If old school action platformers with tons of heavy combat (Ghosts 'N Goblins, Rygar, Golden Axe, Wizards&Warriors) are your cup of tea (or in this case, your cup of blood spray and decapitated cute furry heads), you would be crazy not to play Knight of the Hamsters. Such a wondrously frantic melange of platforming, shooting, collecting and straight side-scrolling beat 'em up violence is a breath of fresh air in a day and age where the industry standard of game design is a timid, flavorless experience devoid of challenge and predictable to the point of irrelevance. Cheers to Johnny Death and team for having the guts and vision to put out one of the most surprising, addicting, charming, and unrepentently challenging indie titles I have played in some time.
The gameplay in KOTH is pure side-scrolling platform combat. As pure as it gets. You will not find a faster, more aggressive action platformer this side of Battletoads and Ninja Gaiden. The play field is a continuous horizontal looping space (think Joust/Pac-Man) with variable height and arrangement of platforms. The looping nature of the field generally works to the player's advantage, allowing some very nice flow and freedom of movement as well as a chance to evade attacks and/or escape hordes of onrushing Hammies when necessary (and make no mistake--regardless of how aggressively you play, it does at times become necessary to flee before the inexorable Hamster onslaught). The looping play field also throws a few more subtle curveballs into the gameplay; for instance it is possible to swat enemies through the edge of the screen to set them up for combo attacks, and certain projectiles can pass through the screen boundary as well which results in some really interesting attack moves depending on which character you are playing.
Speaking of characters: the Proving Grounds offers a host of heroes that can be recruited to your cause using coin accumulated in battle. Even in defeat you are awarded a nice stack of gold that can be used to unlock new characters with ever gnarlier Hamster-grinding abilities. I will not spoil them here... Go unlock them and see what they do! Each hero is as delightful and charming as he is deadly, and each one (with the exception of the red/blue Templars) is completely unlike any of the others. My personal favorite is Headless... but honestly there are no weak links--every character is fun to play, and they are all suitably unique with their own distinct fighting styles, special attacks and perks (critical hits, "holy" strikes that turn nocturnal devil-Hamsters back into their docile daytime forms, and probably a lot more that I haven't discovered yet).
Upon first entering a stage only a few Hamsters appear, usually the weakest varieties... This is your chance to move around, get the lay of the land, and note the positions of the all-important carrots (defensive objectives that must be protected at all cost, lest you fail the mission in disgrace). During the day the action revolves around evaluating your situation (health, number of coins), protecting the all-important carrots, and grabbing up a key powerup or two before the sun goes down. The gameplay dynamic shifts drastically as day phases into night... Demon-Hamsters now ignore the carrots and spawn in massive waves, attacking from all sides and bouncing unpredictably around the field when struck by attacks (which makes it tough to target them accurately for a quick finish). Jump attacks and a mix of range/melee strikes work well, as does moving strategically from platform to platform, but the night time is basically a non-stop fight for your life as you pray for the crow of the rooster and the rosy light of dawn.
Camping in one spot and just mashing buttons rarely works for long, and even if you do survive that way you will have a tough time collecting enough coins to power up... The ability to simply hold a button down for rapid fire ranged/melee attacks is a welcome convenience, but for those of us NES generation players who pride ourselves on our ninja-esque thumb speed it is possible to unleash even more death by tapping the buttons with astounding celerity. Do not mistake KOTH for a mindless button-masher! A fair amount strategy, insight and quick decision making is required to survive and conquer in addition to lightning thumbs of blazing devastation. Some of the missions last 5 or even 7 days, so consider carefully which powerups you choose to unlock, when to buy health, when to release your special magic attack, etc. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention--the coveted powerups will be destroyed if you carelessly attack them (yep, just like the food in Gauntlet), and health chests spawn at random positions all over the field. A devilish little twist of design if ever I saw one... You are a cruel man Johnny Death. :)
The way jumping, shooting and melee attack actions combine in KOTH is probably my favorite thing about this game. Even in the first few minutes of play I was switching fluidly between ranged attacks and heavy slashing, throwing down crushing aerial combos and unlocking powerups on the fly. Defeated Hamsters release precious gold coins that are literally your life blood in battle. They are good for ranged/melee/armor/magic upgrades, and are also required to unlock treasure chests (full of delicious health) and revive fallen comrades. So the player is faced with a crucial strategic decision: spend coin to get better weapons (and, ideally, stay alive by killing enemies before they kill you), or use it to recover health you lost in the current day (and prepare to face an even gnarlier wave of demon Hamsters without any increase in power)...
Have I mentioned that these levels are hard? Well they are. And I for one respect and appreciate this fact. Yes KOTH is a challenging game, and yes you may die a few times before clearing a level... For me personally, this is a quality that is pretty much necessary in order for a game to hold my interest. If there is no real penalty for failure/death that means there is no real challenge, and thus not much reason to keep playing. To make things even crazier, some levels include various "devices" you can spend a small number of coins to activate--things like explosive barrels, ballistae, and spiked crushers (think Castlevania/Contra). Like most things in KOTH, using these is a gamble--a barrel that you paid 5 coins to detonate may yield 10, but if you aren't able to collect them right away you may find your coinage running short when you are in dire need of unlocking a chest of health...
I have only really scratched the surface of the gameplay in Knight of the Hamsters, I could go on and on and on for pages about all there is to discover in the Carrot Kingdom... The Treasury, with its plethora of "quests" (challenging secondary objectives)... The Royal Zoo, with its vast menagerie of captured Hamster specimens... The Castle, with its ever-evolving cast of NPCs and mysterious potions for sale... The secret room where all the Carrot Princesses seem to be throwing a rave for the invading Hamster forces (yes this really exists--but good luck finding a way in)... Such a great game overall, and I have such profound respect for the skill and creativity of the designer. This really goes to show what a small team of highly talented and motivated creators can accomplish.
So in summation: if you fancy a rough and rollicking frenzy of cute, cuddly ultra-violence, tarry not noble sir! Knight of the Hamsters is 30% off until 4.22.2015... Buy it now, and perhaps we shall meet again one day on some far away fur-strewn field of glory. Bold heroes of the Carrot Kingdom, sharpen your blades and steel your nerves. The twilight is at hand...
