Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg

"Funky chicken"

There is, sadly, a disturbing trend nowadays concerning maturity and gaming that tends to see games being attacked simply because of their appearance rather than their gameplay. For instance, those macho gamers who bash a game simply because it is child-like, or has the appearance of being so. Usually the ones who do this aren't even old enough to drive, and are still asking "mommy" and "daddy" to buy them games of carnage they so crave to prove how "mature" they are. Don't get me wrong, not liking certain content is by all means understandable, demeaning a game and its players, however, is not. This game's strong suit is its appearance; it shouldn't be attacked for the way it looks, because its gameplay is the really striking flaw.

Many people may consider Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg to be "kiddie," and by definition it is child-like, however, it's not solely for children. I am of the mind that believes there can be a difference between adult and mature, as well as childish and (ugh, I hate saying it) "kiddie." I don't know if it has to do with my years of gaming, or the ridiculousness of those who wish to demean a game with a certain style, but I just find this game to have a likable quality to it; an almost Disney child-like quality. Meaning, it may have its moments of cuteness, but it's for everyone to enjoy.

The premise of a boy who dons a magical chicken suit to save the fowl inhabited realm of Morning Land is so silly, you just have to take it for fun. I think that is what I enjoyed most about this game while playing: the atmosphere.

The brightly colored worlds Billy has to traverse are wonderfully laid out as those in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, and equally as vibrant. There are lands of sand, water, and ice filled with brilliant colors and nice touches like water effects, and in the case of the once-in-awhile platform level of a circus, balloons flying in the background.

In the background, as well, are a nice array of catchy tunes filled with whistling and upbeat mixes. These become available when you save an area from darkness. In that instance, serious melodies are to be found. The sounds are equally cheery, with cartoonish ''boinks'' and incredibly cute, charming, voices. Sadly, however, some slowdown issues tackle the nicely visual realms and can be very annoying.

Although this game can be compared to Mario games (how many platformers aren't?), his have the upper hand when it comes to all-around fun. As Billy Hatcher, boy chicken, you enter a world and must complete a certain task to gain an emblem of courage shaped like a rooster head. These are sort of like stars/shines and are the main goal of the levels. After the initial level where, under darkness, you must save one of the Chicken Elders from captivity to bring about daylight, you then move on to the boss level. Once you beat the boss you can then move on to the next area. I found this kind of odd as usually you must fight the boss lastly, but you can finish, mostly, two levels then move on.

And Billy is not alone. You will also gain access to his pals Chick, a cute little guy even younger than Billy; Rolly, who's a gal pal; and Bantam the oldest (although not by much) member of your chicken brigade who resides in the "teenish" age. You first have to save them to be able to use them, and when you do their levels become available.

These levels basically have you doing what Billy does in his, such as saving chickens, collecting coins to keep the timer up in a beat-the-clock-type affair, and just making it to an emblem. Also included are small chicks with broken eggshell caps that give you tips, or just encouragement to continue. To get through these levels Billy and his friends must use the power of their chicken suits to take control of eggs. When they come upon an egg, they latch on to it, thus allowing them to roll it around. They can roll over enemies or use it to help them get around the environment.

The enemies don't really offer much challenge, though, and look horribly simple. They are not crows, but rather creatures like cats and dinosaurs that are transformed crows. When you defeat them they turn into crows and fly away. In this I was disappointed since I would have liked to see more of the crows themselves. Aside from the bosses and a few large crows, they are unseen until you defeat an enemy. It would have been nice to see the enemy more.

With the egg in hands, you must find scattered fruit in bubbles that, when run over with an egg, cause it to grow. By using a super cute rooster call, the guys, and gal, can then hatch whatever might be in an egg once it's fully grown. A creature, for example, could come out, and when touched, join you for a limited time helping you in various ways such as defeating enemies, or eliminating obstacles like boulders or fire. Sadly, though, these also simple, odd creatures, that look like they came from Dr. Moreau Jr., don't last long and you can't use them in boss battles.

Other types of items also come out of eggs, such as a cap that can allow you to remote control an egg, and beneficial items like a butterfly to restore your health; there are many more that can help like this. And in a reference to their past games, Sonic Team have special ''Sonic Eggs'' that you can hatch by finding Chick Coins (unrelated to the Billy's frined) hidden throughout levels that when hatched produced a creature from one of their past games. These forms of aid can easily be used with the Y and X buttons respectively and be viewed in a gallery, so you really do want to find and hatch as many eggs as you can.

Finally, there are eggs that can also be hatched to receive mini-games that you can download to your Game Boy Advance to play, like the addictive Puyo Pop, a puzzle game like Kirby's Avalanche and Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine.

The eggs can also help you perform a bit of platforming, as also scattered around the levels are rings that can shoot Billy and his eggs around helping you get further. All this provides for a unique platforming adventure; however, it also provides for some frustrating gameplay.

The requirement for using eggs is vastly overused. I know that is the premise for the game, but you are incredibly dependant on them. You cannot attack without an egg, for instance, leaving you vulnerable to attack until you get one. Then--and only then--does it become ass-kicking time.

You can kick shoot the egg from you and have it return, slam it into the ground from above, use a dash from behind the egg, or simply just roll it over enemies. You can also use the egg attack in which you slam it into the ground to get around the levels. The problem with this set up is the characters and the eggs of choice are considered two different entities. I really wish your ''fuse'' with the egg was done with a press of a button, and kept that way until you press the button again, since it is very, very easy to become detached from it.

You see, you simply use the thumbstick to move the egg around. Sometimes when I made a jump, the egg made it to the ledge but Billy didn't. Imagine if you were riding Yoshi in a Mario game and were making a jump and Yoshi made it to the ledge, but Mario fell into the pit. This was really frustrating leading in unnecessary deaths. Also, if you are speeding with an egg and have to come to an abrupt stop, say before a ledge, you'll usually go over anyway since your egg will pull you with it.

The camera led to even more unnecessary deaths. I don't know what the hell is Sonic Team's problem and their apparent lack of understanding in this area. The camera doesn't stick, so you have keep moving it--and sometimes it shifts very quickly. I was rolling an egg up a bridge, and all of a sudden the camera abruptly swung around, leading me to fall into an abyss since I was still pushing up on the thumbstick. Again, more frustration. With only five lives given to you at the start of a level it can become tedious to get to the end and still be having fun. I don't mind hard games if they're fair, but poor gameplay mechanics are not. Many times I just gave up in frustration. Memorization for this game definitely became my friend and solution for continuing.

There is, though, a bit of fun in a simple multiplayer option where you can battle with eggs and creatures across level maps; however, you must do so with people as there are no bots.

It's sad that a game with so much behind it such as: respected developers, a promising and interesting idea, imaginative levels, and cute characters and music fails in it's overall execution; the flaws keep it from truly shining. The atmosphere wasn't enough to save it for me, unfortunately.

No matter how much charm I found in the game, and there is a lot, it simply wasn't enough. Unless--and it's a big unless--you can find it for a greatly reduced price, I would recommend this game as a rental. Even if flawed, how many other games do you know fit this description? You have to at least test this unique platformer, especially if you're a fan of platformers. There was so much promise in this, I really hope Sonic Team doesn't give up on this concept and produces another more polished chicken adventure next time. Hopefully, one without the salmonella. (That was bad, I know...)

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/10/04, Updated 11/07/07

Game Release: Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg (US, 09/23/03)