Developer: Irem
Publisher: Atlus
Released: April 7, 2009
Verdict: Buy It if you love old-school platformers
Pros: Retro-style gameplay, colorful graphics and whimsical theme, challenging but fair
Cons: May play too ‘retro’ for some people, lacks much replay value
You would be forgiven if you didn’t get what the big deal of Hammerin’ Hero is – your character’s movements are stiff, the plot is laughable and the game can seem cheaply difficult at times – why would anyone want to play this antiquated relic of a game? It’s these very so-called antiquated elements of the game that endear old-school platformers to people, and this game is a must-play for those fans.
Gen the Oversized DJ: Redefining the term "Big Beat"
The game’s story has you playing as Gen, who is out to stop the evil Kuromoku Corporation from doing what generally evil businesses do – try to make obscene amounts of money, by any means necessary! And if that has to involve driving people out of house and home, hiring mad scientists, using large machinery to threaten the people, and riding giant sharks, then so be it! The game has a definite anti-corporate theme while still being somehow whimsical about it. And it’s not even really subtle about it either – it’s about the common man taking down the large profit-hungry corporation. Beyond that, the story isn’t something to worry about here – it’s fairly ridiculous and ends on a crazy deus ex machina that leaves things strangely unresolved. This may be part of the old-school aspect of the game – the story is just the means to the end for the game to happen.
At some point, there was a communication breakdown as to just what sport they were going to play at the beach that day
When you play this game for the first time, you will likely have a peiord where you will fail miserably and frequently die as you start to get used to the way Gen moves, and the way that your attacks work, and learning to time them. Everything feels very tight, especially the movement, which feels a bit like a Mega Man or a Castlevania game. If you grew up on NES games, then this is nothing new, but if not, you’ll have to adjust to the tighter movement, and you may find it frustrating to get used to and I could definitely imagine it hindering some people’s enjoyment of the game, especially as it’s a one-hit-and-you’re-dead kind of game. Gen has 3 attacks – a normal overhead smash, a side attack that can knock objects into the background, and a special attack that you get 3 uses of per life. The side smash is cool, as it knocks enemies into the background, and sometimes doing that will interact with background object. For example, in one stage that takes place in a baseball stadium, you can use the side swipe to knock enemies into the stadium lights, Natural-style. Gen also can play as different jobs that affect his abilities, like the DJ class, which makes your side swipe attack a swing of an oversized boombox. Another element to the game is Gen’s unique brand of psychotherapy – you can hit the emotion bubbles over people (and occasionally, machines too. Oh no, they’ve become sentient!) to “smash their worries away.” It’s part of the whimsical nature of the game, but interesting things can happen when you do them, and occasionally knock the bubbles onto other people/enemies and then smash those in order to get other things to happen. It’s very goofy, but fun, and occasionally interacts with the job system, where you can only properly smash away someone’s worries by playing as a certain job. It integrates into the game well and helps to add to its whimsical nature.
...this is why I don't ride ferris wheels any more
Hammerin’ Hero’s difficulty level was surprising, at least in the sense that while it is challenging and slightly frustrating, it is beatable on the ‘normal’ difficulty, Artisan. You will die and be forced to continue a lot, but you just have to learn how to beat each level, to recognize how to best defeat the enemies and navigate the perils in your way. In accurate retro fashion, you’re given 3 lives per level and can continue an unlimited number of times. I wound up playing each level a bunch of times, learning enemy and boss patterns, and you start to adjust and learn how to survive the levels. You could also drop down to an easier difficulty level, but I don’t recommend doing so. If you just persevere, you will succeed eventually.
There are also 2 harder difficulties above Artisan that you can play if you want an additional challenge, which is one of the major sources of replay value for the game – trying to improve your score on the levels and completing harder difficulties. You can also go for 100% completion on defeating enemies, smashing away people’s worries, unlocking the last job, and getting all the various trophies for accomplishments in the game. If you’re not a completionist, then once you beat the game you’re likely done with it. It took me about 4 hours to beat the game’s 12 levels according to the in-game clock, but this doesn’t count times I quit during the middle of a level to the XMB out of frustration.
Hammerin’ Hero has to come recommended for fans of old-school platformers, and for those looking for that kind of retro fix Mega Man Powered Up and Ultimate Ghouls n’ Ghosts offered. It’s definitely a fun game and provides a great level of challenge, just come prepared for everything that comes with the old-school experience – the stiff movement and challenge level are definitely different from games produced with a far more modern aesthetic.
Bottom line: Give it a shot if you’re looking for a fun platformer on your PSP. [And you're not masochistic enough to play Prinny -Ed.]
Popularity: unranked [?]
