Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg Review

One of Sega’s most influential devlopment houses, Sonic Team, have been behind few games that are not pertinent to the Sonic franchise, at least as of late. Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg is a refreshing change from the conservative developer that has been Sega with the Sonic franchise. Billy Hatcher is nauseatingly cute and yet designed in a way that can appeal to both the open-minded and younger audience. While I will let the truth be told, Billy Hatcher is definitely targeted at a younger audience, it still has a decent amount of challenge to it and an equal amount of depth, not to mention the fun solo and multi-player modes.

One day, a land once inhabited by peaceful chickens, was empowered by a terrible fate. Morning Land fell to the magical power of the Black Crows, thus keeping the world in eternal night and at the hands of ferocious monsters. The Chicken Elders, whose voices brought dawn each morning, were sealed within golden eggs and as Billy Hatcher, you must release the Elders, defeat the crows, and return morning to the world.

Without an egg in hand, Billy is basically useless, aside from the option to run, jump, hang from ledges, and try to hatch eggs. Luckily for Billy, eggs are of great abundance in Morning Land and offer him different abilities and prizes when he hatches them, thanks to the variety of different colored eggs.

While the concept is simple enough, controlling an egg is a more complicated task. Eggs can be used to roll over enemies, used to knock down walls, smash crates, and/or “yo-yoed�, which feels like a yo-yo or boomerang. Unfortunately, you can too easily lose control of your egg, forcing you to go back and get it or get another egg (if it were to fall off a ledge).

While the single player mode could be put off as “just another platformer�, the multi-player mode adds a much needed level of enjoyment to Billy Hatcher. Up to four players can duke it out in multi-player mode in which you select a wide variety of arenas and choose between the different game types, whether survival, hatch, or time battle, all of which are enjoyable.

On the graphical side, Billy Hatcher looks much more like Super Mario Sunshine than a Sonic title, which is quite odd since you would think Sega would use a more familiar graphics engine than the one used in this game. Though I applaud them for taking a different approach with their titles, I don’t really know if the level of “kiddiness� that Sega went with was appropriate or not. Anyway, locations are bright, tropical, and look good. On the other hand, Sonic Team obviously doesn’t realize what the Gamecube is capable of. Lighting affects aren’t up to next-generation standards and the camera can be disorienting at certain points throughout the game.

In the end of the day, I wish I had more time to play Billy Hatcher, but you know how 5-day rentals go. Maybe one of these days Sega will be more supportive of us here at GF365, afterall, we review many of their titles. I must truthfully say that Billy Hatcher was a fun game to play, which could have had much greater potential if a few more development months were put into it.