Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak

I'm a 20 year-old male. Scary, no?

Platform	Presentation	Controls	Variety	Audio	Depth	Value & Fun	OVERALL
Game Boy Advance	9.50	7.00	7.50	8.50	5.00	7.00	7.25

Gameplay Description

Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak is an adventure game for the Game Boy Advance based on the Hamtaro cartoon/anime license. You take control of two Ham-Hams, Hamtaro and Bijou and solve puzzles using Ham-speak words you learn as you talk with other Ham-Hams in an effort to repair broken relationships.

Dedication Meter	5.00
Ham-Ham Heartbreak is an expectedly easy-going game that's easy to play without worrying too much. Even if you forget what to do, you have the ability to talk with others at your "clubhouse" for a reminder. Hints obtained via the same manner helps minimize becoming stuck.

Presentation

9.50

The selling-point of Hamtaro is the license and how it presents itself. Ham-Ham Heartbreak shamelessly insists on cuting you to death with adorable animations and dialogue. The sprites are colourful and well-detailed and inarguably add to the enjoyment of the game, provided you're not a heartless empty shell who can only find enjoyment in the disembodiment of alien invaders. In which case, this is your worst nightmare.

The story is limited, although the characters help the adventure along. It's impossible to properly describe the game without explaining the story, so here it is: Controlling Hamtaro and accompanied by Bijou, you must repair broken relationships as you stop the evil deeds of the lying Ham-Ham, Spat. It works for what the game is, which isn't the place for a complicated story.

There can be the occasional lack of clarity in what is an element with which you can interact, which can be occasionally annoying, although not very problematic.

Controls

7.00

The controls, for the most part, are fittingly simple. You move around with D-pad, run while holding B, and open your choices of Ham-speak with A. The menues are unfortunately a bit clunky, beginning with two different menues depending on whether you press Start or Select.

The main issue is that everything's just a bit slow. You have to watch the animations every time you do something, the only way to speed up dialogue is to skip quickly with B which makes it too easy to miss some text altogether, and there are just some things you shouldn't have to do. For example, while the gameplay is focused around Ham-speak, there should be a separate option to simply press a button to talk normally without having to choose Hamha from the menu, then watch the animation. The same applies for picking up items on the ground.

Overall the simplicity keeps things solid enough, just know you'll need to be patient with the repetitious menus and animations.

Variety

7.50

For a game that is just walking around talking to others, there's a strange depth of variety to the game.  Character relations tie into who you're supposed to interact with next keeping the game from dragging its feet as simply a talk-to-everyone aimlessly scenario.  Additionally, the interaction includes objects around the environment, such as vines and cracked walls that you can do something with or to if you know the right Ham-speak word.

There is also the occasional puzzle element no involving finding the right word.  Spotting something in the environment is usually the key in these cases and are generally the most rewarding.

Lastly, there are some minigames to be found in the game that are pretty well done, although guided mostly by luck, even if you don't notice it at first.  Getting the high score is a surprisingly addicting task.  Other minigames are things that may not be best described as games, such dressing up your Ham-Hams and posing them for pictures, or choreographing dances using the animations associated with Ham-speak you've learned.

The main issue with the variety is really the concept of the game itself.  Learning words in order to progress only leaves so much room with which to work.

Audio

8.50

The music in the game is, like the game, over-the-top cute and cheery and it works well. If catchy's what you're looking for, Hamtaro's got it. A surprising and satisfying addition is the some Beethoven, which sounds beautiful.

The Ham-Hams are limited to simile squeeking sounds that do their part and is limited to only in Ham-speak animations. The main issue in the music is that the tunes are fairly short and during longer sections in the same area, it can get rather annoying despite being well composed.

Depth

5.00

If you're looking for much in the way of strategy or complicated puzzles, this is not the place. Ham-Ham Heartbreak is best understood as a loosely directed interactive Hamtaro world as opposed to a game. That the text usually corresponds in some fashion to whom you should next Ham-speak is well done, but problematic when not there and it's usually a bit too blatant. The environmental puzzles are very simplistic.

Value & Fun

7.00

For what it is, Ham-Ham Heartbreak is an enjoyable game.  It relies heavily on its terrifically executed presentation and is both helped and hurt because of it.  If you enjoy the series' trademark cuteness, it's likely you'll be able to overlook the lack of substance.  The conversations can be entertaining, which is a definite plus.

The game's length is very dependent on how quickly you catch on to what to do.  If you aren't following what you're supposed to be doing most of the time, it could well take over 20 hours to get through.  Myself, I only had a few hangups and finished probably in the area of 7 -10 hours.  Those few hang-ups, though, were elements more of poor design than anything else.  Apparently the developers expect you to tackle everyone you meet, because there comes a point in which if you didn't tackle the right unrelated person, you wouldn't learn the word required to progress.

The overall polish that is often lacking in licensed games is a good reason for fans to take particular interest here.  Great audio, presentation and an unusual amount of variety gives it a step up on the competition.  And almost startlingly, there are a couple videogame homages.

Overall	7.25
Although it's a cliche, I'll use it anyway. If you like Hamtaro (or are just a sucker for cute), you won't be disappointed.

Posted by Ellyoda Wed, 14 Nov 2007 00:00:00

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