Hello everyone!
With the April 17th launch just around the corner, we’re rolling out one of our biggest pre‑release updates yet. V0.38 adds difficulty upgrades, performance boosts, adds new voices, and injects even more personality into every race. Think of this as the final stretch before the marathon kicks off in just over a weeks time!
New Difficulty System
A full overhaul of difficulty options gives players more control over how chaotic their marathon becomes.
You can find these options in the character select screen.
Adaptive Difficulty
Some difficulty levels now adjust dynamically to your skill, keeping races exciting whether you’re a seasoned melon‑dodger or a first‑time runner.
New Difficulty Tiers
Novice: more forgiving CPU, great for newcomers
Amateur: the classic Nippon Marathon experience
Pro: CPUs that will challenge even veteran racers
CPU Improvements
CPUs now plan routes more efficiently
They claim navigation paths to avoid crowding and create more interesting races
Dive and jump actions now mirror real player ability
Popularity Orbs
Popularity now has a visual form, and in the form of orbs!
Perform an action that affects popularity and orbs will appear and fly toward the responsible player.
Push over a child? Expect a cloud of angry red orbs tattling on you.
New Voices Have Joined the Marathon!
Please give a warm, chaotic welcome to the newest voice actors entering the Nippon Marathon universe:
Inuzuka Wanko as Elizabeth Nishibori, Museum Worker, Cup Ramen Mascot
フリー声優ボーン (BONE) as Snuguru Maestro
Raha as Zenbei
神凪誠士 as J Darwin
Plus characters now react to what’s happening in the race more than before; they’ll pant when exhausted, yell when falling, and generally sound like someone who’s just been hit by a melon at 30mph. Ouch.
UI Improvements
Steam Deck + Steam Controller now show correct button icons
You can now hold a direction to scroll through menus faster
Custom Character slots now use arrow keys to cycle between options when selecting a custom character
Eliminated Custom Characters now display a red X so you instantly know who’s out
Optimisation
Stage loading times massively reduced (Up to 40 seconds shaved off some stages!)
Performance boosted across all stages
Major project restructuring so future patches will be much smaller
Miscellaneous
Tutorial polished with small improvements
Carp now jump with more enthusiasm
Fixed bananas making the wrong “slip” sound
Contestant likes, dislikes, blood type, and height updated
FSR 2.0 upscaler now working properly on Steam Deck
Photo Mode camera is now correctly bound to the intended area - no more drifting through the entire stage like a ghost with a DSLR.
Additional small fixes and stability improvements across the board.
The demo and playtest builds have also been updated with all these improvements, so you can jump in and try everything right away.
If you want to support the chaos as we sprint toward launch, wishlist Nippon Marathon 2 on Steam.
So until next time,
Stay daijoubu,
Andy & Amy