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Activision cashes in on the Over the Hedge DVD release. The publisher released Over the Hedge for multiple platforms last May to coincide with the release of the film. Although obviously aimed at younger fans of the movie, the game was fun and made good use of the Nintendo DS hardware. Over the Hedge: Hammy Goes Nuts changes things up a bit but again younger fans of the movie will definitely enjoy the game.
As you can guess from the title, the game focuses on Hammy the Squirrel. It seems that something has happened that disrupted cable television. This is obviously unacceptable to Hammy so he gets Verne and Turtle and RJ the Racoon to try to fix this. This involves going out to find the satellite dishes responsible for this and cause a bit of mess along the way.
The gameplay has changed quite a bit. Hammy Goes Nuts is an overhead-view adventure game that uses the touch screen to move the characters around. The game is focused on puzzles are scattered throughout the levels. For example, in the first level you have to dig up a key to get inside the cellar door. Before you can do this, you have to find a wrench to turn off a fire hydrant, get the cutters that this uncovers to cut down grass, find glue to repair a shovel, and finally use that shovel to dig the hole. Once you get all of this done it is time to execute a gag. You need these gags to scare off your opponents (shown in the top screen) from being on your trail. Pulling the gag at the right time will scare him off. Once again, you'll have to collect a number of related items to do so. Once you do that, it’s time to escape from the level. The gameplay, as you can tell, is rather simple and perfect for the younger audience that the game is being marketed to.
The game’s graphics are pretty good for a puzzle game. The top screen has a color map of the area that you’re currently in with all of the key points that you need to complete the puzzle, as well as how much time you’ve used. The bottom screen is where most of the action takes place. The characters and some of the props are polygonal and while the models are simple they look pretty good since the camera is zoomed out. The animation is solid though not anything amazing. The other backdrops are flat 2D backgrounds that are fairly varied.
The game’s audio is serviceable though less impressive. The background music is sort of charming and fits the game well although it loops a bit more than I would have liked it to. The sound effects are functional though nothing fancy.
Over the Hedge: Hammy Goes Nuts is probably not going to capture the attention of older gamers but the game is entertaining and easy to pick up if you only have a few minutes to spare. The multi-tiered puzzles are a nice touch and will keep younger gamers busy. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Oct 30, 2006
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