Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak

Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak
Developer(s)	Nintendo
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Platform(s)	Game Boy Advance
Release	May 03, 2002 April 08, 2003 June 27, 2003
Genre(s)	Adventure game
Mode(s)	Single player

Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak (とっとこハム太郎3 ラブラブ大冒険でちゅ, Tottoko Hamutaro 3: Love Love Daibōken Dechu) is a Nintendo video game for Game Boy Advance and the sequel to Tottoko Hamutaro: Tomodachi Daisakusen Dechu (Japan only) and Hamtaro: Ham-Hams Unite!. Therefore, it was the second Hamtaro-game released in America and Europe, but the third one in Japan. It was released in Japan on May 03, 2002, in the USA on April 08, 2003 and in Europe on June 27, 2003.

Like its predecessors, Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak is an adventure game. Set in the world of the Hamtaro books and anime, the player controls the hamster ("Ham-Ham", as the hamsters tend to call themselves) Hamtaro. Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak expands on the gameplay of the earlier titles by adding Bijou, Hamtaro's "girlfriend", as partner. Together, they have to save the other ham-hams from an evil hamster with a hatred for any kind of relation.

After Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak, only one more Hamtaro adventure game was released: Hamtaro: Rainbow Rescue.

This game is mentioned in the "Chronicle" section of Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Synopsis

Storyline

At the start of the game, Hamtaro is having a nightmare. A hamster dressed in a black devil costume and armed with a trident is destroying the relations of various hamsters. Then, the hamster notices Hamtaro and attempts to attack him. Hamtaro is awakened by Boss, to whom he tells his dream. Boss tells Hamtaro not to worry and asks if he wants to come down. However, when Hamtaro descends the stairs, he trips and ends up temporary being stuck in a bucket filled with water. This causes most of the words in his Ham-Ham Dictionary to become unreadable. Boss helps him a little by reminding him of four of the missing words. When learning the Ham-Chat word "DigDig", Hamtaro finds a thing called a "love meter". Though he doesn't know what to do with it, he keeps it.

Boss then asks if Hamtaro would be willing to go find Bijou, who is missing. Hamtaro agrees and sets out to Sunny Peak. He soon finds Bijou, but before he can get to her, an accident happens. A few huge boulders fall down and lock Bijou in between them. Hamtaro manages to save her, but Bijou is not willing to go to the Clubhouse yet. She first wants to help Oxnard and Pepper, two other hamsters who she saw were both crying. Talking to Pepper, Hamtaro learns that she and Oxnard had a fight because a strange hamster named Spat had told Pepper that Oxnard didn't like her anymore. Telling Pepper that that is a lie, she runs back to Oxnard and the two settle their argument. Happy with their part in this, they attempt to walk back to the clubhouse. But a hamster stops them. It was the same hamster that was in Hamtaro's dream! He says his name is Spat, and he tells them his plan. Then he runs off.

Before any of them can come up with a plan to stop Spat, an unknown Hamster, dressed like an angel, comes in. She introduces herself as Harmony, an old acquaintance of Spat. She notices Hamtaro has a love meter and asks if he and Bijou would be prepared to help her stop Spat. They agree to help get rid of Spat.

Ham-Ham Heartbreak makes references to pop culture. The Ham-Rangers in Fun Land are a reference to Japanese Sentai shows, and the short sequence involving the collection of the Legendary Spoon is similar to a scene in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, where Link pulls out the Master Sword. It even uses the same music. Furthermore, the three marbles needed to activate the spoon are the same colors of the Pendants (Red, Green, Blue) and are placed together in a similar fashion.

Characters

Main article: Hamtaro

Being of the Hamtaro franchise, Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak features many characters (hamster antropomorphs) also seen in the books and anime. Many of them need help, but some, like Boss and Snoozer, offer help. Apart from the main cast, Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak also features several new Ham-Hams, often only seen in this game. Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak's antagonist, Spat, and his opponent, Harmony, both are exclusive to this game. Other new Ham-Hams include Seedric, Barrette, Broski and more. Like the regular cast, most of them require help at some point in the game. Humans don't appear in this game and their existence is only a few times referred to. Still, hamsters aren't the only characters in Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak as the game also (among others) features Ukiki, a monkey, and "the parakeet gang".

Like Hamtaro in the other media, the title character Hamtaro also is the protagonist of Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak. Hamtaro is a kind hamster, always willing to help others, hence why he gets the task of finding Bijou and saving the other Ham-Hams from Spat. In this game, he is aided in his quest by his "girlfriend" Bijou. Bijou is a French hamster with a crush on Hamtaro. Technically, she is the one who starts the fight against Spat by deciding to help Pepper and Oxnard, one of the first couples that Spat had driven apart.

The game's antagonist is named Spat. He's dressed in a devil costume and armed with a pitchfork. He longs to destroy every relation he comes across, because love sickens him. Despite his rather clumsy behaviour, which is the main cause of his failure, he actually is quite capable of harming others, either physically or mentally. He has the habit to say "pfpth" at the end of most of his sentences, which, at one time, ruined one of his own plans. His rival is Harmony, a hamster in an angel costume that provides Hamtaro and Bijou with knowledge and items they need to defeat Spat. He also expresses his dislike of relationships in general and vows to destroy even more before disappearing. Both Harmony and Spat are able to use the wings on their costumes to fly. After being defeated for the last time, Spat's devil costume is transformed into an angel costume. Disgusted and embarrassed, he flees. During the credits of the game he reappears (again in his devil costume) and attempts to break apart the giant heart that symbolizes Hamtaro and Bijou's love for each other, but is thwarted by Harmony.

Setting

The game takes place in the "normal world". However, because hamsters are quite small, the world appears to be bigger. Sunflowers, grass, acorns and human toys all are larger than they would've been from a human perspective. The game's guideline for size isn't consistent, though. For instance, several creatures like monkeys, birds and crocodiles are of the same size as the hamsters. And among the gems that can be found, there are bones of a Tyrannosaurus-like creature smaller than the hamsters.

Apart from that, some things also appear smaller than they should be, because they were not created by humans, but by the hamsters themselves. The hamsters live similar to humans, having created amusement parks and villages for themselves. Many of such locations are visited during the adventure. The franchise's famous Clubhouse functions as the headquarters for Hamtaro and Bijou, where they can get advice, items and information on what to do next.

Gameplay

The goals in Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak are to defeat Spat once and for all and to repair all the destroyed relations. A third quest, that supports those two, is to obtain all the so-called "Ham-Chats". Ham-Chats are words, but also much more than that. At the start of the game, Hamtaro accidentally causes almost all the Ham-Chats in his Ham-Ham Dictionary to vanish, starting the hunt to fill the dictionary. Each Ham-Chat represents both a word (for communicating) and an action and/or motion. For instance, "Stickie"(Poke) causes Hamtaro to poke something with a stick. It is one of the most used Ham-Chats in the game, and solely has an action function. In that sense, action Ham-Chats often come with the necessary item (which is part of the Ham-Chat motion and doesn't show up in the inventory) and therefore, go another way than other adventure games in which the player already has all the actions available, but still has to get the required items. The other kind of Ham-Chat can only be used in conversations. A Ham-Chat like "Goodgo" (Good Luck) for instance, only has value for conversations. New Ham-Chats are necessary to gain access to new parts of a conversation and get another Ham-Ham to do or give something.

Apart from Ham-Chats, the player also is required to obtain items (like a more conventional adventure game), though most of them are merely needed to complete minigames/side-quest. They are divided in inventory items, songs, currency and gems. Inventory items function like they do in any other adventure game and need to be combined with the Ham-Chats in order to proceed.

Ham-Jam

As in its prequel, Ham-Hams Unite, this game allows you to put together the actions for Ham-Chat words to create dances, with a room just for this purpose in the Clubhouse. In Ham-Ham Heartbreak, however, there is an additional feature relating to “Ham-Jams.” On the island just off of Sandy Bay, there is a hula dancing competition with three classes: Novice (C), Advanced (B), and Expert (A). You receive prizes for winning each competition.

Items

You can pick up sunflower seeds on the ground by saying hif-hif or digging for them with digdig. Acorns can also be found, which you can trade to Seedric in Sunny Peak for 20 sunflower seeds each. These seeds are used to purchase various items of clothing at Boutique Ham shops throughout the game. You can dress up in the clothes so that Seamore can take photos of you at the Clubhouse, in the room with the welcome mat marked with a camera.

Rocks can also be found in this game, but they serve a different purpose in Heartbreak. You can take the rocks and polish them in the RubRub Room in order to uncover gems. You can only hold up to 50 rocks at a time, but there is no limit on how many gems you can have.

Other Features

Once you find the secret path in the cave in Sunny Peak with the hamsters that rubrub, you can collect rocks and polish, or rubrub, them in a special room in the Clubhouse. Polishing the rocks will reveal seeds, acorns, or gems (or, on rare occasions, nothing at all). In the room right next to the Rubrub Room, you can pay sunflower seeds to turn your gems into accessories. This room can only be accessed after defeating Spat. Also, at each checkpoint in the love meter (five to six couples saved between each one), Harmony will teach you a special Ham-Chat word that she makes up. You can use these words to enter Ham-Chat contests and earn prizes. Finally, if you say "Lookie" near the TV in the clubhouse's main room, you can view the short movies, which include the opening sequence, and all three endings (which are individually unlocked after viewing them in the normal course of the game).

Reception

Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak was generally well received by the public. It was praised for reflecting the personality and wit of the show, but was criticized for being a bit repetitive. It received a 72% on Metacritic based on seven overall reviews. (For more information, see table below)

Reviews

Publication	Score
Nintendo World Report	5 of 10
IGN	8 of 10
GC.advanced	8 of 10
Eurogamer	8 of 10
Netjak	4.2 of 10
Nintendo Power	7.6 of 10
Compilations of multiple reviews
Game Rankings	78 of 100 (based on 5 reviews)
Metacritic	72 of 100 (based on 7 reviews)
Game Ratio	70 of 100 (based on 8 reviews)

External links

• Hamtaro Official English site
• [1][2]