“It’s finally here,” are words many will say upon booting up Hatch Tales: A Heroic Hookshot Adventure. The Kickstarter for this game (when it was known as Chicken Wiggle Workshop) launched nearly seven years ago! While that campaign struggled with a combination of several unforeseen occurrences and management lapses, it’s fortunate that the finished product is quite good.
The fact that Hatch Tales is successful shouldn’t come as a shock. Chicken Wiggle was a PNM favorite on 3DS (though beware, the physical version has a game-breaking bug). Hatch Tales isn’t just an HD port of its 3DS predecessor, even though that’s how it got funded. It morphed over these years into a sequel with a few concerns but predominantly positive changes.
First, kudos for adding “A Heroic Hookshot Adventure” to the title. Hatch Tales was such an incredibly generic and unclear name. That said, the title change led to a change in character. The chicken and worm duo have gotten pushed aside for a hawk and a hookshot. The reasons for this change, being less of “a young, kiddy game,” are curious at a minimum, and the final result is Hatch Tales has unfortunately lost some of its original charm. Chicken Wiggle didn’t fail to meet expectations by being a kid’s game, but because of fierce competition from the recently launched Switch and a slew of other 3DS best sellers released that same year. But I digress.
Along with a new character, you have a new (albeit cliched) story. It’s unnecessary for this type of game. But while emphasized in this title’s listing for whatever reason, it doesn’t get much emphasis in-game, even if a cutscene to bookend each would’ve been smart. You get dumped right into the action, and it’s fun. And it’s a good thing this action’s fun because one oddity is the bizarre number of gems needed to advance. The first world has 21 gems in the main stages, and you need 20 to advance. Thankfully, I got more from side quests, but can they be called “side” at that point? This design choice flaw could potentially turn off some players, even more so since Hatch Tales noticeably boosts difficulty from Chicken Wiggle. While the latter only had a single heart, its stages were more straightforward. Hatch Tales levels are generally longer, requiring quicker reflexes for the faster action, even so occasionally reverting to a single heart.
To be clear, I welcome the increase in challenge as a rule, even if some unforgiving spikes in world five had me stepping away from the game a bit. The checkpoint spacing varies widely—some levels even have none—but failing repeatedly at least grants you an extra heart, sometimes. I initially didn’t notice this feature until the previously mentioned level, but I greatly appreciate it. It helps when hunting for needed gems you missed earlier, especially during the awesome retro challenges of Sparkle’s Arcade Mutant Mudd levels.
When briefly stepping away from the challenge, I wanted to replay Chicken Wiggle in all its pixel art glory (you can change between the original and HD, though not “at any time” as promised). The game was nowhere to be found, only accessible by a code entered at the title screen. While part of me smiles at this (I’m an NES kid from the era of passwords), this is yet another odd instance. Does Atooi want to give the impression of downplaying the first game? Wouldn’t they think advertising more content is a good thing? Along these lines, the level editor (half the fun of the original) gets no advertisement. Creation gets buried under a tiny “online” icon that minimizes it. Curiouer and curioser.
Still, having the great 3DS content is nothing to sneeze at. Alongside the fresh levels, it makes for a release packed with content. At the risk of repeating myself (but doing so for emphasis), this game is fun, even if the F-U-N letter collectibles are now gems. Try mastering flying, pecking, running, and more while aiming to 100% the game and enjoying some catchy music, including a pair of tracks from Grant Kirkhope.
Hatch Tales: A Heroic Hookshot Adventure had a rough road to release, and the final product reflects that in some respects with a few odd choices. Still, it’s a very good platformer, much more often than not, challenging and content-rich. Releasing late in the life of the Switch exposes it to some of the same risks the original game faced later in the life of 3DS. I hope Hatch Tales secures success and recommend it for a fun time.
I also recommend you share your level designs with Pure Nintendo. Here is a popular one that bears our name (Quest ID 268) We’ll feature them in a future magazine and show Atooi that downplaying the level editor was a mistake. AGABOOSH!
