Rose & Camellia Collection preview – slapping back at the upper class

Rose & Camellia Collection / WayForward

You’ve likely seen the viral trailer for the Rose & Camellia Collection by now. It’s that game trailer where you see high-class women slapping each other in a classic ‘90s anime-style montage. Publisher Limited Run Games called it “Punch-Out!! meets Pride and Prejudice,” and while I have never read the latter, after just a few minutes playing it, I can certainly attest to the former. It’s also a visual novel, so it has something in common with Jane Austen’s classic.

I had a chance to play the first game in the Rose & Camellia Collection at PAX East. You play as Reiko Tsubakikoji, a young woman who wishes to be married to the son and heir of an upper-class household. In my demo, I only took part in two slap fights, but before each one there was a lengthy, fully animated cutscene explaining the story as she slaps her way to the head of the house. This is where the visual novel aspect plays out, and it’s clear that there is a decent amount of story here across all of the games, but it is only here as a conduit to deliver the meat of the game, the slapping.

Rose & Camellia Collection / WayForward

The Rose & Camellia Collection is a Nintendo Switch exclusive, and that is because the best way to play it is with the Joy-Con. Both slapping and dodging is enacted not only by pressing buttons on the controller, but also through your movements, and this gives a realistic feeling to each slap. While you obviously don’t feel it when the housekeeper slaps you in the face, it does feel good to land one right on her kisser. If you slug her real good – meaning with perfect timing – you enter a fast slapping state where you quickly waggle back and forth to front and backhand her. There is also a mode using the touchscreen for Switch Lite users, but it probably doesn’t feel as good as a real hearty backhand.

What the game does best is the telegraphing of each attack. There are clear animations for each wind-up, and each lady will have a number of different kinds of slap in her arsenal. By learning the patterns and figuring out the timing for when each slap lands, you can dodge them, giving you a small window for a counterattack. While the timing isn’t as tight as Punch-Out’s, it has the same strong foundation that made that game such a classic. It never feels unfair or impossible: whenever you get hit with a slap in the face, you know what you did wrong.

Rose & Camellia Collection / WayForward

The collection includes five Rose & Camellia games, which equates to more than 30 characters you can slap around. Each one is short and sweet, but with the variety of fights across the whole collection, there is likely more than enough to get your teeth into. There is also a local two-player mode, so you can team up with a friend and slap each other silly.

From what I played the Rose & Camellia Collection achieves exactly what it sets out to do. It is silly fun, with some beautiful animations, and a humorous storyline. It isn’t any deeper than that, but it doesn’t need to be, and you’ll leave with a smile on your face after you slap the smirk off a fancy lady in a hoop skirt. The Rose & Camellia Collection will launch on April 16, 2024, exclusively for Nintendo Switch.