodging and counterattacking. They will always telegraph their move or indicate they’re about to strike in some fashion, be it a pulling back of the arm or a twinkle in the eye. Keep a lookout and then strike back, but be quick about it. Occasionally, you’ll be prompted to perform a multislap attack. This is your chance to really lay into your opponent. The faster you move, the more slaps you’ll get in, so make the most of these moments.

Both you and your opponent have a heath bar indicated by a set number of roses across the bottom of the screen. Yours are on the right by your character, and theirs are on the left. When enough hits are taken, half of a rose disappears. As you progress through the chapters, the number of roses your foes have increases, so it’ll be easier for them to take you down than the other way around. If that proves to be too hard, there is a setting to change it so you both have equal health.

As you whittle down your opponent’s health, they can and will change their attack patterns, especially later in the game. Don’t get complacent and be ready for anything. If and when you lose, the game is very forgiving. You won’t have to restart from the first fighter in that chapter. You’ll be able to jump into the same fight as many times as you want. Just be sure to do it before the ten-second timer runs out.

Slappy Days Are Here Again

As alluded to before, the Rose and Camellia Collection is full of soap opera-ish melodrama, but that’s mostly limited to the early parts of the game. As you unlock more chapters, it goes to some quite bonkers places. In the world tour, your character will face off against adversaries who are fine attacking with a tennis racket or with four arms. She’ll find her opponents increasingly incredulous. Finally, when facing a catgirl cosplayer, your character will flat out say, “Will you please stop destroying the reputation of this game…” The fun doesn’t stop there. In a chapter that examines the daily life of Shizuka Tsubakikoji, you go up against unwanted solicitors and even a giant mechanoid. “This is beyond ridiculous,” she says at one point. You’ll have to agree with her by then.  That said, the best comedic dialogue can be found in the bonus storyline, The Chapter of La-Mulana, which is based on the La-Mulana game series. There, you play as Mulbruk, a monotone maiden fighting to determine who’s the true heroine. It’s a completely ridiculous and fitting end to this whole collection.

Although your first journey through the entire story mode will be fairly brief, that’s not the end of the experience. Should you wish to hone your skills against a particular opponent in a chapter you’ve finished (or just want to listen to the humorous dialogue again), there’s no need to fight your way through the whole chapter again. You can choose the foe you start on.

In addition, two players can face off against each other in local VS mode with each one using a Joy-Con. It’s best if you play after finishing all the chapters in story mode, though. Most of the characters remain locked until each chapter is completed. That said, even when everyone is available, you still can’t choose anyone you want to fight as. Player 1 (on the right side of the screen) is limited to picking one of the seven protagonist characters. Meanwhile, Player 2 (on the left side) can only pick one of the 24 adversaries. It’s strange. The game’s engine clearly isn’t designed to allow anyone to fight anyone. Your dream of having two Madame Camellias fight will, sadly, remain just that.

Flower Power

The visuals in Rose and Camellia Collection, despite (or because of) their Flash origins, do the job well enough. They won’t impress by any means, but they are detailed and clean, allowing you to clearly see what you need to see. The character designs are anime-inspired and have a slightly rough hand-drawn look to them, which isn’t a bad thing. The characters are large, taking up a good portion of the screen, and their often-exaggerated reactions to being slapped can be quite amusing. During the course of the fight, their models will reflect the toll of being slapped repeatedly. Eyes will be swollen shut, cheeks will be bruised, blood will trickle from their mouth, their posture changes, and more. Honestly, the most satisfying visuals come from when you finally defeat an opponent, especially if you hit them so hard they launch into the wall in the background.

Speaking of anime, when booting up for the first time, the collection starts with an anime-style opening animation, complete with theme music and vocals. It also has ending credits, also with animation and a song, that can be viewed at any time. Each chapter also has its own credits, which makes sense since they were originally created as standalone titles. These, however, only consist of a still image and an instrumental. (You’d better like or not mind harpsichord, violin, cello, and piano because you’ll hear those constantly.) If you’ve watched a fair amount of dubbed anime, you’ll recognize some of the voice actors listed, such as Cristina Valenzuela and Stephanie Sheh. The performances before, during, and after fights lean into the ludicrousness already present. 

You can listen to the Japanese voices with English subtitles if you prefer. Thankfully, the language text settings are a little more open, with options for Chinese (simple, traditional), Korean, French, Italian, German, and Spanish also available. Also, as mentioned earlier, there are a few settings that affect the gameplay, but there’s no mirroring for left-handers.

To Slap, Perchance to Dream

Experiencing Rose and Camellia Collection is like having a multicolored flower that only lasts a day. It’s wacky and novel, but ultimately, there just isn’t enough life there to sustain it. Still, for that one brief moment, it can hold your attention with its own awkward aplomb.

A Nintendo Switch code was provided by the publisher.