Hamtaro: Ham Ham Heartbreak

"Genuinely good piece of great VG fluff, but its only slightly better than its GBC prodecessor."

The Hamtaro TV series was an unfortunate victim of questionable scheduling IMO, first it was on Cartoon Network's Toonami. Then it was in various times without a “Block theme” to go along with it on CN. Unfortunately it didn't last despite the good support from companies such as Nintendo and Hasbro. (And why they seemingly never bother to put it on Cartoon Network's Miguzi is beyond me.) But still here is Nintendo's solid second attempt at a Hamtaro Video Game series. (Well technically third since the 1st Hamtaro game for the GBC was never released in America.) And to make a long story short, Nintendo has done it again. There is a little bit more of a plotline this time around. The Ham-Hams get a visit from a literally Angelic Hamster by the name of Harmony. However there was a reason why they were in the presence of an actual Hamster Angel. A devilish Hamster by the name of Spat is causing trouble. He goes about the area and by using his magic trident he makes the various Hamster couples rather dislike each over to put it quite mildly. And its up to those two little matchmakers Hamtaro and Bijou to stop him and get everyone else back together again. (While bringing up the “Love Meter” of those two as well over time,. the more it increase the more stuff you can do.) Needless to say they made sure that the game “Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak” lived up to its name. But don't worry folks a new highly romantic theme is not the only new thing in this game.

This alike “Ham-Ham's Unite” for the Game Boy Color is still at heart a socially interactive puzzle action game. The way you interact with hamsters is by the “Hamchat” words in which you can select one of each applicable words that you have to interact with the hamsters in various ways. The Hamchat words get Hamtaro & Bijou to do various sorts of actions such as slipping waving them hello to a bit more complex cheers and the like. Though do be careful since they don't always appreciate what you can do such as tackle them with “Tack-Q”. You get more Hamchat words as you progress over time in the game in various ways. Those whom played HHU will find a good amount of familiar Hamchat words such as “Stickie”, “Nopookie” and “Go P”. However they did add in some interesting new Ham-chat words such as “Delin-Q”, “Liber-T” and the like. It utilizes the technological potential of the GBA very well with highly above-average graphics. The Control factor however is still as genuinely smooth as its GBC counterpart which is quite top-notch. Its excellence in the Control Factor all the more adds to its appeal especially on how the gameplay is very easy to get into. Though alike that earlier released GBC game, the Challenge factor is still nicely balanced. “Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak” doesn't feel too easy to breeze through but it doesn't feel too frustrating either. Music is pretty good as well, its no “Legend of Zelda” series music but lets just say its certainly easy on the ears. Though the music in this game also has a bit more of a variety in its tunes such as dramatic fanfare to even Beethoven's classical music, so it has a bit more than just a few cutesy tunes this time.

This game also gives you a little more something to do as well. Because for the most part when it came to “Ham Ham's Unite”, aside from a mini-game or few you pretty much spent your time gathering Hamsters and various little items in the main gameplay. You get to do a bit more than that here. Whether its actions that'll progress the game such as sailing the river on a boat and even occasionally fighting your goes with things like sticks and slingshots and the like as well. Though there are also things you can do just for fun such as play around in the Carnival. However getting Hamsters in a rather bit of a Tiff is not the only nasty little thing that Spat can do so keep your wits about. (Though be careful on how they can occasionally be more challenging than in the previous Hamtaro game.) The little extras from the previous Hamtaro game namely the “Ham-Jam” and Hamster Accessories are back and they made them a lot more useful this time, especially Ham-Jam. During the course of the game, Hamtaro and Bijou end up in a dancing contest which can be quite the test of your Ham-Jam skills. For those who don't remember/know what a Ham-Jam is its when you do various Hamchat actions in the beat of one of the many types of instrumental music the game has. Your suppose to keep your dance as similar to your opponents' dancing as much as possible and if you do well enough you'll progress through the ranks you'll get as a Dancer. It's actually quite the prominent way to progress through the game. As for the Ham-Accessories it hasn't been made quite as prominent but there is a bit more you can do. A little later on in the game when you utilize the special keys you find and collect in the game you can get access to a special room in the Ham-Ham clubhouse that lets you be able to shine the rocks you can gather in this game mostly from the rooms you unlock with those aforementioned keys. And basically you get to shine them for various sorts of jewels. (Though that depends on how well your Love Meter is going so don't be too surprised if you can't do that well at first.) But still in the game you can shine the rocks and get various sorts of rocks and jewels, whether it is real ones like Diamonds and Sapphires to obviously fake ones like Ham Stones and Cheese Stones there is plenty of variety of stones to get. (Though occasionally you can get Sunflower Seeds and Acorns from polishing those rocks as well, I know it may seem odd but hey.)

Overall it's easily the best License game from Nintendo, and quite possibly the best Hamtaro game as well. Its simply another one of those games that'll go great with fans such as myself and has a good chance of doing well with open-minded casual players and the like. Oh and in case anyone is wondering if the game plays around with the Hamtaro/Bijou coupling concept, than yes it does that much I can assure. (Though apparently Boss doesn't seem to have a problem with Hamtaro and Bijou getting awfully close with each over whatsoever in this game. It might seem OOC at first, but then again he probably just realized that Hamtaro is a bit too Naïve to understand Bijou's attempts to flirt with him.) While most of the Hamsters you speak here you'll most likely never heard of. (But to be fair there are Hamsters here that haven't been introduced in the Hamtaro anime yet in the US. Sadly that show was far from finished in the US.) But there are some familiar faces here in the game doing some rather familiar interaction as well. Though the “couplings” might occasionally seem strange in this game over time. Oh sure when we see Penelope and Pashmina like that its easy to assume their still being quite the close friends. But Howdy & Dexter? That might some to feel a little awkward at first for the most part compared to how they were in the show. It also have a couple of very interesting satirical homages over the course of the game. (Including a rather interesting one to a VERY famous Nintendo game.) It's hot hard to find at all and is still generally at a good price. So overall this is easily one of the more recommendable games to get for anyone's Game Boy Advance Collection. The adventures of those cute adventurous little hamsters maybe gone from TV, but its definitely worth having them go on in your GBA that much I can assure.

+ Best Hamtaro game and best License game from Nintendo
+ Excellent Control Factor with wonderfully easy to get-into gameplay but nicely balanced Challenge Factor
+ Highly above average graphics
+ Nice variety of music
+ Overall a good improvement from the previous Hamtaro game, with more things to do..
- Its not a “Mega-Q” err.. Huge improvement
- All the Ham-hams are there but the way their acting might occasionally seem a bit strange
- The game occasionally gets a bit more challenging than the previous Hamtaro game so remember to keep your wits about.
- This is a genuinely good game but it's more for fans than anyone else.
- Even though there is a chance that another Hamtaro game might be released (like “Ham-Ham Games”), this is another “Buried Treasure” game that deserved better.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/13/05