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  • Outside of gamer types, most people remember the GameCube as the symbol of a disappointing

  • era for Nintendo...if they remember the system at all. But for me? That system was anything

  • but a disappointment. I loved the GameCube. I loved the form factor, I loved the controller...I

  • loved the handle.

  • Speaking of handles, I loved how...weird, the GameCube was. I mean, it launched with

  • this weird Luigi game, that riffed on Ghostbusters. It debuted characters like Chibi Robo and

  • Pikmin, these weird new franchises. It turned Zelda into a cartoon, and it had this entire

  • list of exclusives that were, if nothing else...weird.

  • Exclusives like Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg.

  • So this game came from the same people who brought you games like Samba de Amigo, ChuChu

  • Rocket...and uh, something called the "Sonic the Hedgehog." Never heard of it. Nonetheless,

  • this "Sonic Team" certainly had a pedigree for these bright, colorful and...really eccentric

  • ideas.

  • And in Billy Hatcher, that's as clear as day.

  • A sunny day.

  • With...35 rainbows and cascades of falling fruit in the sky.

  • Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg puts you in control of Billy Hatcher. See, Billy's in

  • a bind, because...the chicken world has been assaulted by an army of crows, who have brought

  • about this eternal night. Obviously, that's a problem...for chickens. What with the cock-a-doodle-doo,

  • and everything. So Billy Hatcher sets out to bring back the morning. By rolling giant

  • eggs...and, hatching monsters, from them.

  • You know. The obvious tactical choice.

  • So what all that boils down to, in terms of gameplay, is...this amalgamation of SEGA,

  • things. Take the physics-based experience of Monkey Ball, add the high-speed rolling

  • attacks and the rails you know from Sonic...throw in some chickens.

  • Man, the GameCube was so weird!

  • So it works like this. You move Billy Hatcher with the analog stick, and since he has a

  • chicken suit, obviously...he can push giant eggs. And these eggs are really the crux of

  • the gameplay. You can roll them into the bad guys like a pinball, you can use them to bounce

  • into the air...but of course, you also have to keep the egg safe.

  • That means not falling off ledges, and not letting enemies smash it.

  • As you crush enemies, they leave behind little pieces of fruit. And if you can roll your

  • egg over the fruit, your egg starts to grow. Eventually, the thing gets huge, and it starts

  • glowing. Once that happens, you can actually hatch the egg to release this Pokemon-like

  • monster, which has special abilities that can help you. So again, those eggs are really

  • everything in Billy Hatcher.

  • The game is completely and cleverly designed around the concept.

  • Of course, with that comes a lot of complexity. That's the interesting thing about Billy Hatcher.

  • This may look like a silly kids game, but it's actually a brilliant action-puzzler,

  • more than anything. One that takes serious skill to play. The physics are terrific, the

  • puzzles are genuinely tricky...this is really a surprisingly smart game.

  • Despite the fact that...you know. You're dressed like a chicken.

  • You know, a lot has changed for Nintendo since 2003. They've released much more successful

  • consoles, of course...but they've also become a company from which you expect creativity.

  • But I think the seeds for that reputation were really planted by the GameCube, and all

  • its lovably weird games.

  • Billy Hatcher was never exactly considered a masterpiece, but on the GameCube...SEGA's

  • quirky game about chicken eggs fit right in.

Outside of gamer types, most people remember the GameCube as the symbol of a disappointing

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