Hammerin’ Hero is exactly what I look for in a hand held game. The game has simple controls and bite size levels. Many developers have attempted to recreate 3D games on the PSP with many mixed results leaving you disappointed more often than not. Hammerin’ Hero doesn’t fall into this trap. This game is pure classic 2D side-scrolling action. The game can be challenging but rewards the player for patience and perseverance.
In this spiritual successor to the 8-bit classic Hammerin’ Harry, you play as Gen, a young carpenter with a big hammer. The game has a lighthearted simplistic story pitting you against an evil corporation and its ambitious construction plans to tear down your neighborhood.
The game comprises of twelve levels spanning across a Japanese city from a construction site to a baseball stadium, amusement park and more. As you progress through the game Gen acquires new jobs which give him new abilities. Each job has three types of attack, vertical strike, horizontal strike and special. You have the option of changing job before each stage.
Throughout each level you will collect food items such as shrimp and salmon for making sushi. A girl named Kanna aids you by preparing sushi between levels depending on the ingredients you have acquired. You can either have her make you a specific type of sushi that allows you to change to a particular job within a level, or you can select the random bento which will give you some sort of power-up. Power-ups include an increase in power, defense or a score booster.
In each level you will encounter characters with emotion bubbles hanging around them. Smashing these bubbles can trigger different events which may reward you with a personal letter. Like most Japanese games you are rewarded with collectibles. By completing levels and reaching milestones that earn you “souvenirs” which are placed on an in-menu display case. For those of you “completionists” there are four different difficulty settings for each level to be complete on. There are also 48 souvenirs, 56 letters and 51 character files to earn.
Life every other game I’ve ever played, Hammerin’ Hero is not perfect. The game is rather short and there are definitely some slow-down issues when a lot is happening on screen rendering the multiplayer almost unplayable.
Atlus has really delivered a a hidden gem here that will most likely be over-looked this year. It’s a perfect example of what portable gaming should be, I hope other publishers take note and stop trying to port 3D adventure games onto the system.
If there’s one lesson to be learned from this game, it’s that all of our problems can be solved by smashing stuff.