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Developer: Opus | Publisher: Xseed Games |
| Release Date: October 13, 2009 | Available On: PSP |
An evil lord has cast a spell that will destroy the world in thirty seconds. You must save the world before the time runs out. Half Minute Hero is a fast paced RPG, real time strategy, side scrolling shooter, and an action game all in one neat little package. It has laughs, it has action, it has romance, and it has a self proclaimed most beautiful evil lord in the world. It is condensed and simplistic yet requires near surgical precision to master. That is Half Minute Hero in a nutshell. Welcome to a whimsical world of video game parody.
Upon cracking the shell, you will realize that inside this unassuming container lies a meaty and delectable legume. There are 4 stories in Half Minute Hero; Hero 30, Evil Lord 30, Princess 30, and Knight 30. Hero 30 is an expansive RPG. Evil Lord 30 is a real time strategy game. Princess 30 is a side scrolling shooter. Knight 30 is an action game. There is also an ad hoc multiplayer mode for Hero 30 available upon completion of the aforementioned game modes.
Hero 30 comprises the bulk of the Half Minute Hero experience. In Hero 30, you are a hero burdened by the task of defeating evil lords before they complete a spell that will destroy the world. You have 30 seconds to reach the evil lord and defeat him. During your 30 second quest, you will speak to numerous personalities in towns, buy items and upgrades, grind through enemies and level up, and even complete side quests.
In Evil Lord 30 you play the role of a self proclaimed most beautiful evil lord in the world who must undo a curse placed upon his lover Milenia. In Princes 30 you play the role of a princess who must venture the countryside in search of a cure for her ill father. In Knight 30 you play the role of an “endlessly optimistic” night whose sole purpose is to be a human shield for a sage. As you may have guessed, the Princes, Evil Lord, and Night must all accomplish their tasks in thirty second intervals.
Half Minute Hero belongs to the very rare genre of video games that is parody. While games like Dragon Age Origins are pushing 60 plus hours of game with contrived dialogue options, Half Minute Hero keeps everything sweet and simple. Dialogue is quick and comedic. Character development is no more complex than a well timed one liner. Battles are fast and automatic; just run forward. Damage is dealt upon contact and before you know it, you’re conquering monsters and leveling up in seconds.
Hero 30 is divided into numerous chapters, all with target completion times of often just 30 seconds. This time limitation is alleviated by the Goddess of Time who grants you an additional 30 seconds for a fee. Every chapter has two objectives to complete, the first being to prevent the destruction spell from being cast and the second being specific to the area (kill a specific monster, recover some item). At the end of every chapter, your completion time and performance are recorded and a character from the story rewards you with a special item to aid you in your quests.
In each area, there are towns where you can purchase stronger weapons or better gear, often better suited to defeat the monsters of the area and often costing a large sum of gold. It is not unfeasible to complete each chapter simply by leveling up your character on your way to defeat the area’s nemesis. There appears to be one strategy in each chapter that will enable you to complete all of the objectives within the target time. Honestly, only once was I able to complete all of the objectives in a chapter. Rarely did I complete chapters within the target time. Hero 30 is all about being the most efficient hero. Evil Lord 30, Princes 30, and Knight 30 are also games of speed and efficient execution.
Evil Lord 30 is a real time strategy game not unlike Rochambeau—you know rock-paper-scissors. The Evil Lord has three types of minions at his disposal: Brutes, Nimbles, and Shooters. Your enemies are divided into the same categories. The rules are: Brutes beat Nimbles, Nimbles beat Shooters, and Shooters beat Brutes. You expend mana to summon your minions. As your mana depletes, any additional minions you summon will be of a lower level and weaker. When you have accumulated enough mana you can summon the “Fabulous Foursome”, four devastating elemental spirits; earth, wind, water, and fire.
The premise of Princess 30 is that you have 30 seconds to complete you excursion outside of the castle walls or you will be locked out by your mother. The princess has an uncanny ability to wield a giant crossbow, your sole weapon in defeating baddies outside of the castle walls. She is carried about on her carpet by an army of soldiers whom she hires and must pay for should they become injured during her brief adventures. While out and about collecting herbs and such, you must collect coins like Mario in order to fund your expeditions. You are also able to reverse time by walking over red carpets to summon the Goddess of Time (don’t forget the fee).
Knight 30 is an action game where you play a devoted knight tasked with protecting a mage for 30 seconds. Once the 30 seconds countdown ends, the mage will cast a spell eliminating all the monsters in the area. Protecting the mage at all costs means that you will often serve as a human shield. Remaining close to the mage will allow you to take advantage of his healing spells. You can also pick up the mage and carry him to safety should things get too out of control. In order to survive as a human shield, must create items to take with you onto battle. You can create items to draw monsters to you and away from the mage or weapons for offense and defense.
Every game mode in Half Minute Hero is comprised of simple game concepts. The complexity of each game is never more than two levels deep. Items and weapons are simple, comical, and require little to no customization. Battles are quick and uncomplicated. The 30 second time limit keeps the level of commitment well situated at casual. The controls are all simple and easy to pick up. I never found myself struggling from fault of the game. In fact, every time I screwed up it was purely a result of my own clumsiness. One thing is certain; the 30 second concept might cause you to make hasty decisions. Those uncalculated moves will be your quick undoing. Overall, I believe you will appreciate the rush you get every half minute from Half Minute Hero.
I remember a time when video games were nothing but 8 bit pixels vaguely resembling to real set pieces. Oh to relive the simple days, ages before bloom, high dynamic range, and normal mapping. The graphic presentation of Half Minute Hero is a throwback to the good old days of 8-bit and 16-bit graphics. While the backgrounds vary in richness, they are all reminiscent of classics like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy IV. The world view is a simple point A to point B dotted overland map. Section maps are of the standard Super Nintendo RPG overhead view. Towns are simple side scrolling section. Battles are also side scrolling sections. There are no fancy isometric views to speak of here.
Characters are represented as giant pixels, barely resembling their exquisitely drawn counterparts found in the concept art extras. The graphical simplicity does not imply that Half Minute Hero is devoid of detail. I greatly appreciate the changes in my hero’s appearance when I applied new armor or accessories. The five or so different colored pixels representing gilded armor made all the difference. All of the dialogue is presented in classic white outline text boxes or black spaces.
Half Minute Hero has a grandiose musical score greatly contrasting the retro visuals. It is the music’s stark contrast to the visuals that adds to the parody in Half Minute Hero. You fight monsters represented by unrecognizable sprites while a shredding guitar plays in the background. The music in Half Minute Hero runs the full gamut of events and hey all work very well at setting the mood. There are no annoying 8-bit instrumental loops here and that is a welcome omission. The opening movie sequence is accompanied by a wonderfully over the top musical score. I do believe that the musical selection found in Half Minute Hero enriches the overall presentation.
As quoted from Half Minute Hero’s website, Half Minute Hero takes “30 seconds to learn, a lifetime to understand.” That statement perfectly represents the contrasts found in Half Minute Hero. Learning how play is a one step process. Mastering the 30 second countdown may require a zen-like trance. The graphics are a throwback to more simple times. The execution parodies classic game concepts. The story and writing will charm you. Chuckles and giggles abound. If you have a PSP, do yourself a favor and check out Half Minute Hero.
| Graphics: | 8 |
| Sound: | 8 |
| Gameplay: | 8 |
| Creativity: | 8 |
| Replay Value/Game Length: | 9 |
| Final: | 8.2 out of 10 |
| Written by Angel Cortes | Write a User Review |
