I try to play a wide variety of games and in doing so, I play a fair amount of weird games. Pu-Li-Ru-La is definitely one of those weird games. Even the title is weird. I'm usually good with names, but I can never remember how to say it (much less pronounce it). Anyways, this is an arcade game from 1991 that would later see various ports that were only released in Japan. Luckily though, the original arcade game was released internationally and thus an English version is available.

Pu-Li-Ru-La plays mostly like a beat 'em up, but it does have a slightly different feel to it due to the unconventional characters and style. The levels and enemies are just bizarre and I don't even know how to describe some most of them. I mean, just look at this:

While the game has some wacky aesthetics, it's a relatively standard game otherwise. It's not a bad game, but it doesn't do anything special in terms of gameplay compared to other beat 'em ups from the era. It also doesn't seem as polished as, say, Turtles in Time...but that could just be nostalgia talking. Pu-Li-Ru-La is also very short compared to other games in the genre and it only took me 21 minutes to complete (with unlimited continues, of course) and that includes the intro, ending credits, and all cutscenes.

If you're looking for a weird beat 'em up, then look no further! Pu-Li-Ru-La makes up for its lack of innovation with a crazy and colorful graphical style that help it stand out a bit in a very crowded genre. For beat 'em up fans, it's worth checking out, but others might want to look at some of the genre heavyweights instead.

Played On: Arcade (MAME)
Completion Date: 2/13/23
Time: 21 minutes
Rating: 6/10