Play PuLiRuLa Online

PuLiRuLa is a 1991 arcade game from Taito, a side-scrolling beat 'em up that stands out for its surreal, hand-drawn style. It arrived during a period when arcades were packed with fantasy and sci-fi titles, but its visual approach felt genuinely different, almost like playing through an animated storybook.

You control a young boy or girl armed with a magical staff, moving screen by screen to defeat waves of odd enemies, from giant cats to living musical notes. Your main objective is to rescue the children of your village by progressing through each whimsical stage. Signature mechanics include using your staff to cast colorful spells that fill the screen, and tapping into special screen-clearing magic by collecting items dropped by foes. The pacing is brisk, and the difficulty can spike unexpectedly, especially when dealing with swarms of bizarre opponents. It feels imaginative and unpredictable, like each stage is its own strange little world.