Clu Clu Land

Clu Clu Land is a Nintendo Entertainment System game first released in Japan in 1984. It would later be released as a launch title in other countries; in North America the game released in 1985, and in Europe, the game released in 1987. The game stars a red, spherical female protagonist named Bubbles, who goes around in a maze trying to uncover all the golden Ingots.

Gameplay
The story starts with a type of sea urchin, the Unira, stealing all of the treasures in the underwater kingdom of Clu Clu Land. Bubbles, the heroine, sets out to retrieve the treasure. The object of the game is for Bubbles to uncover all the gold Ingots in each stage while avoiding the Unira and Black Holes. Ingots usually form a shape such as a heart or a mushroom.

The only way Bubbles can turn around to change directions is by means of Turning Posts located throughout the stages. When Bubbles holds on to a pole without letting go, she spins "around and around". She can stun the Unira by using a Sound Wave. When they are stunned, she can push them into a wall to get rid of them and receive points. If Bubbles is hurt by the Unira, she will lose a life. A life is also lost if she falls into a Black Hole, or if time runs out. The game ends when Bubbles has lost all her lives.

In later levels, Bubbles must pass over the ingots an odd number of times to uncover them, as they alternate between their uncovered side and a dull side.

Alternate versions and re-releases

 * 1984: Released for the Nintendo VS. System, with the title VS. Clu Clu Land, which itself received a Famicom Disk System release in 1992 with the title, Clu Clu Land: Welcome to New Cluclu Land.
 * 2001: Ported to the Sharp Zaurus series of PDAs.
 * 2001: Included as an unlockable game in Animal Crossing, along with the Famicom Disk System release.
 * 2003: Ported to the e-Reader with the title Clu Clu Land-e.
 * 2004: The game was ported to the Game Boy Advance as part of the Famicom Mini series.
 * 2008/2009: Ported to the Wii's Virtual Console. This version first released in North America before releasing in 2009 in Japan and Europe.
 * 2013/2014: Received a Virtual Console port for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

Legacy
Various elements from Clu Clu Land appear throughout the Super Smash Bros. series. Bubbles appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Unira appears as an item in every Super Smash Bros. game starting with Super Smash Bros. Brawl. A medley of various tracks from the original game is selectable as background music for a number of stages in several games in the series, and Bubbles and Unira are featured as Spirits in Ultimate.

The game DK: King of Swing was inspired by Clu Clu Land and even features Bubbles as the last unlockable character. In WarioWare: Twisted! and WarioWare: Smooth Moves, there are a few Clu Clu Land microgames. Clu Clu Land is one of the games featured in the NES Remix series.

Trivia

 * Although "Clu Clu Land" is the official English title for the game, "Clu Clu" is actually an anglicization of "Kuru Kuru"; a Japanese onomatopoeia that refers to something going "around and around". The same phrase is also the basis for the title of the Game Boy Advance game Kuru Kuru Kururin.
 * The Ingot sprite from Clu Clu Land was reused as the Rupee sprite in the first The Legend of Zelda game.
 * The bounce sound was reused as the jump sound in Super Mario Bros..