The Cute as Heck Platformer! A Hat in Time Review!

Let me tell you all a story. Once upon a time, there was a video game genre known as the Collectathon Platformer. While this genre saw many great titles during the 90's, such as Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, and my favorite of the bunch, Spyro the Dragon, this genre slowly died out. Why it died out remains unknown. It could be a lack of profit, it could be game devs wanting to branch out to other genres, it could be people simply grew tired of the genre itself. But aside from the LEGO platformer games that get pumped semi-annually, the Collectathon was, for intents and purposes, dead.

Enter A Hat in Time. A cutesy indie game meant as a love letter to Collectathon games, becoming a classic thanks to smooth gameplay and somehow managing to blend the morbid with the adorable rather seamlessly. It also managed to reignite interest in the Collectathon genre as a whole. I find that impressive, but how well does the self-proclaimed "cute as heck" platformer stack up? That's what the review is for. Before we begin I have a funny story to share. Because I played the PS4 port and not the original PC version, my game glitched out slightly and I somehow managed to beat the entire game 100% without earning a single Trophy, despite meeting the criteria for almost every Trophy possible. Of course, the Trophies are kind of superficial and I don't really consider them worth getting by themselves. But still, my save file for this game reads 100% completed, but my Trophy Data makes it seem like I haven't even touched the game at all.

A Hat in Time stars the Hat Kid, a little girl who lives in a spaceship that reminds me of the surreal but charming locations from Dr. Seuss books. Hat Kid is coming back to her home planet after a long voyage through the space-time continuum, but her spaceship is stopped by- and I swear I'm not making this up, a guy from the Mafia. The Mafia dude demands Hat Kid pay a toll for travelling through the solar system. Naturally, Hat Kid takes no nonsense and slams the door on him. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the Mafia dude just punches a hole in the wall, causing everything in Hat Kid's possession, including herself, to crash-land on the planet below. This game prides itself on being really freaking weird, if this opening was of any indication.

After crash-landing on an island literally called Mafia Town, the player is just given free range to explore as they which. While A Hat in Time is by no means an open-world game, it is incredibly non-linear and actively encourages the player to explore. Which is good, because the Hat Kid controls perfectly. Between a double jump, homing attack, power slide, wall run, and a grappling hook (the last of which needs to be unlocked, but still) gives you numerous movement options, and the only time a character felt this smooth to play in a 3D environment was back with Super Mario Galaxy (and to a lesser extent, Super Mario Sunshine). Yes, this game's control scheme is so good that I am willing to compare a small indie game to the absolute titan that is Super Mario. In addition to all these movement options, Hat Kid can equip various hats that give her special abilities, such as sprinting, throwing explosive potions, slowing down time, and even altering reality to make certain objects become intangible.

After exploring a bit the player not only gets their hands on the first Time Piece (the game's main collectible), but meets the main antagonist, Mustache Girl. I am not the biggest fan of how Mustache Girl was handled, personally. After forming a sort of Vegeta-Goku rivalry with Hat Kid, she basically disappears from the plot and only shows back up again in the climax of the story (and the final boss battle). I feel like it would be better if she showed up at least once in every world, with a Time Piece or two in hand. Kind of like how no matter how quick you play through Pokemon Red & Blue your Rival in that game will always be at least one Gym Badge ahead of you, encouraging you to keep up. But no, Mustache Girl is pretty much a non-entity once Mafia Town is completed.

But once Mafia Town is completed, you're free to explore even more worlds, each with their own levels and theme. And this is where the game shines. A Hat in Time's level design is top notch, not only featuring clever concepts but it continuously finds a way to expand upon or even flip those concepts on their heads. The plots of the worlds are for the most part self-contained and episodic, and can be done in almost any order you wish.

My favorite world in this game would have to be Dead Bird Studios. In it, Hat Kid must help two competing movie directors (who are anthropomorphic birds, for some reason) make movies good enough to win The Annual Bird Movie Awards (which is obviously a parody of the Oscars). The first director, known as the Conductor, wants to direct an old-school Western film, while the second director, DJ Grooves, wants to direct what is implied to be a musical. The levels here are split up between movie sets belonging to The Conductor and DJ Grooves. What makes this better is the fact the world's ending (and boss battle) changes based on who you helped out more often. In addition to having some really neat game mechanics, such as searching a train for murder mystery clues or building up a celebrity fan-club, it also has some of the game's best jokes, such as DJ Grooves warning you not to say the word "peck" out loud on television, since "peck" is apparently the most vulgar swear word birds in this universe know, and then being given a dialogue choice that lets you literally scream out "PECK!" in front of a live audience. Or how in the aforementioned murder mystery, one of the potential suspects is Hat Kid herself. Meaning you can accuse YOURSELF of committing the murder. Also, fun fact! The Conductor is voiced by none other than Xander Mobus, who is most well-known for being the announcer for Super Smash Bros.

Another fantastic world is Subcon Forest, which became infamous for how dark and nightmare-inducing it is compared to the rest of the game. Of course, the darkness wraps around into being charming in it's own strangely morbid way. In this world, Hat Kid is forced to make a deal with The Snatcher, who literally steals (or should I say Snatches?) her soul and uses it as leverage. The deal consists mostly of mundane chores that the Snatcher is (by his own admission) too lazy to do himself, but the spooky haunted forest theme of the world makes those chores more enjoyable. Cleaning out an outhouse is no fun, unless the outhouse is haunted and leads straight into a well-designed boss battle. Rummaging through an old mansion for the Snatcher's personal belongings might have been boring if it wasn't for the shadowy, Slenderman-esque creature hunting you down the whole time. The only level in this world that I found to be lackluster was when the Snatcher tasks you with delivering mail. There's no supernatural twist to this chore like there is with all the others, and while this is supposed to be the first time Hat Kid gets to ride a vehicle in a level, the game's non-linear design means even this novelty is potentially rendered moot if the player does things out of order (or gets the Scooter badge). Still, only one bad level in a game with top-notch level design.

Alpine Skyline is a bit janky compared to the rest of the game. Rather than levels, Alpine Skyline is completely free-roam. in addition to being the only world that doesn't have any kind of traditional boss battle. It's not as memorable (at least in my opinion) as the other worlds, because it lacks the charm that the other worlds have. Heck, Hat Kid doesn't even get to interact with any major NPCs, nor are there any real characters to interact with. The most amount of character-interaction are the local sheep(?) who give you directions to the closest Time Piece. This world's main redeeming quality is again, the amazing level design. Each Time Piece here is hidden at the end of a MASSIVE parkour/platforming marathon, one of which utilizing the Fox Mask (the reality altering hat, by the way) in some really clever and imaginative ways.

The final world, which I will not show here because spoilers, is an incredibly long gauntlet combining aspects of every world before it, requiring the player to perfect abilities introduced earlier. I love game design like this, as it manages to tie every good thing about the game together in time for the finale. The final boss battle was also great, since (SPOILERS) the friends and foes Hat Kid made throughout her journey pitch in and help her out in her hour of need. Is it cliche? Yes. But it's a fun cliche, that I'll never get tired of.

As for the presentation, A Hat in Time is cel-shaded and cartoony, similar to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. However, I do feel that visuals are not this game's strong point. They are by no means bad, mind you, but there are some hiccups in the graphics. While the character designs are almost as solid as the level design, the texturing leaves something to be desired. Also, I'm not sure if it's just the PS4 port or if it's a problem with the game itself, but there are some notable examples of clipping during some cutscenes. The most obvious of which being sometimes when Hat Kid closes her eyes the edge of her eyes aren't covered by the eyelid properly, which is frankly kind of amateurish for a game that's otherwise so well designed. But the best thing about the visuals is that every time you boot up a level you are treated to some gorgeous, hand-drawn, animesque artwork based off of the level in question. Each and every level gets unique artwork, and all of them are a joy to see. But are the graphics bad enough to drag the experience down? No. In fact, while I do believe that graphics play a role in making a game accessible, I have always made the argument that graphics are one of, if not the LEAST important aspect of a game. Just look at Ocarina of Time. That game, alongside fellow classic Final Fantasy 7, have TERRIBLE graphics that have not aged well at all. Are either of them bad games? No, because the rest of the game is good enough to compensate for the poor visuals.

A Hat in Time's soundtrack and voice acting are really good. I already mentioned how Xander Mobus voices the Conductor, and portrays him with a larger-than-life persona, as well as the world's single most over-the-top Irish accent you will ever hear. Extra credit for managing to roll every single "r" in the word "murderer" consecutively (it's a lot harder than it seems). It has to be seen (or heard?) to be believed. On top of the amazing performance from Xander Mobus, The Snatcher's voice actor, Luke Sizemore (also known as Yungtown), is also really good, managing to be charming, intimidating, and goofy all at once. For example, his dialogue to Hat Kid before the final battle of Subcon Forest, where he explains what happened to his previous servant, and gives Hat Kid a spine-chilling death threat right before the battle begins. That moment legitimately gave me goosebumps, partly because of Yungtown's delivery of the line. So I tip my hat to him. And these two actors are just the highlights of the cast. Just about every voice actor here gets to do something great, it's just that Xander Mobus and Yungtown steal the show in regards to voice acting. The music is also catchy and upbeat, and reminds me of old, 60's-70's sci-fi movies, which creates a unique charm that helps the game stand out.

One last thing before I give the score. They have released two DLC packs (at the time of writing) for A Hat in Time, titled Seal the Deal and Nyakuza Metro. I have not played either of them, but I plan to in the future. Hopefully it doesn't take me three years to write a review of the DLC, like with Little Nightmares. Anyway, A Hat in Time is an adorable, goofy, romp through some some of the best level designs I've seen in ages, and while the game does have flaws, it's still a great time. I give A Hat in Time 7 pecks out of 10.

P.S. A Hat in Time also has local and online multiplayer co-op, so if you want to play the game with a friend, there's nothing stopping you.