"Who and the giant what?"

Introduction
Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg is one of the first titles being brought to the GameCube from the makers of Sonic, Sonic Team. The game boasts an innovative playing style in which the player has to roll eggs around a 3D landscape in the aim of building them up until they are at a hatching point. This might not draw in the casual gamers, but for anyone looking for a challenge, this would be worth picking up.

Gameplay
As already stated, the game contains an innovative new style of gameplay which at first seems a little daunting, but after a few minutes in control it all becomes a lot clearer. The aim is to latch onto an egg and push it around, rolling over power ups and such on the way, which all help to make the egg bigger. The bigger the egg gets, the closer to hatching point it becomes. When the egg is ready to hatch the player must stand back from it and with one simple press of the button (providing the character is facing the egg) it will hatch. What comes out depends on what type of egg is hatched, sometimes it will be an Egg Animal, sometimes it will be a power up. Egg Animals help to defeat enemies and clear obstacles.
Once the player has become accustomed to the gameplay it is all very simple. The controls are a little awkward as it is hard to turn the egg 180 degrees around without accidentally letting go of it and sometimes when turning, the camera will fail to rotate with the character giving you an impossible playing angle.
After completing each level you are given a rank from S, A, B, C and D. S being the best rank and D being the worst. Levels aren't hard to complete but if you are looking to obtain the best rank then you will need to make sure you don't forget any items, etc, along the way.

Story
The main basis of the story is that the main character (Billy Hatcher) has to bring light back to a world inhabited by chickens, which has been overrun by crows and other enemies. To bring light back to the world Billy must defeat many bosses and ultimately an evil King. Although a little cheesy and linear it still makes for an enjoyable game.

Graphics/Sound
While not utilizing the full capacity of the GameCube, the graphics are still pleasing to look at. They are very clean and make use of the anti-aliasing system. The level backdrops are bright and vivid when needed, and the darkened graphics of some levels help to create a daunting atmosphere. When playing multi-player mode there is no noticeable decline in graphics and they remain smooth and detailed.
The game's soundtrack isn't the best. Annoyingly cheesy background music takes away from the feeling that the game is sometimes trying to set. The main theme music at the start menu sounds like it has been composed by a child, as does much of the music throughout the game. The sound effects are mostly squawks and bird calls, which although fit in with the theme of the game, still manage to grate on the ears after a short period of time.

Replayability
There is a great deal of replay ability such as going back through various levels to try and obtain the best rank or beat your former time, hatching every single egg to complete the Egg Gallery, obtaining all the Chick Coins and of course the fun multi-player mode which allows up to four players to compete in various battle modes.

Final Recommendation
Well worth buying. The great gameplay makes it worth playing alone and although the story is a little lacklustre it is still fun to work through. The multi-player mode makes for an exciting time, especially with four players and completing the Egg Gallery is always fun to do. If you're not going to buy this game, then at least rent it, you won't be disappointed.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/25/04