OK, so what do you get if you put a tight little 2D platform game in a cartridge, and then stuff a slidey-puzzler with RPG-style power-ups in there with it? Henry Hatsworth in The Puzzling Adventure, that’s what.
What EA have done here borders on genius. Yeah it’s probably been done before and been done quite well, but the impressive thing here is the way the game genres are synergistically linked with a sort of "cause and effect inter-relationship"... Now that might sound like pretentious twaddle, and it did come directly from the game's PR blurb, but is in fact a very clever game mechanic indeed. You literally have to dip out of one and back to the other depending what’s going on in each - careful timing and skillful play can make the game much easier to progress in. The scrolling platform game is displayed in the top screen and the sliding puzzling in the bottom (touch) screen. Henry (our hero) is controlled with the D-pad and the face buttons, and the puzzle pieces are moved either with the D-pad or the stylus, although you can move them quicker and do a few other things in the puzzle game with the stylus that simply aren’t possible with D-pad control. A selection of power-ups will help Hatsworth in both the action game and the puzzle realm. Defeating enemies in the platform realm adds time to the puzzle meter, but these enemies only get knocked down to the puzzle game screen, and unless they are removed from there (by linking three or more puzzle pieces of the same colour including the one they’re encased in) then they’ll pop up again in the platform screen, this time as an annoying 2D tile that’s understandably hell-bent on doing Henry some damage. By linking sets of 3 tiles in the puzzle realm (as well as fours, fives and combos created by cleared tiles making new links) you fill up the Super Meter, which gives Henry his weapon power and also tops up his silver heart health bonus. Got all that? Good. Don’t worry if it sounds overcomplicated, it really isn’t and you’ll soon grasp how the two games work together and when is best to flick to the other realm with a press of the ‘X’ button.
So what’s the plot? I hear you eagerly ask… Well after finding a cursed golden hat that makes him younger, Henry is looking for similar artifacts, each of which grants new abilities and ultimately unlocks a massively powerful golden mech suit. His search for the different pieces covers five different lands, but his arch-nemesis (wouldn’t you know it?), a man aptly named Weasleby is on the hunt too. Leopold Charles Anthony Weasleby the Third is, of course, fabulously rich and has access to all kinds of nasty machinery, most of which Henry gets to see up close and personal at the end of each platform stage in the form of a typically-mad and sometimes frustratingly difficult boss battle.
Henry Hatsworth may be an old geezer but he can handle himself; as well as a melee attack and the ability to duck incoming projectiles, he also has a gun that he can swap to a secondary weapon such as bombs or boomerangs via a randomly-appearing pick-up. All the projectiles can be powered up by firing them, then quickly swapping to the puzzle realm and linking a few chains. There are several power-ups to be found in the platform realm, which need to be activated by including them in a set of cleared tiles; Extra Lives, Health Hearts, Super Meter Crystals, Freeze Time, Double Damage, and the very handy Area Damage (a bit like a smart bomb). There are empty blocks dotted throughout the platform levels that can help you reach higher platforms and secret areas; when you’re near them these are activated by matching a few tiles in the puzzle realm. Along the way you’ll collect gems that can be exchanged in Cole’s shop for weapon and health power-ups, as well as extended time in the puzzle realm, or extra super meter energy, this gives the game a third RPG-like facet, and helps break up the action further. The music should also get a mention; although there are a couple of pieces will have you turning the volume down, in the great tradition of platform game music, there are three or four incredibly catchy tunes to listen to as you play.
So what’s the verdict? Well I got totally addicted to this rather odd mishmash of a game and the minutes (and occasional hours) fly by when playing it. There are a few tricky boss battles that I could have done without and a few noticeable difficulty spikes, but the developers have thoughtfully allowed you to return to earlier levels to replenish extra lives and gather more jewels and thus upgrade Henry, which makes things a lot easier. Henry Hatsworth’s adventure might not push the DS to its graphical limits, but it’s a cracking little title that uses the touch screen well and features a few ideas that Miyamoto-san himself might appreciate.
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