With La-Mulana coming to Steam soon (and some fantastic news coming tomorrow), we thought it might be fun to throw the spotlight on its developer: NIGORO.

While NIGORO is well known in the West for La-Mulana, it was actually not their first game. NIGORO actually cut its teeth making ingenious flash-based games. Known mostly in more dedicated gaming circles, many of these games possess the same charm, off-kilter humor, and tight gameplay that made La-Mulana such a success when it first appeared on the scene.

One of NIGORO’s most famous Flash games goes by the name ‘Rose & Camellia’. Resembling Nintendo’s Punch-Out!! in basic mechanics, Rose & Camellia follows the life of a widowed commoner who must slap her way to earning her station in an elite family.

Rose & Camellia earned a lot of praise, not only for its fantastic artstyle and unique setting, but for its tight, mouse-based mechanics. The game was successful enough to warrant a sequel, that follows Lady Saori on her road to regain her family’s power. Rose & Camellia can be played in English here. Rose & Camellia 2 can be played here.

Since then, NIGORO has created a wealth of free Flash titles, including Death Village, which follows a real estate agent’s escape from a haunted village, and Mekuri Master, the story of a perverted high school delinquent with a penchant for skirt-flipping (this one might not be appropriate for younger Playismites).

With such a long list of varied and expertly designed games, it seems almost criminal that NIGORO’s noteriety has only come with the release of La-Mulana. “Better late than never”!

And don’t forget, we’ve got a great announcement coming tomorrow! Can’t wait to share it with everyone.