#lurchin

Angry Celina Dixie Kong

Audio:

Name: Lurchin

Debut: Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble!

I want to say that no sea urchin could ever disappoint me. And for the most part? This holds true! Realistic sea urchins are just plain neat, but there’s nothing wrong with slapping a goofy face on them either! “Ball covered in spikes” is pretty much the extent of what you need when you’re designing a sea urchin, and if you get that right? Well, there’s not much else to worry about!

But then there’s Lurchin... Let’s start with the positives, okay? Lurchin has an awesome body plan. Usually when you put a face on a sea urchin, you put it right on the outside and call it a day, but Lurchin instead cuts the sea urchin in half and puts the face on the soft bit in the middle, and you know what? That’s cool! I dig that! I almost dig Lurchin!

But then they had to render it with way more detail than it deserves. The soft innards just look so grossly fleshy, and combined with the bloodshot eyes and ESPECIALLY that mouth... I really can’t bring myself to call this sea urchin my friend! I guess they succeeded at creating an enemy that I actually consider an enemy of my own? But Lurchin is also very hard to kill, so, good luck with that. Enemies get covered in spikes for a reason, folks! That’s why you put urchins in video games!

There is actually a boss version of Lurchin that I like a good bit more, and it’s probably because her lips are less terrible. Her name is Barbos, and while I’m still not sure if she’s what I’m looking for in a sea urchin, I can at least appreciate this shake-up from the norm. Could do without the bloodshot eyes, though!

...Which her in-game sprite thankfully discards! Yay! I’m not sure if this is a complete redemption arc for the whole Lurchin family... but it’s a start!