Hamtaro: Ham-Hams Unite! Review

I've mentioned this in a few of my different reviews and articles, but I really have a strong affinity for retro anime. There's something incredibly charming and nostalgic about the aesthetic of older anime art styles in shows and games. One of my favorite TV shows in my youth, and actually one of the first anime that I had ever seen, was Hamtaro. 

 

I believe this manga and its anime adaptation were aimed at little girls, but there isn't necessarily anything inherently feminine about the franchise, other than it being cute. Regardless of who it was aimed at, I enjoyed it, and I remember Hamtaro being a relatively popular series for a few years in the early 2000s. We even received a few Hamtaro video games over here in the US. I had the adventure game Ham-Hams Unite! on the Game Boy Color and remember really loving the game, though I never managed to see it all the way through to the end. I don't keep every unfinished game on my backlog, but I had enjoyed what I played of Ham-Hams Unite!, so it had been on my backlog for nearly twenty-five years. Finally, I can say that I've wrapped up this game, and it was surprisingly brief, yet delightful; though not without some warts and blemishes.

 

 

Ham-Hams Unite! is a top-down adventure game with beautiful pixel art and it's chock full of adorable hamster sprites. You control the titular hamster, Hamtaro, and you're tasked by Boss to go out into the surrounding town and round up all of the other hamsters (colloquially called Ham-Hams) and bring them back to the Clubhouse, a giant, sprawling tunnel system where all of the hamsters hang out. Boss explains that Hamtaro will have to utilize "Ham-Chat," which seems to be a shared lexicon of sorts, to communicate with all of the different Ham-Hams and solve their myriad problems to convince them to return with you to the Clubhouse. So off you go into the handful of distinct regions to look for the missing hamsters.

 

 

The locations that you visit are appropriately cute and gorgeously rendered in that timeless Game Boy Color-era pixel art. To add an additional cuteness factor, because you're playing as a hamster, the scenery is all enormous compared to your tiny body. Hamtaro has to scale the giant steps of the local elementary school to explore classrooms, or navigate through the towering tall grass of the local park. This sense of scale creates a really cool Honey, I Shrunk the Kids kind of effect where otherwise plain, uninteresting terrain becomes extraordinary because of the shift in perspective. 

 

Exploring can be repetitive and a bit dull after the initial scouting out of a new location, as you're tasked with constantly running back and forth to bring an item to this character or relay a message to that character, and the vast majority of the gameplay is centered around adventure game style dialogue puzzles where you need to say the correct Ham-Chat phrases to move conversations along and learn new Ham-Chat words to use in future conversations. While the characters that you're conversing with are cute and sometimes have hilarious dialogue, the conversations don't last longer than a few sentences typically, so it feels like you're never really getting to know any of these characters beyond a superficial first impression; though you can find the Ham-Hams back in their rooms at the Clubhouse and get to know them a little bit better, and sometimes learn even more new Ham-Chat phrases from them.

 

 

The game has a few different currencies that you're regularly collecting for various purposes. Sunflower seeds serve as the chief currency, and the one that hamsters are wanting in exchange for things. Luckily, Sunflower seeds are the most plentiful currency in the game too, as some items that you can buy can cost quite a few seeds. The other two currencies are rocks and acorns. It appears that there are a finite number of both of these, and they both have their own distinct function. Rocks are collected and turned in toward the end of the game to a massive scale that give you a surprise if you've provided enough rocks for the weight to reach a certain threshold. The acorns can be traded to a specific hamster in exchange for Sunflower seeds. 

 

You're probably wondering what kinds of items can be purchased with the Sunflower seeds. This was one of the more disappointing revelations for me. Throughout your exploration of the game world, you can discover hidden clothing stores that sell loads of different clothing items that Hamtaro can wear; well, at least that's what it seemed like you could do. Unless I missed something, these clothes can actually only be worn in a photo taking minigame and serve literally no purpose, and cannot be worn outside of the minigame. So I purchased a single item and after taking a photo, I never touched that function of the game again. You can also purchase and collect music tracks that you can dance to back at the Clubhouse, which I didn't have any interest in pursuing.

 

 

I think the game is a cute, relatively fun time, but has some design flaws that really keep it from shining; though truthfully I wonder if some of these annoyances are just a result of the game being as old as it is. The constant running to and fro across and between each location got frustrating and sometimes felt like the game was padding its already brief runtime. Like with any adventure game, the dialogue and environmental puzzles can be irritating and feel almost nonsensical at times, which I've come to expect with this genre. I just wish there were more activities to break up some of the monotony. The adorable aesthetic and theming help it feel not quite so annoying, as there's an undeniably charming feel to the game with its retro anime style and sort of cozy "slice of life" tone. I'd love to see this game and the other Hamtaro video games remastered and brought forward to modern platforms. Maybe in the remastering process, they could smooth out some of the game's rough edges or add some much needed variety to the gameplay. I only think I could recommend Ham-Hams Unite! if you're a Hamtaro fan, or if you want a brief, cute, little Game Boy Color game that you could probably beat in a couple of evenings.

 

VERDICT: Maybe
Reviewed on Game Boy Color