Billy Hatcher is Very Cool

So Sonic Team makes Sonic games… or do they? Well judging by their output on the Sega Saturn it sure as heck seems a bit questionable. We’ve got pretty anime firemen acrobating in space, a genderless jester flying through trippy dream worlds, and then a Christmas version of that game because fuck you, get jolly B). And uhhh sure I guess we’ll release a compilation thing for the blue guy, it’s not like the Saturn’s success hinges on that spikey bum or anything -. Even when Sonic Team got back to regularly working on that hedgehog, they’d still put out original titles throughout the 2000’s in varying genres and styles. These games can be kinda rough and freakish, but they’re able to effortlessly express this wonder and charm that leaves me going “:)”.  And so I recently checked out Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, a bouncy Gamecube platformer with like, Katamari rolling and monster collecting. Yeah it’s clear this game makes some strange design choices, but they come together to make a memorable experience, which is pretty much Sonic Team in a nutshell. Didn’t mean it sold well though, might have something to do with it releasing a few months before a certain someone but it’s hard to say ¯\_('v')_/¯.

 

Anyway goddang is this game silly and colorful :0. Everything is egg, and thus the chicken gods bestow Billy a chicken suit so he can save the chicken world. And of course every mission begins with the divine light of god guiding Billy on the objective, ranging from beating up bad guys to saving your kidnapped friends from explosives (these crow guys aren't playing around). This wild cartooniness is paired perfectly with the playful sound design, you can’t even take one step without hearing pops, pings, and smacks from every direction.The overall art design is very fun with clear traits from Sonic Team’s previous efforts. All the enemies and creatures look straight out of Chu Chu Rocket, and many of the locales are reminiscent of Sonic Adventure’s cozy areas. It carries on that fun Dreamcastian energy and is such a joy to bask in these Sega sunny blue skies. 

When I first took control of Billy I could immediately feel the Nights into Dreams DNA, as similarly to the kids in Nights Billy is pretty limited on his own. Thus you must find an egg to unlock your full movement capabilities, to which it can be fed fruit and powerups to further enhance the really kinetic rolling and bouncing. There’s an immense satisfaction from chaining together dashes and bounces, especially when enemies get involved and the score attack elements come into full force You can even shoot your egg into foes and have them ricochet around like billiard balls and drop your egg like a massive boulder to create shockwaves, it’s a very playful way of engaging with fights :D. Despite this era of Sonic games being kinda infamous for having shoehorned combat that’s stupid and dumb and bad and pacebreaking and dumb and stupid, I think Billy Hatcher actually manages to make its combat really fun. It all comes down to how your offense organically extends from the movement and the various ways it feeds back into the score and egg raising systems. Really the only pervasive issue comes from the egg’s collision being very wonky and thus leading to a lot of unintended frustration. Though let’s be real this isn’t a unique issue within Sonic Team’s games, and the core gameplay is fun enough for me to look past the jank.

The way Billy Hatcher’s structured is similar to that of Mario 64, with each world having a set of missions that reward you with emblems used for progression. Though only the final level is actually gated off by the emblems, so there’s some freedom in which missions you choose to take on. Also I find it very cute that you collect emblems of courage while wearing a chicken suit, defying connotations to prove your bravery. And something else I noticed is that these missions often revolve around specific landmarks of each world. Fixing a giant clock tower in the circus, disarming generators in the snow tower, finding a sacred hideout near the village, turning the giant statues in the desert. It opens up that sense of childhood wonder by poking around parts of levels that one would imagine their own little adventures in.

 

And that’s the other reason I’m so smitten with Billy Hatcher. As chaotic as the game can be it’s also such a vibe to hang out in. I mean the opening has Billy and his friends goofing off on some real after school hours energy, setting the precedent of loosening up and having a good time. I don’t need to get hung up on the game’s flaws, I just wanna soak up these crunchy skyboxes ^_^. And the levels themselves leave such an ethereal impression that only Sonic Team manages to do. The atmospheric lightshafts piercing through the tree thickets of the first world, the moody water caustics in the giant palace, the breezy boardwalks in the pirate world that literally launch you to each set piece. The carnival world in particular is a highlight with its impressive balloon crowds flowing through horizon as you swing across pendulums and rails. It even has a little fun house mirror section with the boss using said mirrors as its gimmick, it’s very cute :). You can see how this environmental design would be carried over into games from ex-Sonic Team devs like Rodea the Sky Soldier and  Balan Wonderworld, because as we all know Billy is a certified Balan Bro and you just gotta deal with it B). And these locales are elevated by the music, being a breezy mix of jazz, drum and bass, and goofy children’s music. Probably doesn’t sound that appealing on paper but it’s actually quite lovely, and all the more adds to this game’s charm.