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Hammy the Squirrel makes a PSP appearance. Hammy Goes Nuts on the PSP is quite different from the Nintendo DS game, but it results in a game that is better tuned for the PSP hardware. Like the other Over the Hedge games, Hammy Goes Nuts is obviously aimed at younger kids and it’ll do a good job of keeping them occupied.
As you can guess from the title, the game focuses on Hammy the squirrel. It seems that cable TV has gone out so Hammy gets RJ the raccoon and Verne the turtle to take another trip to the suburbs to figure out what happened. Hammy won’t be happy until his cable TV back so the gang uses the help from Boris the Beaver to try to make Hammy happy.
Hammy Goes Nuts, on PSP, is a 3D platformer. As one of the game’s primary characters, in search for cable TV and satellite dishes to destroy, you’ll have to explore a number of locations while making use of some fancy jumping techniques. The game’s different characters have somewhat different abilities. Hammy can make use of Hammy Time (which he gets by drinking cans of cola) that slows things down and gives him an advantage over his enemies. Verne can hide in his shell and launch himself at enemies to attack them. RJ is your puzzles guy since he has access to a fishing pole that acts as a grappling hook, a boomerang to help him hit switches, and even a golf club to defend himself with.
The game does have some light melee combat thrown in as well for good measure. You’ll find enemies such as house cats, rats, hamster balls, chihuahas, and even beavers to avoid and fight with. In addition to fighting and exploring, you’ll find gold and silver acorns that can be used to unlock bonus content, as well as food items and cola to replenish your life and activate Hammy Time, respectively. All in all the gameplay in the game isn’t particularly deep but it will keep younger kids occupied for some time.
Hammy Goes Nuts actually has a fairly in-depth multiplayer mode. The game has five multiplayer modes and eight arenas to play in. Three of the multiplayer modes are variants of each other. For example, in Heist you have to drop off food at any drop-off point, in Hedgeball you have to drop off food in certain locations and Hedgeball Faceoff gives you points for dropping off points in an opponent’s location and takes points away from him. You also have access to tag (gain points when you aren’t tagged) and basket tag (gain points by holding a basket as others try to steal it). All of the multiplayer modes support a dozen power-ups that range from invulnerability to speed boosts. In addition to multiplayer, the game has an extras section where you can view unlockable content.
The game’s graphics are simple but pretty good. The Over the Hedge cast looks good in the game. The character models are fairly detailed and all of the jumping and attacking in the game looks quite good. Some of the textures, particularly the fur textures, look great. The environments are simple in architecture but the color palette is reasonably diverse and appealing to the eye. There are some fairly low quality textures thrown in there but nothing that really detracts from the visuals.
The game’s audio is also pretty good. The background music is sort of charming and fits the game well. It loops quite a bit but you won’t really mind since it never becomes an annoyance. The sound effects are functional though nothing fancy.
Like the Nintendo DS game before, Over the Hedge: Hammy Goes Nuts is obviously aimed at younger gamers. This is a light platformer perfect for a few minutes of gameplay. The two-to-four multiplayer promises to be quite fun and an entertaining distraction. -- Michael Taylor, PGNx Media
---- Nov 20, 2006
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