Rupeeland on earth

Uncle Rupee is no more. As illusory as Rupeeland wound up being, if the ending of the game is any indication, Tingle went on to use the 800,000+ rupees gathered throughout the game to live it up - doing all of the things that Uncle Rupee had promised him. With that in mind, it's no wonder that Tingle's broke by the time the sequel starts. Oh, yes, there is a sequel to Rosy Rupeeland, but it never left Japan. A shame, since Color Changing Tingle's Love Balloon Trip's Wizard of Oz basis makes it a very curious thing. 

As per the boss of Rosy Rupeeland, Uncle Rupee himself, the fight is actually a let down. It's a three stage fight (as any good final boss should be, right?), and done in a bullet-hell style...in space! The battle's setting is really cool, particularly the fact that the tower rockets off into the great unknown, rams through the moon and stops once the top gets through the far side. So, like another odd Zelda game, this one ends on the moon (sort of). 

I'm not sure if it was because I brought along so many rupees, or because Tingle and Uncle Rupee's attacks moved like they were in a light syrup, but all three stages of the fight were underwhelming. With 800,000+ HP, it's hard to feel like things are that dire, even if you wind up with just 200,000 by the battle's end. 

Interestingly, though, before the fight Uncle Rupee asks for your rupees. You can give him none or some (or nearly all). Handing over some of your cash would make the fight more challenging. Still, after all of the other boss fights and their innovative mechanics, just floating around and holding the stylus to the screen to shoot is pretty lame. 

Overall, though, Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland is a great game, so long as you can get past the rupees-for-everything mechanic. Its weirdness is a great reward for sticking with it.