Hamtaro: Ham-Hams Unite!

"Read my "ham-view"."

Yes, I am a man. Yes, I have a life. I have goals, I have dreams, and I definitely plan on accomplishing them. I know I may not seem like this because I've played a Hamtaro videogame, but remember, that's all it is--a game. SO DON'T MAKE FUN OF ME, OR I'LL TELL MY MOM!

STORY:
Hamtaro is the star of Hamtaro, obviously. Boss, the head ham-honcho, wants all the other ham-hams together so he can reveal to them a surprise he has been working on. But no one is there but Hamtaro!! So he asks Hamtaro to go search out everyone else in the ham-world. To communicate, Hamtaro must use "ham-chat," the hamsters' own language, in order to bring everyone back. But he doesn't know all the words yet, so he must not only find his friends, he has to figure out what to say to them so they'll come back to Boss! Sure, it's very childish, but what do you expect from these cute little hamsters? Guns blazing? Blood spurting? You don't really think Bijou is sexy, do you? If this turns you off, go play Conker.
STORY: 7/10

GRAPHICS:
The ham-hams are simple looking critters on the TV show, and they look just fine on the GBC. It's easy to identify them, because they all have their own distinguishing physical features. Still, not much effort was needed for the hamsters' looks in this game. The environments are also very simple. So simple, in fact, that they look a bit bland. Despite this, the graphics are what they are, and you really couldn't ask for much more. They are very colorful, and while they aren't anything special, they certainly don't do anything wrong either.
GRAPHICS: 7/10

SOUNDS:
SQUEAK! Yeah, you'll be hearing a lot of it. A LOT. Every time you choose an option, Hamtaro will make some sort of little squeaky noise. It probably won't bother you, but it will definitely get on anyone's nerves who's around you. They will yell at you to turn it down, and I can understand that! You wouldn't want to hear random squeaky noises while trying to read a book or something, would you?

The music is what you'd expect--cute, harmless, and appropriate. Once again, it's nothing special, but it gets the job done.
SOUNDS: 6.5/10

GAMEPLAY:
Since your goal in Ham-Hams Unite! is to communicate properly, you will spend most of your time learning new words in the ham-ham language. You start off with four basic words, to be fair. "Hamha," for example, means "hello" in ham-ham. This will initiate most of your conversations. To learn new words, you must choose the proper words you know to say to a fellow ham-ham. This is a very clever new concept, and one that is certainly welcome to the videogame world. But at times you can get completely off track... you may think you should be talking to one ham-ham, but you're missing that ONE word to progress further in the story, yet you can't figure out how to learn it! Still, once you get going, you'll have a fun time. This game may look childish, but it definitely takes a lot of wit and intelligence to figure most of it out.

In addition to the language, there are several other things to do with Hamtaro. You can use some of the things you've learned to sniff out/dig for seeds, rocks, and other little treasures that can help you make your life as a ham-ham easier. You can also find new outfits for Hamtaro to wear for when you are introduced to the title screen when you first turn this game on. It doesn't do anything useful, but it sure is cute!! Lastly, you can "ham-jam," where you use your learned expressions to dance to little ham-tunes. Once again, very cute.

Gameplay in the Hamtaro videogame may not be complex, but it is definitely original and challenging. It may not be for everyone and it does have the occasional mishap, but the creators still did a surprisingly solid job.
GAMEPLAY: 7.5/10

LASTING APPEAL:
The actual journey to unite the ham-hams could take you forever depending on how... well, how smart you are. The ham-jams may give you a little entertainment for a bit afterwards, but I'd say one playthrough will have you satisfied for a long time.
LASTING APPEAL: 7/10

OVERALL:
Hamtaro and his ham-pals are so adorable, I can't even stand it. That said, if you have a sweetspot for fuzzy Japanese animals, this game is for you! But if you aren't good at figuring things out or lack patience, maybe you should avoid Ham-Hams Unite!. Still, it's a colorful and very original new type of game that really deserves some appreciation.
OVERALL: 7/10

Thanks for reading =)

koochi-q

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/05/06