The wait is finally over. Developer Atooi’s six-year-long Kickstarter project, formerly titled Chicken Wiggle Workshop, had been transformed exceptionally into Hatch Tales: A Heroic Hookshot Adventure. This 2D-platformer comes with a brand new protagonist, Hatch, alongside novel story elements separate from Atooi’s previous title Chicken Wiggle.
Hatch Tales was released on October 22nd, 2024 and can only be played on the Nintendo Switch.
A journey through frost and fire
A little flightless hawk named Hatch must journey through Talonreach by request of the Queen. She warrants for Hatch to face the evil frost wraith Nazar, who’s hunger for destruction is “unsatiable.” Nazar has stolen Talonreach’s eight sacred artifacts and have buried them in frozen dungeons. Hatch, with his little self and trusty hookshot, must battle Nazar and save the world from his “icy grip.” Ember Sprites can be collected so that Hatch can use their fiery magic to restore peace to the world.
The story starts off strong despite being rather cliche. Aside from the opening act and the final fight, the plot is somewhat irrelevant. Players blast through levels gathering collectables and solving platforming challenges. There are no “Koopaling-like” mini boss stages per se, but there are tower levels at the end of each world.
I am unsure as to what is so special about Hatch the hawk, and as to why he looks so . . . angry all of the time? Then again, Mario is a plumber who, for some reason, saves a princess of mushroom people from a tyrant bull-turtle. Like Mario, Hatch can get special power-ups, like “Sorio’s Speed” and Gindoh’s Ghost.” These abilities allow for extra speed or let you go through spikes unharmed and damage ghost enemies respectively.
A world of content and chaos
Hatch Tales plays simply as a 2D-adventure platformer yet it is surprisingly challenging. There are eight worlds with six levels each, but players can unlock bonus throwback stages to Mutant Mudds (and to me, these stages are really hard). Also, once players beat the main game, you get a chance to blast though eight more worlds Chicken Wiggle-style. Get ready for many hours of gameplay if you dig it, with a jam-packed 96 levels total.
The goal of the game is straightforward: beat each stage, complete each world, and fight the boss. There are three or four Ember Sprites and 100 gems per level. Gems are needed to unlock Tower stages at the end of each world, and the Ember Sprites will grant access to the Mutant Mudds levels. “Side Quests” are unlocked by finding scrolls, which only means even more levels to complete. So yeah, loads of collectables, loads of content.
Hookshots make everything perfect!
Hatch has his hookshot, which is needed to scale walls, attack enemies, and do pretty much everything. This mechanic is honestly very fun and fluid. Hatch can also peck enemies to death, and peck at the screen. There are occasional vortexes per level that Hatch can directly peck at, warping the world into a purplish haze. Here, players can collect hidden gems and Ember Sprites otherwise unseen. Hatch can also attain power-ups as aforementioned.
The feeling of the game is kind of heavy. You are not floaty or whimsical like a Mario title; the movements are more precise, rigid, and aware of a gravitational pull.
Hatch Tales is a difficult platformer that might take some getting used to. While there are several checkpoints per stage, they are not very consistent. Sometimes there are none at all, or the checkpoints are widely and unpredictably spaced apart. Dying can be a bit of a bother, and I personally had some frustrating redoes in the Mutant Mudds levels. Hatch has two hearts–or two chances of being hit before death. This is different from Chicken Wiggle, who only had one heart despite being two characters in one. This is an odd choice, but frankly, having two hearts does not make it any easier.
2D-platformers never die
The game looks cleaned and polished, like a modernized SNES title. There are lots of fine details and a variety of curious, goofy enemies, as well as multiple level themes of fluffy clouds and gloopy magma. Despite its attractive look, I do feel as if Hatch Tales lacks a certain charm, or perhaps its own truly unique visual identity.
The sound design is alright, not particularly attention-grabbing, but enough to get players bopping their heads from time to time. Overall, the music helped me focus, which is probably what a challenging platformer soundtrack should do.
Final thoughts
Hatch Tales: A Heroic Hookshot Adventure looks fine, sounds fine, and plays fine. The game is not remarkable, but definitely worth your buck in terms of content and challenges.
Hatch Tales had its unusual start, having been crowdfunded over six years ago and facing a constant onslaught of release delays. To me, the quantity of delays should have resulted in a better product, but regardless the game is certainly a solid platformer and old fans of Chicken Wiggle will thoroughly enjoy it.
As a bonus, similar to Chicken Wiggle, there is an in-game level editor for players to mess around with. This is always a fun treat!
