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A 15-year-old DS puzzle game called Coropata got its first English-language release on Steam two years ago, and with all my affection for the 1993 PC puzzler that inspired it, I can't believe it's taken me this long to learn about it.
The PC game in question is The Incredible Machine, a puzzle game where you have to build massive Rube Goldberg devices in order to accomplish various tasks. Despite the cartoonish premise, the original game was a bit impersonal, asking you to simply drop various toys on the screen in a standard windows interface.
In 2009, an obscure Japanese studio called LukPlus set about giving The Incredible Machine concept a bit more personality by adding a symbol of universal charm: an anime girl. This onscreen avatar drives the puzzles in Coropata, and while the original DS game was never released in English, it did manage to make an impression on import players thanks to its gorgeous, expressive sprite work.
近日公開！『コロぱた』Windows版のお知らせです！☆ pic.twitter.com/LkX5mMbP70December 24, 2020
This is the kind of curiosity you'd expect to remain forever limited to the DS library, but LukPlus did not let Coropata die. Over a decade later, Coropata was released on Steam, complete with its first-ever English translation. Somehow, despite this sort of revival being exactly in my wheelhouse, I had no idea Coropata or its Steam release ever existed, and I still wouldn't if not for a single tweet.
Coropata is currently on sale and will continue to be for a few days after the close of the Steam Winter Sale. The discount brings the price down to $9.99 / €8.00 / £7.50, and I think that's just about low enough for me to bite on what looks to be a fascinating little piece of gaming history.
If only all the best DS games got this sort of chance at modern life.
