GameCube

Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg

He has a chicken suit. Yes, Billy has a chicken suit. And he has to save the world from the black crows that want to bring eternal darkness... Billy the Hatcher is Yuji Naka (Sonic the Hedgehog creator) and the SONICTEAM's first completely new platform game since the Saturn era. And believe me, it's good.

"Billy Hatcher" é facilmente reconhecido como um jogo do Sonic Team. O pedrigree é inconfundível, e apesar de seus defeitos, o game merece pelo menos um aluguel pelos fãs do ouriço da Sega.

Totally bonkers, cunningly simple, yet downright fun from start to finish. With plenty to uncover, only a lack of variety prevents this from being truly essential.

Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg isn’t the greatest game in its genre, but it is Sonic Team’s best 3D work in years. Those mature enough to overlook the blatantly “kiddie” image will be treated to smooth gameplay worth at least a rental. Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg had the potential for excellence. I eagerly await a sequel with more imaginative missions and less annoying audio.

Have the waters parted? Is it the end of the world? Has?has Sonic Team made a non-Sonic game?! Yes, it has?and while it's not the hard-working, dedicated world-beater it appeared to be at last spring's E3 show, Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg is an inspired platformer in an age when inspiration in platformers has fallen into the "yeah, let's deal with that later" category.

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.

Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg is more than just a game about a boy who collects giant eggs. In actuality, this game is more about using eggs than it is collecting them. Billy uses them by pushing (rolling) them across the game's uniquely designed worlds. It's a strange concept, but is very rewarding, so hear me out. Every egg starts out the same size (roughly the size of the game's star, Billy). Through the collection and digestion of various fruits, the eggs will grow until they reach their maximum, hatch-able size. Once they're ready to hatch, Billy can cock-a-doodle-doo and reveal whatever is hiding inside the shell. It could be a helpful item, a useful ally, or nothing at all!

From the maker of Sonic the Hedgehog comes Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, a sickeningly cute, colorful and sometimes-weird 3D puzzle-platformer designed exclusively for GameCube. Some gamers may be tempted to shrug this project off as too simple -- to "kiddie" -- to warrant a look. True enough, Hatcher's lighthearted theme and easy-to-learn play mechanics will appeal to a younger demographic more than any other.

Billy Hatcher And The Giant Egg est un titre tout à fait plaisant. Oui, c'est ça, plaisant est le mot. Pas vraiment prise de tête, avec une réalisation qui tient la route, le jeu nous fait passer de bons moments au pays des poulets. KFC a du souci à se faire !

Sega's Sonic Team has had its up and downs over the past few years. I say downs because it's hard to keep creativity generating by putting out Sonic rehash after Sonic rehash and not put out something truly new. They finally get back to innovation with Billy Hatcher and his eggs. What results is a refreshing diversion from the normal platformer with the heart and soul of a Sonic game.

Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg looked to follow Super Monkey Ball and its sequel as one of the most innovative and fun games available for the GameCube; however, while the Super Monkey Ball games are designed to be difficult, Billy Hatcher is difficult as a result of its design, and that is where it falters. What’s most disappointing about Billy Hatcher is that it could have been a top-notch game if only the control was more refined. As it is, though, the control, along with a small number of other poor design decisions, takes the game from being a blast to being an expensive bundle of frustration. Billy Hatcher isn’t necessarily devoid of value, but the unnecessary pain involved in getting to the fun hardly seems worth the effort. That said, if Billy Hatcher still sounds interesting, make sure to rent it first; at least that way you’ll know what you’re getting yourself into.

Billy Hatcher certainly gets the job done with the casual, younger gamer audience. And although for adult gamers, the SEGA platformer may seem short-lived, those patient enough to warrant the entire game experience will feel rewarded, even despite many of the game’s gameplay shortcomings and kiddie atmosphere. Still, the title’s definitely a rent for those wishing to take on a surprisingly challenging platformer with a very underrated multiplayer mode to shake things up.

SEGA have tried to bring us something new here, but it all deflates far too quickly and becomes nothing more than an average adventure that few will wish to experience. Repetitive objectives and some laborious puzzles will have you crying at times, but then you are inspired by the superb egg rolling physics or one of those obligatory moments of Sonic Team genius. We loved the multiplayer, we hated the music, we loved the graphics but hated the game after ten hours of play. It all makes for one very average experience. It's a solid example of how to do a platformer, but those of you waiting for a SEGA masterpiece; beware.

Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg is a Sonic Team game will suited to the GameCube. The graphics style, and the control nature, means it works well on the console. The game is one which is worth picking up for both Sega and platforming fans alike.

With games like Sonic the Hedgehog, Samba de Amigo, and Phantasy Star Online under its belt, Sonic Team has established that, if nothing else, it's capable of conceiving some colorful, visually striking characters. Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, Sonic Team's latest platformer, carries on this tradition with aplomb, creating an adorable protagonist and an equally warm-and-fuzzy world for him to run around in. Indeed, "cute" is the most appropriate way to describe Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, though "frustrating" may also come to mind as you make your way through the game.

Själv är jag inte riktigt så nyfiken, så jag övergår istället till Battle Mode, där man bland annat kan besegra sina vänner genom att stjäla deras ägg och trampa på deras nykläckta hjälpdjur. Det tar bara ett par minuter och är precis hur kul som helst.

It's been two long years since the last original Sonic Team platformer, the Dreamcast's Sonic Adventure 2. That game met with an extremely mixed reception, and I won't be surprised if the new Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg does as well. While Hatcher has some neat ideas and cute characters, it's too rough around the edges to compare to the stellar platformers that brought Sonic Team to prominence in the first place.

Overall, then, Billy Hatcher has some nice ideas and some not-so-nice ones: for the most part it's dull and lifeless; occasionally it's maddening; and sometimes it can be quite good. But only very rarely, unfortunately. Verdict? Scrambled.

A longstanding urban legend widely circulated throughout the Internet states that poultry purveyor Kentucky Fried Chicken changed its name to KFC because they weren’t using real chickens. They were using genetically altered chickens with five drumsticks, eight wings, and no heads! Of course, this is utter nonsense. But here’s a true story: a family was surprised by a deep fried chicken head in their box of McDonald McNuggets. Not exactly a happy meal.