This year has been a sort of renaissance for the character-based platformer. It warms my heart to be playing so many whimsical games featuring cartoony characters and plenty of jumping puzzles. While some of these games failed to capitalize on what makes the genre so special, some absolutely nailed it. A Hat in Time is one of the latter. I could tell from the minute I started playing that the developers drew inspiration from that magical time in the late 90’s when this genre ruled the gaming world. This game is a must-play for anyone who has fond memories of that era.
Avoiding comparisons to a certain plumber’s 3D adventures is impossible. The game jumps off with our hat girl suddenly losing all her time pieces in a series of worlds. The idea is to visit them all and recover them. From worlds locked behind a set number of pieces to the way each world showcases objectives it is hard not to draw comparison.
MSRP: $29.99
Platforms: XB1 (reviewed), PS4, PC
Price I’d Pay: $29.99
The story follows our hat girl as she moves through each world. Surprisingly the characters and voice acting are charming and fun. Unsurprisingly it makes little sense along the way. That’s fine though, as each world offers up a new theme alongside a series of unique challenges. Although stealth sections in an action platformer can still go die right in a fire. Seriously who thought this was still a good idea in 2017?
Controlling our protagonist feels good. The jumping is tight and platforming feels responsive. If I had any issues with the game it is the camera. Call it a platform review cliché, but 3D cameras always have some sort of caveat when playing this type of game. Thankfully the developers have added some nice options to the camera controls that alleviate a lot of the issues. There are still weird disappearing walls and glitches when spinning it around, but with a few tweaks I was able to make it work well enough to progress without issue.
There is more to the game than just platforming though. Akin to the name, the gimmick here is hats. New hats can be crafted using yarn collected around the levels. These hats offer up new abilities and can be switched on the fly. For example one hat adds a sprint ability, while another adds the ability to toss bombs to break specific objects. It opens up the levels, allowing players to revisit them to find more collectibles. There are also orbs to collect, which can be traded in for pins. These pins offer passive abilities to the character.
A Hat in Time does a great job of encouraging the player to collect everything. There isn’t a ridiculous amount and everything has a purpose. I found myself striving for 100%, which is something I rarely do in any game.
I simply adore the look of this game. The colorful levels and cartoon art style really pop onscreen. The worlds are diverse and everything has a great design. The voice acting is overly comical and I adore it. There is simply a lot to love about the presentation of this game. The music is equally fantastic offering up some truly memorable tunes.
A Hat in Time is probably the best platformer released this year that doesn’t star that one plumber guy. Anyone who still has fond memories of classic N64 platformers owe it to themselves to check it out. Also for PS4 and XB1 owners this is about as good as it gets without Italian influence. For the price it is more than worth your time. Don’t sleep on this charming title.