Hatch Tales is a kind of video games that’s had what can solely be described as a dumpster hearth of a improvement cycle, and after years within the oven, it’s lastly arrived. However was it well worth the wait? Right here’s our assessment.
The reply to the large query is, truthfully, no. It was not well worth the wait. Hatch Tales is not at all a foul sport, however what began life as a joyous little journey a couple of hen and his worm buddy has became a soulless mishmash of concepts that completely displays its troubled historical past.
Manner again when the eShop first opened on the Nintendo 3DS, I found a stunning little sport referred to as Mutant Mudds. It performed like a cross between Digital Boy Wario Land and Gargoyle’s Quest. It wasn’t a masterpiece, by any means, however it was precisely the precise sport at precisely the precise time on precisely the precise platform. It was difficult, enjoyable, and most significantly, had simply the correct quantity of coronary heart.
It was made by Renegade Child, who finally spun off into Atooi, and I adopted their subsequent releases with nice curiosity. Xeodrifter was a pleasant little Metroid clone, and their then-upcoming Treasurenauts appeared like a good time.
Finally, they deliberate to launch a sport referred to as Rooster Wiggle proper across the time when the Nintendo Change was on its solution to market. The overall consensus was that the good transfer can be to maneuver Rooster Wiggle over to the Change, because the 3DS viewers had all however disappeared in a single day, however the sport’s inventive drive, Jools Watsham, disagreed. The 3DS was the place Mutant Mudds was successful, so there was no motive to assume Rooster Wiggle can be something much less. In spite of everything, it was an excellent charming, authentic, puzzle platformer with some fun-inspired character designs, an fascinating gameplay hook, some nice music, and that all-important “coronary heart.”
Sadly, no one performed it. The sport flopped. Laborious, a lot to the confusion of Watsham. In fact, this might have been for any variety of causes, however standard knowledge dictated that it failed as a result of it was a 3DS unique in a time when the viewers had largely and all of a sudden left the platform for the Change. (The place have I heard that earlier than?)
After sufficient folks informed him that they might have purchased the sport if it was on Change, he reluctantly launched a Kickstarter, telling those that in the event that they funded his challenge, he would port Rooster Wiggle to the Change. The Kickstarter was successful, the challenge was funded, and so long as nothing utterly insane occurred, it wouldn’t be lengthy earlier than Rooster Wigle landed on Nintendo’s new {hardware}, able to discover a new, probably modest, however nonetheless grateful viewers.
That was again in 2018. It’s now 2025, and following years of silence, mishandling of funds, baffling concepts, identify adjustments, scope adjustments, and different assorted nonsense, Rooster Wiggle has lastly landed on Change on the tail finish of its life within the type of Hatch Tales, a reputation with far much less persona, and a transparent signal that Atooi utterly misplaced the plot with this one.
Let me reiterate, Hatch Tales is NOT a foul sport. It’s effective, which if I’m being trustworthy, is at all times what it was going to be. Nevertheless it had such an amazing persona, and a loving spirit behind it again when it was Rooster Wiggle that it elevated itself to be one thing memorable. There’s nothing fallacious with a sport not being essentially the most formidable challenge underneath the solar. It’s okay for a sport to have a comparatively brief runtime as long as what you’re enjoying was created with love. Rooster Wigle was precisely that, whereas Hatch Tales seems like an obligation.
Rather than the lovable duo of Rooster and his worm buddy Wiggle, you play as Hatch, a flightless hawk with a hookshot. The fundamental gameplay revolves round utilizing your hookshot to seize onto surfaces and make your method by means of numerous impediment programs, gathering gems and releasing different birds who have been caged by a witch within the authentic sport, and have now been caged by a giant, scary snow monster. Alongside the best way, there are diamonds and particular medallions so that you can acquire. Discovering all of them will unlock hidden phases, of which there are quite a bit. Presumably too many. See, Rooster Wiggle was a pleasant, neat little bundle that didn’t overstay its welcome. Hatch Tales feels downright formidable to play, particularly if you understand what you’re going to must do to seek out all the sport’s numerous secrets and techniques.
Hatch Tales works on the antiquated NES Metroid methodology of secret-keeping. Certain, there are some secrets and techniques that yow will discover utilizing visible cues the phases offer you, however I’d say about half of the remaining are pure pixel hunts. You must deal with each stage hugging each wall, hookshotting each inch of floor, in hopes of discovering utterly invisible paths that result in secrets and techniques. There’s nothing intuitive about them, and I discovered myself much more annoyed than achieved when I discovered them. It is a utterly antiquated type of sport design, and Atooi ought to know higher.
When it was a small eShop sport, positive. I can forgive so much when there’s charming characters and nice music to maintain me firm, however in Atooi’s absurd quest to make Hatch Tales extra edgy, they sacrificed all of that, together with the unique sport’s attractive soundtrack, which left the entire expertise feeling lifeless, and like a chore to really play.
Which is a horrible disgrace as a result of there are some genuinely nice concepts on show right here. Enjoyable new energy ups and puzzles that might have felt at dwelling in a Rooster Wiggle sequel, however as an alternative have been stuffed in right here, feeling half-baked and truthfully, type of unhappy.
The key ranges aren’t simply extra Hatch Tales, although. A few of them are new takes on Mutant Mudds. These are fairly enjoyable to get by means of, incorporating a double soar as an alternative of the unique’s hover mechanic, however each time I performed one, I couldn’t assist asking, why are these right here? It’s all a part of the sport’s overarching id disaster. It’s bought an amazing gameplay loop already, however they stuffed a literal different sport in for some motive? They sacrificed charming characters for a brown fowl with tattoos? They changed a goofy witch with a genuinely terrifying wanting snow monster? They changed the enjoyable, lovely music with ambient wind sounds? Certain, the visuals look good in screenshots, however the world has so few frames of animation it seems like some type of flash sport from the early 2000s. Critically, most of the enemies have at most 4 frames of animation, which can work if you’re utilizing pixel artwork, however positive doesn’t lower it if you’ve taken these pixels and turned them into totally realized sprites.
However essentially the most irritating factor about all of that is, that sport the Kickstarters backed? It’s in there. It’s simply buried underneath a bunch of different stuff. You’ll be able to nonetheless play an up to date model of Rooster Wiggle, however it’s a must to unlock it, deal with it piece by piece, and each time I did, it simply jogged my memory that this was all I wished. That is all this sport wanted to be, and if that they had simply caught to their authentic imaginative and prescient, delivered what they promised, and brought this power they put into this weird re-invention and utilized it to a correct sequel, issues most likely would have turned out a heck of so much higher.
I do like that you would be able to take a number of hits now earlier than dying, as the unique Rooster Wiggle may get fairly robust, particularly with one hit kills, however outdoors of that, this complete expertise seems like a hole, missed alternative.
Ultimately, there simply isn’t sufficient particular about this launch to correctly suggest it over the a whole lot of different puzzle platformers on the market. In a world full to the brim with Dadishes and Milli & Gregs, this degree of mediocrity simply doesn’t lower it. It breaks my coronary heart to see an organization whose output has introduced me a lot pleasure go down this path, however after the best way they handled the folks they solicited cash from to make this sport throughout their crowdfunding marketing campaign, and the product they finally put out, I personally gained’t be buying one other Atooi product ever once more. However even when I have been to place my private points apart, this sport is solely unremarkable. You possibly can actually play worse video games, however you would simply play higher as effectively.
For these followers who did stick round, maintain the hope alive. I’m positive they’ll launch Treasurenauts sometime.
Hatch Tales is out there now on Nintendo Change.
