This review contains spoilers
The existence of A Hat In Time makes me feel old. It never occurred to me how long it’s been since 3D platformers have been relevant in the zeitgeist of gaming. After doing the math, I realize that it’s been long enough to where the existence of a revivalist 3D platformer game seems appropriate. The years have just slipped by. 3D platformers made up some of my favorite games as a kid while the genre was still relatively fresh. These games always offered solid control, a fair challenge, and the most varied level themes and layouts. Alas, a once shining star always has to burn out eventually, and the 3D platformer went the wayside to the new wave of first-person shooters and open-world sandbox games. Unlike the bright, effervescent graphics and comedic tones in the 3D platformer genre, these games opted for gritty realism and stone-faced seriousness. These games are also controlled much more rigidly than the consistently fluid 3D platformers. Needless to say, this changing of the guard left me feeling disenfranchised by gaming for quite a while. I always had the 3D platformers I grew up with to return to, creating a nostalgic comfort zone that I almost feel embarrassed by. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who blanketed themselves from the emanate lapse of time by immersing themselves in the era of 3D platformers. Otherwise, what would be the impetus for creating A Hat In Time?
As I’ve expressed, nostalgia is sweet and comfortable but cloudy and vapid. It’s nice to indulge one’s sweet tooth in the recesses of their past once in a while, but not to the extent where someone becomes close-minded and hopelessly stuck in the past. New ideas, deviating from old trends and expanding artistic capabilities sustain any medium. Vegetating in the bliss of nostalgia is never a practical means of progress. While A Hat In Time is a new release, it doesn’t seem like its existence of spells out an influx of 3D platformers ready to take back its throne from battle royales and open-world games. These revivalist games are passion projects of indie developers who create these games because triple-A developers have abandoned them out of catering to new, marketable trends. These indie developers may have the passion and the dedication to create something in the vein of a bygone era but might be limited by budgetary restrictions. These indie developers tend to be so destitute that they collect funds from online sources like Kickstarter, a source with a less-than-stellar reputation. It begs the question: why do we need these technologically inferior revival games when we already have the older triple-A titles that are still enjoyable? A game often compared to A Hat In Time is Yooka-Laylee, a revivalist 3D platformer game from an indie developer that came out the same year. Its mission was to act as a spiritual successor to the forsaken Banjo-Kazooie series. While the developers obviously understood the source material, Yooka-Laylee was too uninspired and marred by amateurish, indie developer hiccups to make any real impact. The game just makes you want to replay Banjo-Kazooie. While A Hat In Time wears its influences on its sleeves, it is not the same insipid, nostalgia-wankery that Yooka Laylee is. A Hat In Time uses its influences to create something considerably fresh.
In saying this, the games that have inspired A Hat In Time are the crux of its foundation. The most obvious influence is the 3D Mario games, especially Super Mario Sunshine. Like the Mario games, A Hat In Time’s levels is divided into “episodes” that showcase a different area with a different setting and theme, which are accessed in the game’s hub world. More specifically, to Super Mario Sunshine, the trajectory of each episode is confined to a specific objective. The background of the sub-chapter is presented with a series of overhead shots, having the player survey the scope of their objectives exactly like in Super Mario Sunshine. Instead of receiving stars or Shine Sprites after completing these objectives, the player receives timepieces, floating hourglasses that sparkle like diamond jewelry. They may emit a different glow than stars and Shine Sprites from Mario but act as the same platformer Macguffin object that furthers the game by collecting them.
The timepieces hold a specific power that holds some stake in the story. Hat Kid, the vague moniker of the protagonist, is an adorable, spunky little lass with a mysterious background. She seems to be a space traveler, warping through the hidden realms of the universe in a spaceship that is just as precious as she is. She seems to be doing all this under a severe lack of supervision, so is the protagonist really a little girl? My theory is that her true alien form is intangible to most beings, so she presents herself as a little girl in a corporeal form, reflecting her effervescent nature. If she is a little girl, she’s got quite a heavy responsibility: guarding the timepieces in a vault on her spaceship, which she also uses as a source of fuel for her ship. One day while parked over an unknown planet, someone from “The Mafia” knocks at the glass on her ship, badgering her to pay a fine for floating over their planet. This altercation turns perilous as the man punches the glass window, breaking it and creating a vacuum that sucks Hat Kid and all of the timepieces into the gravitational pull of the nearby world. Hat Kid arrives in Mafia Town, the base of operations for the man who accosted her and his uncanny cohorts. Hat Girl isn’t the only peculiar little girl here. Another little girl nicknamed “Mustache Girl” is seen here fighting The Mafia with more passionate vigor. Hat Girl and Mustache Girl work to defeat The Mafia’s boss in the fourth episode of Mafia Town and dismantle their establishment. We then learn about the powerful time-bending properties of the timepieces when Mustache Girl carelessly drops one, putting the importance of Hat Kid’s goal to collect them in perspective. Mustache Girl is spellbound by the opportunities these timepieces could have, mostly plans to vindictively stomp The Mafia even further into the dirt. Hat Kid rejects Mustache Girl’s proposal, and Mustache Girl leaves in a huff. They form a rivalry fueled by their desire to retrieve the remaining timepieces, and the rest of the game is a race between the two to gather them all up for their own prerogatives.
An essential aspect of any 3D platformer game is controlled. In a genre that requires a lot of precise jumping, the objective quality of a 3D platformer is marked by its fluidity in movement. Considering that A Hat In Time is a grassroots indie game funded by donations, the level of quality in the controls may be a legitimate concern. While I can’t say that the controls in A Hat In Time are refined, it compensates well with the range of Hat Kid’s movement. Hat Kid can double-jump just like any other 3D platformer character, but her trademark traversal method is a mid-air dive that can be followed up with a mid-air cancel to maintain momentum. The player’s skill with the mid-air dive move will directly affect traversing at any point in this game. Traversing the levels in the game will often make the player feel like they’re flying, mostly thanks to this mid-air dive move. It makes playing as Hat Kid feel less like Mario and more like Spider-Man. Hat Kid’s expansive range of movement is tested to its fullest potential in the time rift sections: isolated timepiece challenges that are obviously inspired by the FLUDD-less sections from Super Mario Sunshine. It’s pure platforming bliss, an emphasis on the bliss factor of these levels thanks to the ethereal design and peaceful music track. These levels are pure ecstasy.
Hat Kid’s weapon of choice to combat the denizens of this planet is an umbrella. It’s a weapon that fits her quirky personality, but not as effective one as you could probably imagine. The umbrella doesn’t have any range of attack, and the only way to use it well is to flail it recklessly when an enemy is coming right for Hat Kid. A more practical method of combat is a homing dive that acts like the homing attack from the 3D Sonic games. Once Hat Kid is airborne, an indicator button will pop up, guaranteeing that Hat Kid will home in on the enemy. It’s a move that compliments the fluidity of the game and one that doesn’t interrupt the pace of Hat Kid’s movement when platforming. Like most 3D platformers, the game isn’t very combat-oriented as the enemy placements are designed as sums of the level, scattered around the level to breathe more life into it. While the combat isn’t consistently enthralling, the boss fights certainly make up for that in spades. There are only a few bosses in the game, but each is multi-phased fights that are all surprisingly lengthy for 3D platformer bosses. Each boss is unpredictable, and they don’t falter by implementing the platformer trope of waiting for an obvious weak point. The more combat-focused fights here never interrupt the quick pace of Hat Kid’s fluid movement.
Assisting Hat Kid in both combat and level traversal are the different hats and badges acquired throughout the game. The material for the hats is scattered all over each level, and Hat Kid knits these hats after acquiring an arbitrary number of their raw essences. Each hat gives Hat Kid a different ability mostly used for traversal. Some of these different hats are required for certain parts of certain missions but can also be incorporated to change up Hat Kid’s array of movement. The Sprint Hat lets Hat Kid execute a lunge, the Brewing Hat cooks a short-ranged projectile, and the Ice Hat transforms Hat Kid into a solid block of ice that lets Hat Kid launch herself from different ice panels. The Dweller’s Mask materializes platforms and objects for a short period. All these hats are utilized greatly in the game except for the last hat, the Time Stop Hat. This one is acquired very late in the game and is only used for one mission. Hat Kid can also implement a smattering of badges and alternate abilities for Hat Kid separate from the hats. These badges are bought from a mysterious merchant with pons, the game’s form of currency. Most of these badges are for novelty, with some having negative effects like the inability to sustain a single hit. However, some prove to accentuate the fluidity of Hat Kid’s movement, such as the hover, Hookshot, and no bonk badge. This is my optimal combination of badges to make traversal the smoothest for Hat Kid. These different abilities are most likely taken from Psychonauts, another classic 3D platformer in which the protagonist has many gadgets and abilities. However, Psychonauts uses these a little more cleverly than A Hat In Time, as each ability and gadget is used for more than just traversal and simple novelty. The aspect of this that A Hat In Time has over Psychonauts is the customization options. Many different designs and color pallets are available for Hat Kid in a roulette accessed in the hub. I may be impatient and apathetic with character customizations in most games, but mixing and matching Hat Kid’s aesthetic is something I enjoy greatly.
Platforming and combat always feel smooth and give the player the sense that any mistake made while platforming is due to their performance and not the games. This factor in the gameplay is ideal for any 3D platformer. The same cannot be said for wall jumping, another staple in the 3D platformer genre present in the game. On such occasions that Hat Kid cannot make it up to a higher platform, she will run up the side of it in an attempt to save face. Often when a platform is still too high to run up it, there is usually another high wall parallel to it for wall jumping. This usually amounts to something I’ll call “wall scaling,” as most platformer characters will hop from wall to wall without running up it. These moments can be quite finicky at times, and Hat Kid might not jump in the intended direction after scaling the wall, resulting in a mismatched jump that punishes the player unfairly. Sometimes, the camera will move erratically during these segments, and accomplishing the intended trajectory of the jump will practically be based on chance. This doesn’t happen very often and isn’t a severe detriment to A Hat In Time’s gameplay. Still, the inconsistencies with the fluid control illustrate the cracks in the foundation one would expect from a Kickstarter-funded indie game.
I suppose that the Kickstarter level of quality bleeds into the graphics of A Hat In Time. The cel-shaded graphical style greatly compliments the bubbly tone of the game, but they lack a certain level of refinement. The character models are outlined rigidly, with their physical features looking very “drawn-on.” The graphical layout of each level also seems to follow the same amateurish level of quality. For a game that takes the most inspiration from second-generation 3D platformers, A Hat In Time bears the rudimentary qualities of an early platformer game. In an era when the genre was considered a radical advancement of video game potential, developers could get away with the platforms looking like blocks. The platformers of the second generation refined the graphics to make the platforms less obvious. Much of the terrain in A Hat In Time looks about as subtle as the blocky platforms from Super Mario 64. I also noticed many unrefined sections where some of the foregrounds look as if it was neglected to be enhanced by the developers. These sections tend to be hidden from plain sight but show inconsistencies in quality as a whole. A game that was made to usher in an extinct genre, revitalized for a modern gaming climate, is ironically many steps down from the games that are generations older than it. Then again, I guess I have to put the Kickstarter funding into consideration.
I suppose I can’t fault A Hat In Time, or Yooka-Laylee for that matter, for their lackluster execution. The indie circle of game developers cannot compete with the frills of triple-A gaming, even with the triple-A games of generations past. From a technical standpoint, these revivalist games cannot hold a leg to their influences. Yooka-Laylee is a Kirkland brand Banjo-Kazooie, not a worthy successor. Being a successor to something sort of entails a leap in quality, or at least something comparable. A Hat In Time is not technically on par with its influences, but it’s anything but pastiche. The winning factor of A Hat In Time that gives it its substance is its astounding level of heart and charm. Do you know that aged adage about how if you keep making a face, it’ll stick? If that were true, I’d hold a perpetual smile on my face thanks to A Hat In Time. It’s a game that seems self-aware of its shortcomings and compensates for them with buoyant creativity.
Hat Kid herself is the centerpiece of the overall bubbly tone of A Hat In Time. Her innocent and adorable persona is just too much to handle. She’s constantly touting a wide smile on her face, even when another face is scowling at her. Besides her variety of hats and color-pallets for her clothes, there are smaller touches to her character that add to her charm. She seldom utters a word but is not quite the typical mute protagonist. Anytime she does speak, it’s a darling pipsqueak voice that is irresistible. She has two reaction options on opposite sides of the d-pad. One blows a kiss, and the other blows a raspberry. Neither of these is useful, but that didn’t stop me from constantly alternating between reactions ad nauseam. Hat Kid’s ship, the hub-world of A Hat In Time, is Hat Kid’s kingdom of cuteness. The design and color scheme of it answer the seldom asked question: what if little girls had the opportunity to design the interior of their own spaceship, no holds barred? The answer is exactly the look of this hub world. The beige and pink color scheme signal an almost sickeningly sweet pallet that no one past 10 would find appealing. Hat Kid has a pool of pillows complete with a diving board in her room, and diving into it reveals a hidden fortress where she catalogs the game's events in a secret diary. A Roomba constantly vacuums the living space, and Hat Kid can even ride it like a dog (which looks incredibly painful for the Roomba). The central computer even has a fully interactive text-based adventure starring a Corgi. This might just be one of my favorite hubs in all of gaming, and I’ve never lived a day as a little girl in my entire life.
Every chapter in this game is also oozing with enchantment of the same degree. It’s difficult to summarize the overall charm easily because each chapter is so contained with its own characters, tone, and objectives. This level of charm and creativity also fluctuates through the course of all four chapters. Mafia Town presents a relatively open level situated on an island with palm trees, seagulls, and a towering lighthouse. It’s the chapter in this game that reminds me the most of Super Mario Sunshine, namely the Ricco Harbor level with its industrialized beachfront setting. According to a developer, this level is inspired by a town in Greece, which might explain the bald, olive-skinned Mafia members that have set up shop here. As imposing as one might expect the Mafia, A Hat In Time does a great job making them as endearing as everything else in the game. They all speak broken English through an accent ripped straight from The Soviet Union, which I never get tired of hearing. They might seem to be a formidable force, but Hat Kid plays them off with whimsy and humor like Bugs Bunny does with Elmer Fudd. Some of the background mafia members even squeak when you hit them. The members of the mafia might do some dastardly, albeit cartoonishly bad things like tie up Mustache Girl and strap her to a pyramid of explosive barrels. Still, their stronghold here is the least heinous front I could imagine the mafia doing: cooking for their prestigious seafood restaurant. Mafia members even wear aprons that say “kiss the cook” on them. I want to collectively kiss each mafia member on their bald heads.
While Mafia Town was certainly an enjoyable experience, the next chapter is the one that won me over. “Battle of the Birds” takes place in a film studio divided between two rival bird directors who viciously compete yearly to win at the bird studio equivalent of the Oscars. Hat Kid gets wrapped up in performing the lead role in both directors’ films, and both have completely different creative visions. The Conductor is an (owl?) who sports the most exaggerated Scottish accent since everyone’s impressions of Shrek. He specializes in thrilling steam train-oriented westerns involving a murder mystery and defusing a bomb on the train. DJ Grooves is a fat penguin donning an unabashedly garish disco suit with a big, puffy afro. His vision is in the vein of flashy dance films like La La Land. As the player progresses through the chapter, the meter between both directors will increase on either side. This signifies the winner of the film competition. What the game doesn't tell the player is that the score of the bird you dislike the most should be the higher one. The winning bird will be exposed as a cheater, and they'll be the chapter's final boss. They’re both wankers, so the decision shouldn’t be too difficult. I chose DJ Grooves because I am biased against guys who unironically wear disco outfits post-1979. . This was the chapter that solidified my praise for this game because of how creative it was. Regarding narrative, the developers borrowed more from the quirky, irreverent Paper Mario games than the 3D platformers. Yet, they still managed to execute something bold in narrative with the platformer elements still being used to the finest degree.
“Subcon Forest” is another impressive chapter that delves into the horror genre, definitely not expected from this game at first glance. The chapter takes place in an eerie land with a light-hearted, Halloweeny vibe and aesthetic. The prime force of this land is a being referred to as “The Snatcher '', a ghoul-like figure with a jovial presence and a wide, Jack-O-Lantern smile. He catches Hat Kid off guard and forces her to sell her soul to him in exchange for timepieces. These tasks involve many things, including fighting a possessed toilet and delivering mail to his minions. He tries to oust Hat Kid once all of his missions are complete, but Hat Kid overcomes his ghoulish grasp in a duel. Once he loses, The Snatcher becomes annoyed with Hat Kid and tells her to get lost. Hat Kid then starts making new contracts with him to be her best friend and play with her. At that moment, The Snatcher’s cold heart grew two times its size. Mine certainly did when this happened. While “Subcon Forest” is as subversive and substantial as the previous chapter, The Snatcher is not the reason why I hold it in high regard. One of The Snatcher’s missions, “Queen Vanessa’s Manor,” is an exemplary piece of horror in gaming. Hat Kid ventures off to a gothic mansion in the hidden, icy realms of Subcon Forest. The one denizen inside is Queen Vanessa, a forsaken queen marred by years of loneliness and jealousy that has reduced her to a horrific, indescribable form with one twinkling red eye. This mission is a stealth section accompanied by a storm, menacing music, and the creepy, ominous dialogue from Queen Vanessa. If her eye catches Hat Kid, the screen will get blurry as she’ll run at you like an angry hornet, hoisting Hat Kid up by her neck where she will meet her doom. This isn’t just a horror section in the vein of a cutesy platformer: it’s genuinely one of the most terrifying and hair-raising sections in all of gaming. Eat your heart out, Silent Hill.
Unfortunately, the last chapter in the game is where the quality of creativity and charm flatlines. “Alpine Skyline” is an open-world chapter in which Hat Kid swings past a series of cliffs with their own themes. One is a mountainous birdhouse, one is an active volcano, and my favorite of these is a moody, borderline psychedelic bell with waterfalls and strange architecture. Unlike the other chapters, there are no interesting characters or creative narratives. In any other platformer, this would have been an acceptable level. As I’ve explained, A Hat In Time’s strength is not its world-building or technical prowess. Without the elements from the other chapters, “Alpine Skyline” doesn’t deliver on the same impressive scale.
After a certain number of pieces, Hat Kid will unlock the attic of her ship to the final level. Since we’ve last seen her in Mafia Town, Mustache Girl has been liberally using the timepieces she’s found to set up an intimidating fortress where she sits on a throne, judging essentially every character in the game on their morals. If they don’t meet her criteria of “good” (which none of them do), she sentences them like a ruthless emperor. The run-up to Mustache Girl is obviously taken from the Mario games, as everything is reminiscent of Bowser’s castle. The fight with Mustache Girl has an epic scale, but the finale here feels undeserved. By the time we fight Mustache Girl, so much has happened in the game that is completely removed from the narrative of Mafia Town. I’d be surprised if some players forgot about Mustache Girl and her grievances with the mafia at this point. Nevertheless, it’s an epic final fight that effectively incorporates all of the familiar faces in this game (except that of the horrific Queen Vanessa) to aid Hat Kid in her battle against Mustache Girl. Hat Kid then gets to journey back home while all of her new friends beg her to stay.
It almost feels like the final level in A Hat In Time was just to wrap things up like any other 3D platformer. Each episode is so contained with its own unique properties that wrapping them all up with this fight seems inappropriate. The conflict between Mustache Girl and The Mafia is only one plot in the game, so it feels uneven to incorporate elements from the other chapters as a whole finale for this game. However, I realize that this is only from a point of progression in the sense of the game. Narratively, it ties the individual experiences of Hat Kid as a whole. The surprising depth of A Hat In Time comes with a lesson of forgiveness. As Mustache Girl climbs to the top, she becomes the villain over all these imposing forces; the mafia, deceitful, ego-driven directors, and even demonic spirits. She’s a giant hypocrite that turns into what we sought to destroy. Even though The Mafia might have wronged her in the past, her consuming anger lets her become more insidious than they ever were. Hat Kid, on the other hand, faces these imposing forces directly and tries to see the best in them despite their malevolent intentions. In turn, they end up supporting her when she needs it. It’s an old lesson from the dustiest of Aesop’s Fables, but having these themes in a video game gives A Hat In Time a surprising depth underneath the endearing presentation. Mario certainly never had any underlying themes like this.
Generations on, the 3D platformer genre that was a staple of my childhood is still deader than disco. Revivalist games made by indie studios make a valiant effort to recreate this forgotten era, but it comes off as a shameless nostalgia-fueled re-hash with inferior elements. A Hat In Time bears all the markings of games like Super Mario Sunshine and other games of that ilk, but the end product is not the slimy afterbirth of the Italian plumber. It was a unique experience that kept a stupid grin on my face the entire time. The game is often compared to Yooka-Laylee due to its similar, retro-inspired initiative, but the quality between these games is unequal. A Hat In Time proves that games like this needn’t be forgotten and treats us to the first great 3D platformer of the current generation. Hell, I liked this game even more than Super Mario Odyssey. Nintendo may have had all the branding and money to secure another good Mario game, but A Hat In Time beats it with its large, ever-beating, beguiling heart.
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Attribution: https://erockreviews.blogspot.com
As I’ve expressed, nostalgia is sweet and comfortable but cloudy and vapid. It’s nice to indulge one’s sweet tooth in the recesses of their past once in a while, but not to the extent where someone becomes close-minded and hopelessly stuck in the past. New ideas, deviating from old trends and expanding artistic capabilities sustain any medium. Vegetating in the bliss of nostalgia is never a practical means of progress. While A Hat In Time is a new release, it doesn’t seem like its existence of spells out an influx of 3D platformers ready to take back its throne from battle royales and open-world games. These revivalist games are passion projects of indie developers who create these games because triple-A developers have abandoned them out of catering to new, marketable trends. These indie developers may have the passion and the dedication to create something in the vein of a bygone era but might be limited by budgetary restrictions. These indie developers tend to be so destitute that they collect funds from online sources like Kickstarter, a source with a less-than-stellar reputation. It begs the question: why do we need these technologically inferior revival games when we already have the older triple-A titles that are still enjoyable? A game often compared to A Hat In Time is Yooka-Laylee, a revivalist 3D platformer game from an indie developer that came out the same year. Its mission was to act as a spiritual successor to the forsaken Banjo-Kazooie series. While the developers obviously understood the source material, Yooka-Laylee was too uninspired and marred by amateurish, indie developer hiccups to make any real impact. The game just makes you want to replay Banjo-Kazooie. While A Hat In Time wears its influences on its sleeves, it is not the same insipid, nostalgia-wankery that Yooka Laylee is. A Hat In Time uses its influences to create something considerably fresh.
In saying this, the games that have inspired A Hat In Time are the crux of its foundation. The most obvious influence is the 3D Mario games, especially Super Mario Sunshine. Like the Mario games, A Hat In Time’s levels is divided into “episodes” that showcase a different area with a different setting and theme, which are accessed in the game’s hub world. More specifically, to Super Mario Sunshine, the trajectory of each episode is confined to a specific objective. The background of the sub-chapter is presented with a series of overhead shots, having the player survey the scope of their objectives exactly like in Super Mario Sunshine. Instead of receiving stars or Shine Sprites after completing these objectives, the player receives timepieces, floating hourglasses that sparkle like diamond jewelry. They may emit a different glow than stars and Shine Sprites from Mario but act as the same platformer Macguffin object that furthers the game by collecting them.
The timepieces hold a specific power that holds some stake in the story. Hat Kid, the vague moniker of the protagonist, is an adorable, spunky little lass with a mysterious background. She seems to be a space traveler, warping through the hidden realms of the universe in a spaceship that is just as precious as she is. She seems to be doing all this under a severe lack of supervision, so is the protagonist really a little girl? My theory is that her true alien form is intangible to most beings, so she presents herself as a little girl in a corporeal form, reflecting her effervescent nature. If she is a little girl, she’s got quite a heavy responsibility: guarding the timepieces in a vault on her spaceship, which she also uses as a source of fuel for her ship. One day while parked over an unknown planet, someone from “The Mafia” knocks at the glass on her ship, badgering her to pay a fine for floating over their planet. This altercation turns perilous as the man punches the glass window, breaking it and creating a vacuum that sucks Hat Kid and all of the timepieces into the gravitational pull of the nearby world. Hat Kid arrives in Mafia Town, the base of operations for the man who accosted her and his uncanny cohorts. Hat Girl isn’t the only peculiar little girl here. Another little girl nicknamed “Mustache Girl” is seen here fighting The Mafia with more passionate vigor. Hat Girl and Mustache Girl work to defeat The Mafia’s boss in the fourth episode of Mafia Town and dismantle their establishment. We then learn about the powerful time-bending properties of the timepieces when Mustache Girl carelessly drops one, putting the importance of Hat Kid’s goal to collect them in perspective. Mustache Girl is spellbound by the opportunities these timepieces could have, mostly plans to vindictively stomp The Mafia even further into the dirt. Hat Kid rejects Mustache Girl’s proposal, and Mustache Girl leaves in a huff. They form a rivalry fueled by their desire to retrieve the remaining timepieces, and the rest of the game is a race between the two to gather them all up for their own prerogatives.
An essential aspect of any 3D platformer game is controlled. In a genre that requires a lot of precise jumping, the objective quality of a 3D platformer is marked by its fluidity in movement. Considering that A Hat In Time is a grassroots indie game funded by donations, the level of quality in the controls may be a legitimate concern. While I can’t say that the controls in A Hat In Time are refined, it compensates well with the range of Hat Kid’s movement. Hat Kid can double-jump just like any other 3D platformer character, but her trademark traversal method is a mid-air dive that can be followed up with a mid-air cancel to maintain momentum. The player’s skill with the mid-air dive move will directly affect traversing at any point in this game. Traversing the levels in the game will often make the player feel like they’re flying, mostly thanks to this mid-air dive move. It makes playing as Hat Kid feel less like Mario and more like Spider-Man. Hat Kid’s expansive range of movement is tested to its fullest potential in the time rift sections: isolated timepiece challenges that are obviously inspired by the FLUDD-less sections from Super Mario Sunshine. It’s pure platforming bliss, an emphasis on the bliss factor of these levels thanks to the ethereal design and peaceful music track. These levels are pure ecstasy.
Hat Kid’s weapon of choice to combat the denizens of this planet is an umbrella. It’s a weapon that fits her quirky personality, but not as effective one as you could probably imagine. The umbrella doesn’t have any range of attack, and the only way to use it well is to flail it recklessly when an enemy is coming right for Hat Kid. A more practical method of combat is a homing dive that acts like the homing attack from the 3D Sonic games. Once Hat Kid is airborne, an indicator button will pop up, guaranteeing that Hat Kid will home in on the enemy. It’s a move that compliments the fluidity of the game and one that doesn’t interrupt the pace of Hat Kid’s movement when platforming. Like most 3D platformers, the game isn’t very combat-oriented as the enemy placements are designed as sums of the level, scattered around the level to breathe more life into it. While the combat isn’t consistently enthralling, the boss fights certainly make up for that in spades. There are only a few bosses in the game, but each is multi-phased fights that are all surprisingly lengthy for 3D platformer bosses. Each boss is unpredictable, and they don’t falter by implementing the platformer trope of waiting for an obvious weak point. The more combat-focused fights here never interrupt the quick pace of Hat Kid’s fluid movement.
Assisting Hat Kid in both combat and level traversal are the different hats and badges acquired throughout the game. The material for the hats is scattered all over each level, and Hat Kid knits these hats after acquiring an arbitrary number of their raw essences. Each hat gives Hat Kid a different ability mostly used for traversal. Some of these different hats are required for certain parts of certain missions but can also be incorporated to change up Hat Kid’s array of movement. The Sprint Hat lets Hat Kid execute a lunge, the Brewing Hat cooks a short-ranged projectile, and the Ice Hat transforms Hat Kid into a solid block of ice that lets Hat Kid launch herself from different ice panels. The Dweller’s Mask materializes platforms and objects for a short period. All these hats are utilized greatly in the game except for the last hat, the Time Stop Hat. This one is acquired very late in the game and is only used for one mission. Hat Kid can also implement a smattering of badges and alternate abilities for Hat Kid separate from the hats. These badges are bought from a mysterious merchant with pons, the game’s form of currency. Most of these badges are for novelty, with some having negative effects like the inability to sustain a single hit. However, some prove to accentuate the fluidity of Hat Kid’s movement, such as the hover, Hookshot, and no bonk badge. This is my optimal combination of badges to make traversal the smoothest for Hat Kid. These different abilities are most likely taken from Psychonauts, another classic 3D platformer in which the protagonist has many gadgets and abilities. However, Psychonauts uses these a little more cleverly than A Hat In Time, as each ability and gadget is used for more than just traversal and simple novelty. The aspect of this that A Hat In Time has over Psychonauts is the customization options. Many different designs and color pallets are available for Hat Kid in a roulette accessed in the hub. I may be impatient and apathetic with character customizations in most games, but mixing and matching Hat Kid’s aesthetic is something I enjoy greatly.
Platforming and combat always feel smooth and give the player the sense that any mistake made while platforming is due to their performance and not the games. This factor in the gameplay is ideal for any 3D platformer. The same cannot be said for wall jumping, another staple in the 3D platformer genre present in the game. On such occasions that Hat Kid cannot make it up to a higher platform, she will run up the side of it in an attempt to save face. Often when a platform is still too high to run up it, there is usually another high wall parallel to it for wall jumping. This usually amounts to something I’ll call “wall scaling,” as most platformer characters will hop from wall to wall without running up it. These moments can be quite finicky at times, and Hat Kid might not jump in the intended direction after scaling the wall, resulting in a mismatched jump that punishes the player unfairly. Sometimes, the camera will move erratically during these segments, and accomplishing the intended trajectory of the jump will practically be based on chance. This doesn’t happen very often and isn’t a severe detriment to A Hat In Time’s gameplay. Still, the inconsistencies with the fluid control illustrate the cracks in the foundation one would expect from a Kickstarter-funded indie game.
I suppose that the Kickstarter level of quality bleeds into the graphics of A Hat In Time. The cel-shaded graphical style greatly compliments the bubbly tone of the game, but they lack a certain level of refinement. The character models are outlined rigidly, with their physical features looking very “drawn-on.” The graphical layout of each level also seems to follow the same amateurish level of quality. For a game that takes the most inspiration from second-generation 3D platformers, A Hat In Time bears the rudimentary qualities of an early platformer game. In an era when the genre was considered a radical advancement of video game potential, developers could get away with the platforms looking like blocks. The platformers of the second generation refined the graphics to make the platforms less obvious. Much of the terrain in A Hat In Time looks about as subtle as the blocky platforms from Super Mario 64. I also noticed many unrefined sections where some of the foregrounds look as if it was neglected to be enhanced by the developers. These sections tend to be hidden from plain sight but show inconsistencies in quality as a whole. A game that was made to usher in an extinct genre, revitalized for a modern gaming climate, is ironically many steps down from the games that are generations older than it. Then again, I guess I have to put the Kickstarter funding into consideration.
I suppose I can’t fault A Hat In Time, or Yooka-Laylee for that matter, for their lackluster execution. The indie circle of game developers cannot compete with the frills of triple-A gaming, even with the triple-A games of generations past. From a technical standpoint, these revivalist games cannot hold a leg to their influences. Yooka-Laylee is a Kirkland brand Banjo-Kazooie, not a worthy successor. Being a successor to something sort of entails a leap in quality, or at least something comparable. A Hat In Time is not technically on par with its influences, but it’s anything but pastiche. The winning factor of A Hat In Time that gives it its substance is its astounding level of heart and charm. Do you know that aged adage about how if you keep making a face, it’ll stick? If that were true, I’d hold a perpetual smile on my face thanks to A Hat In Time. It’s a game that seems self-aware of its shortcomings and compensates for them with buoyant creativity.
Hat Kid herself is the centerpiece of the overall bubbly tone of A Hat In Time. Her innocent and adorable persona is just too much to handle. She’s constantly touting a wide smile on her face, even when another face is scowling at her. Besides her variety of hats and color-pallets for her clothes, there are smaller touches to her character that add to her charm. She seldom utters a word but is not quite the typical mute protagonist. Anytime she does speak, it’s a darling pipsqueak voice that is irresistible. She has two reaction options on opposite sides of the d-pad. One blows a kiss, and the other blows a raspberry. Neither of these is useful, but that didn’t stop me from constantly alternating between reactions ad nauseam. Hat Kid’s ship, the hub-world of A Hat In Time, is Hat Kid’s kingdom of cuteness. The design and color scheme of it answer the seldom asked question: what if little girls had the opportunity to design the interior of their own spaceship, no holds barred? The answer is exactly the look of this hub world. The beige and pink color scheme signal an almost sickeningly sweet pallet that no one past 10 would find appealing. Hat Kid has a pool of pillows complete with a diving board in her room, and diving into it reveals a hidden fortress where she catalogs the game's events in a secret diary. A Roomba constantly vacuums the living space, and Hat Kid can even ride it like a dog (which looks incredibly painful for the Roomba). The central computer even has a fully interactive text-based adventure starring a Corgi. This might just be one of my favorite hubs in all of gaming, and I’ve never lived a day as a little girl in my entire life.
Every chapter in this game is also oozing with enchantment of the same degree. It’s difficult to summarize the overall charm easily because each chapter is so contained with its own characters, tone, and objectives. This level of charm and creativity also fluctuates through the course of all four chapters. Mafia Town presents a relatively open level situated on an island with palm trees, seagulls, and a towering lighthouse. It’s the chapter in this game that reminds me the most of Super Mario Sunshine, namely the Ricco Harbor level with its industrialized beachfront setting. According to a developer, this level is inspired by a town in Greece, which might explain the bald, olive-skinned Mafia members that have set up shop here. As imposing as one might expect the Mafia, A Hat In Time does a great job making them as endearing as everything else in the game. They all speak broken English through an accent ripped straight from The Soviet Union, which I never get tired of hearing. They might seem to be a formidable force, but Hat Kid plays them off with whimsy and humor like Bugs Bunny does with Elmer Fudd. Some of the background mafia members even squeak when you hit them. The members of the mafia might do some dastardly, albeit cartoonishly bad things like tie up Mustache Girl and strap her to a pyramid of explosive barrels. Still, their stronghold here is the least heinous front I could imagine the mafia doing: cooking for their prestigious seafood restaurant. Mafia members even wear aprons that say “kiss the cook” on them. I want to collectively kiss each mafia member on their bald heads.
While Mafia Town was certainly an enjoyable experience, the next chapter is the one that won me over. “Battle of the Birds” takes place in a film studio divided between two rival bird directors who viciously compete yearly to win at the bird studio equivalent of the Oscars. Hat Kid gets wrapped up in performing the lead role in both directors’ films, and both have completely different creative visions. The Conductor is an (owl?) who sports the most exaggerated Scottish accent since everyone’s impressions of Shrek. He specializes in thrilling steam train-oriented westerns involving a murder mystery and defusing a bomb on the train. DJ Grooves is a fat penguin donning an unabashedly garish disco suit with a big, puffy afro. His vision is in the vein of flashy dance films like La La Land. As the player progresses through the chapter, the meter between both directors will increase on either side. This signifies the winner of the film competition. What the game doesn't tell the player is that the score of the bird you dislike the most should be the higher one. The winning bird will be exposed as a cheater, and they'll be the chapter's final boss. They’re both wankers, so the decision shouldn’t be too difficult. I chose DJ Grooves because I am biased against guys who unironically wear disco outfits post-1979. . This was the chapter that solidified my praise for this game because of how creative it was. Regarding narrative, the developers borrowed more from the quirky, irreverent Paper Mario games than the 3D platformers. Yet, they still managed to execute something bold in narrative with the platformer elements still being used to the finest degree.
“Subcon Forest” is another impressive chapter that delves into the horror genre, definitely not expected from this game at first glance. The chapter takes place in an eerie land with a light-hearted, Halloweeny vibe and aesthetic. The prime force of this land is a being referred to as “The Snatcher '', a ghoul-like figure with a jovial presence and a wide, Jack-O-Lantern smile. He catches Hat Kid off guard and forces her to sell her soul to him in exchange for timepieces. These tasks involve many things, including fighting a possessed toilet and delivering mail to his minions. He tries to oust Hat Kid once all of his missions are complete, but Hat Kid overcomes his ghoulish grasp in a duel. Once he loses, The Snatcher becomes annoyed with Hat Kid and tells her to get lost. Hat Kid then starts making new contracts with him to be her best friend and play with her. At that moment, The Snatcher’s cold heart grew two times its size. Mine certainly did when this happened. While “Subcon Forest” is as subversive and substantial as the previous chapter, The Snatcher is not the reason why I hold it in high regard. One of The Snatcher’s missions, “Queen Vanessa’s Manor,” is an exemplary piece of horror in gaming. Hat Kid ventures off to a gothic mansion in the hidden, icy realms of Subcon Forest. The one denizen inside is Queen Vanessa, a forsaken queen marred by years of loneliness and jealousy that has reduced her to a horrific, indescribable form with one twinkling red eye. This mission is a stealth section accompanied by a storm, menacing music, and the creepy, ominous dialogue from Queen Vanessa. If her eye catches Hat Kid, the screen will get blurry as she’ll run at you like an angry hornet, hoisting Hat Kid up by her neck where she will meet her doom. This isn’t just a horror section in the vein of a cutesy platformer: it’s genuinely one of the most terrifying and hair-raising sections in all of gaming. Eat your heart out, Silent Hill.
Unfortunately, the last chapter in the game is where the quality of creativity and charm flatlines. “Alpine Skyline” is an open-world chapter in which Hat Kid swings past a series of cliffs with their own themes. One is a mountainous birdhouse, one is an active volcano, and my favorite of these is a moody, borderline psychedelic bell with waterfalls and strange architecture. Unlike the other chapters, there are no interesting characters or creative narratives. In any other platformer, this would have been an acceptable level. As I’ve explained, A Hat In Time’s strength is not its world-building or technical prowess. Without the elements from the other chapters, “Alpine Skyline” doesn’t deliver on the same impressive scale.
After a certain number of pieces, Hat Kid will unlock the attic of her ship to the final level. Since we’ve last seen her in Mafia Town, Mustache Girl has been liberally using the timepieces she’s found to set up an intimidating fortress where she sits on a throne, judging essentially every character in the game on their morals. If they don’t meet her criteria of “good” (which none of them do), she sentences them like a ruthless emperor. The run-up to Mustache Girl is obviously taken from the Mario games, as everything is reminiscent of Bowser’s castle. The fight with Mustache Girl has an epic scale, but the finale here feels undeserved. By the time we fight Mustache Girl, so much has happened in the game that is completely removed from the narrative of Mafia Town. I’d be surprised if some players forgot about Mustache Girl and her grievances with the mafia at this point. Nevertheless, it’s an epic final fight that effectively incorporates all of the familiar faces in this game (except that of the horrific Queen Vanessa) to aid Hat Kid in her battle against Mustache Girl. Hat Kid then gets to journey back home while all of her new friends beg her to stay.
It almost feels like the final level in A Hat In Time was just to wrap things up like any other 3D platformer. Each episode is so contained with its own unique properties that wrapping them all up with this fight seems inappropriate. The conflict between Mustache Girl and The Mafia is only one plot in the game, so it feels uneven to incorporate elements from the other chapters as a whole finale for this game. However, I realize that this is only from a point of progression in the sense of the game. Narratively, it ties the individual experiences of Hat Kid as a whole. The surprising depth of A Hat In Time comes with a lesson of forgiveness. As Mustache Girl climbs to the top, she becomes the villain over all these imposing forces; the mafia, deceitful, ego-driven directors, and even demonic spirits. She’s a giant hypocrite that turns into what we sought to destroy. Even though The Mafia might have wronged her in the past, her consuming anger lets her become more insidious than they ever were. Hat Kid, on the other hand, faces these imposing forces directly and tries to see the best in them despite their malevolent intentions. In turn, they end up supporting her when she needs it. It’s an old lesson from the dustiest of Aesop’s Fables, but having these themes in a video game gives A Hat In Time a surprising depth underneath the endearing presentation. Mario certainly never had any underlying themes like this.
Generations on, the 3D platformer genre that was a staple of my childhood is still deader than disco. Revivalist games made by indie studios make a valiant effort to recreate this forgotten era, but it comes off as a shameless nostalgia-fueled re-hash with inferior elements. A Hat In Time bears all the markings of games like Super Mario Sunshine and other games of that ilk, but the end product is not the slimy afterbirth of the Italian plumber. It was a unique experience that kept a stupid grin on my face the entire time. The game is often compared to Yooka-Laylee due to its similar, retro-inspired initiative, but the quality between these games is unequal. A Hat In Time proves that games like this needn’t be forgotten and treats us to the first great 3D platformer of the current generation. Hell, I liked this game even more than Super Mario Odyssey. Nintendo may have had all the branding and money to secure another good Mario game, but A Hat In Time beats it with its large, ever-beating, beguiling heart.
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