We probably won’t cover this in the magazine as it doesn’t really fall under our new remit, but Henry Hatsworth is such a great game, we feel that you need to know about it.

Henry Hatsworth In The Puzzling Adventure (to give it its full name) is a clever blending of two distinct genres. The top screen is a standard platformer tha’s been heavily influenced by a variety of popular Japanese games, while the bottom screen is a take on Bejeweled.

As Henry battles enemies, he receives coins and gems that can be used to purchase a variety of power-ups at the end of each stage. Additionally, it’s possible to juggle enemies with a variety of different attacks, which further influences the coins that they drop. Defeated enemies turn into blocks that appear on the bottom screen; which, in the tradition of many classic puzzle games, constantly inches ever skywards.

Luckily, a quick stab of the X button enables you to switch between screens and its this constant juggling (clearing enemies enhances Henry’s powers on the platforming screen) that makes Henry Hatsworth such a joy to play through.

Perhaps the greatest aspect of Henry Hatsworth is the titular character himself. He’s an utterly wonderful creation and is effectively a kindly old mustachioed duffer, resplendent in a natty bowler hat. When his power bar is full he transforms into a Livingstone like explorer – pith hats will never go out of fashion – and it’s even possible to change into a massive gold robot that comes complete with a variety of different attacks that slowly build as the adventure progresses.

Add in some utterly nutty bosses – our favourite being a doddering old wheelchair-bound gentleman who gets thrown around by a hulking nurse – and Henry Hatsworth is one on the most original DS games that’s currently available. The fact that it’s by Electronic Arts of all publishers is nothing less than astonishing.

You can’t reach certain areas as a giant metal robot so a quick tap on the bottom screen reverts you back to old man status.

One of the funniest bosses we’ve seen for quite some time. If this duo was in a Japanese platformer it would receive a 10/10.

Defeated enemies fall to the bottom screen, clear them up to boost that power bar on the right (the one on the left is the amount of time you have left on the bottom screen).

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 at 1:56 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.