Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure
Encyclopedia
Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure is a Nintendo DS
action-adventure
and puzzle game developed by EA Tiburon
. It involves a British adventurer, the eponymous Henry Hatsworth, who is on a mission to find the "Golden Suit", garb that allows the wearer to control the "Puzzle Realm". The player must solve puzzles on the touch screen to destroy fallen enemies on the top screen.
While the game is an action-platformer on the top screen, once enemies are defeated by Hatsworth, they are sent to the bottom screen as puzzle blocks. The puzzle game on the bottom screen plays much like Nintendo's Puzzle League, as blocks need to be linked in a chain of three or more of the same color to be cleared, and any blocks resting on top of the cleared ones will fall into their place, potentially leading to a chain reaction of blocks being cleared if they fall into place and end up touching more of the same colors.
As the blocks on the puzzle screen rise, the enemy blocks that touch the upper edge of the screen are revived and can attack Hatsworth again on the top screen. The player can prevent this by swapping blocks to form groups of three or more, causing them to be destroyed, and their energy to add to the "Super Meter". Certain blocks may also power up Hatsworth's attacks, or restore his health, while others may hinder the player. If the Super Meter is filled, Hatsworth becomes younger, and his health
increases. If it is then filled to double its capacity, the player can activate a mode called "Tea Time", causing Hatsworth to pilot a mecha
(called his Robot
Suit) and become invincible until the Super Meter depletes. Using the money earned by defeating enemies or collecting treasure, the player can return to Hatsworth's assistant's shop periodically to buy various upgrades.
that allows the wearer to control a parallel world
known as the Puzzle Realm, in order to obtain the valuable treasures inside this world. The Suit was created by an ancient ruler called "The Gentleman", but hidden after no one else was capable of wielding its power. After finding a golden bowler hat
that allows him to manipulate this realm, Henry causes an imbalance, and resolves to find the rest of the pieces to stop monsters from entering his world and claim their world's riches for himself. Each piece of the Suit gives him different special technique
s. Later, he and Cole finds out that masterpiece of the golden suit is strong enough to seal puzzle realm and it's hidden into a puzzle realm. But Weasleby gets it first and claims it has made him as god, but Henry defeats him. Nefarious Weasleby gets away and kidnaps Cole. Henry travels to the tea land, final world of the game, to find weasleby. Henry defeats Weasleby, but finds out that Weasleby was a robot controlled by Cole, who reveals that he was Henry's archenemy all along because never get the credit, and so, Henry faces Cole's masterpiece, The Machine, a giant robot in final battle. Henry is able to defeat him and obtains the masterpiece to seal the puzzle realm. After that he returns to place the golden hat to its original place. while credits roll it is shown that Cole puts on the hat which, unfortunately for him since he is a kid, causes him to turn into a baby.. Meanwhile Lance becomes popular with the women despite his baldness, the Captain travels to the Himalayas and LadyD marries the Weasleby robot.
Henry Hatsworth - A "quirky, light-hearted character" who "occupies the #1 position in the Pompous Adventurers' Club,". Main protagonist of the game.
Leopold Charles Anthony Weasleby the Third - An underhanded villain
who occupies the #2 spot, and is the main antagonist of the game. Appears in every world as mini-boss and is the main boss of the Puzzle Realm.
Cole - A young boy who assists Henry throughout the game and runs the in-game shop.
Lance Banson - A womanizer
who is captain of a fleet of airships and battles using singing. He is the boss of the Skylands.
Lady D - A widow of many husbands who talks in hacks and coughs in a rather morbid masculine tone. She uses gigantic wedding cake as her weapon. She is the boss of the Mysteria.
Captain - An old retired man who has bad hearing and memory and uses hearing horn while sitting on wheel chair. He is taking care by huge, obese, hulking nurse. He is the boss of the Atlantia.
WORLDS:
Mysteria - 1st world, which is jungle, swamp, graveyard - themed.
Skyland - 2nd world, which is combination of floating islands, temple ruins and airships.
Atlantia - 3rd world, ocean with volcanoes and underwater city, hydropolis.
Puzzle Realm - 4th world, filled with treasures and monsters.
Tealand - 5th and final world, which has old-London style. stages are sewers, clock tower, city and weaslebys mansion.
and was initially called Monkey Business
. In a 2009 interview at Nintendo Life with Kyle Gray, where Kyle was asked if it was difficult to get Henry Hatsworth made at EA, Kyle had this to say. "Surprisingly, it wasn’t too bad! I initially pitched the swell gents at Tiburon with a project idea which basically involved me doing some crazy stuff in Flash on my own. Luckily, they totally approved it, so I started making little DS game prototypes– which gradually led to the Monkey Business prototype, which ultimately became Hatsworth."
Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure was created by Kyle Gray, who founded the Experimental Gameplay Project with Kyle Gabler, the creator of World of Goo
, in 2005. Gray led a seven-man team at EA Tiburon
to develop the game. The seven man team included; Kyle Gray as Director, Peter Ong as Lead Designer, Ryan Pijai as Lead Programmer, Robert Nystrom as Tools Programmer, Andrew Malesky as Animator, Jay Epperson as Art Director and Loel Phelps as Level Designer and Tileset Artist.
The art of the game was envisioned by art director Jay Epperson, using a mix of wood grain and paper-cut themes.
of the game, composed by Gene Rozenberg, was released by EA Games for free download on its website.
.
IGN
's Mark Bozon commented that the game was "completely old school in design and execution", featuring "pop-up brawling, a wall jump that feels like Mega Man X
, Mario
-like platforming, and a great blend with the puzzle aspects". He commended the game's "beautiful" art style, but criticized the game for technical issues, and called the gameplay "unforgiving at times". GameSpot
's Tom McShea also called both platforming and puzzle aspects "first-class" and "an absolute blast", with "tight controls and varied environments" as well as "fast and frantic" puzzle gameplay, but was frustrated by "the high difficulty in the later stages". DigitalSomething.com gave the game a 9 out of 10, stating that the game "is one of the best that has ever been released for the Nintendo DS". http://www.digitalsomething.com/news/2096.html
Herny Hatsworth has been nominated for the "Outstanding Achievement in Portable Game Design" Interactive Achievement Award from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
.
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
action-adventure
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
and puzzle game developed by EA Tiburon
EA Tiburon
EA Tiburon is an Electronic Arts video game development studio located in Maitland, Florida, United States founded in 1994. It is located just north of the Orlando, Florida downtown area. It was formerly known as Tiburon Entertainment, which was acquired by EA in 1998.The studio is most well known...
. It involves a British adventurer, the eponymous Henry Hatsworth, who is on a mission to find the "Golden Suit", garb that allows the wearer to control the "Puzzle Realm". The player must solve puzzles on the touch screen to destroy fallen enemies on the top screen.
Gameplay
As the blocks on the puzzle screen rise, the enemy blocks that touch the upper edge of the screen are revived and can attack Hatsworth again on the top screen. The player can prevent this by swapping blocks to form groups of three or more, causing them to be destroyed, and their energy to add to the "Super Meter". Certain blocks may also power up Hatsworth's attacks, or restore his health, while others may hinder the player. If the Super Meter is filled, Hatsworth becomes younger, and his health
Health (gaming)
Health is a game mechanic used in role-playing, computer and video games to give value to characters, enemies, NPCs, and related objects. This value can either be numerical, semi-numerical as in hit/health points, or arbitrary as in a life bar....
increases. If it is then filled to double its capacity, the player can activate a mode called "Tea Time", causing Hatsworth to pilot a mecha
Mecha
A mech , is a science fiction term for a large walking bipedal tank or robot, including ones on treads and animal shapes.-Characteristics:...
(called his Robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
Suit) and become invincible until the Super Meter depletes. Using the money earned by defeating enemies or collecting treasure, the player can return to Hatsworth's assistant's shop periodically to buy various upgrades.
Story
Henry Hatsworth, the game's protagonist, is on a mission to find the lost pieces of the Gentleman's Suit, a suit of armourArmour
Armour or armor is protective covering used to prevent damage from being inflicted to an object, individual or a vehicle through use of direct contact weapons or projectiles, usually during combat, or from damage caused by a potentially dangerous environment or action...
that allows the wearer to control a parallel world
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
known as the Puzzle Realm, in order to obtain the valuable treasures inside this world. The Suit was created by an ancient ruler called "The Gentleman", but hidden after no one else was capable of wielding its power. After finding a golden bowler hat
Bowler hat
The bowler hat, also known as a coke hat, derby , billycock or bombin, is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown originally created in 1849 for the English soldier and politician Edward Coke, the younger brother of the 2nd Earl of Leicester...
that allows him to manipulate this realm, Henry causes an imbalance, and resolves to find the rest of the pieces to stop monsters from entering his world and claim their world's riches for himself. Each piece of the Suit gives him different special technique
Skill
A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills...
s. Later, he and Cole finds out that masterpiece of the golden suit is strong enough to seal puzzle realm and it's hidden into a puzzle realm. But Weasleby gets it first and claims it has made him as god, but Henry defeats him. Nefarious Weasleby gets away and kidnaps Cole. Henry travels to the tea land, final world of the game, to find weasleby. Henry defeats Weasleby, but finds out that Weasleby was a robot controlled by Cole, who reveals that he was Henry's archenemy all along because never get the credit, and so, Henry faces Cole's masterpiece, The Machine, a giant robot in final battle. Henry is able to defeat him and obtains the masterpiece to seal the puzzle realm. After that he returns to place the golden hat to its original place. while credits roll it is shown that Cole puts on the hat which, unfortunately for him since he is a kid, causes him to turn into a baby.. Meanwhile Lance becomes popular with the women despite his baldness, the Captain travels to the Himalayas and LadyD marries the Weasleby robot.
Characters
The game's characters include:Henry Hatsworth - A "quirky, light-hearted character" who "occupies the #1 position in the Pompous Adventurers' Club,". Main protagonist of the game.
Leopold Charles Anthony Weasleby the Third - An underhanded villain
Villain
A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...
who occupies the #2 spot, and is the main antagonist of the game. Appears in every world as mini-boss and is the main boss of the Puzzle Realm.
Cole - A young boy who assists Henry throughout the game and runs the in-game shop.
Lance Banson - A womanizer
Promiscuity
In humans, promiscuity refers to less discriminating casual sex with many sexual partners. The term carries a moral or religious judgement and is viewed in the context of the mainstream social ideal for sexual activity to take place within exclusive committed relationships...
who is captain of a fleet of airships and battles using singing. He is the boss of the Skylands.
Lady D - A widow of many husbands who talks in hacks and coughs in a rather morbid masculine tone. She uses gigantic wedding cake as her weapon. She is the boss of the Mysteria.
Captain - An old retired man who has bad hearing and memory and uses hearing horn while sitting on wheel chair. He is taking care by huge, obese, hulking nurse. He is the boss of the Atlantia.
WORLDS:
Mysteria - 1st world, which is jungle, swamp, graveyard - themed.
Skyland - 2nd world, which is combination of floating islands, temple ruins and airships.
Atlantia - 3rd world, ocean with volcanoes and underwater city, hydropolis.
Puzzle Realm - 4th world, filled with treasures and monsters.
Tealand - 5th and final world, which has old-London style. stages are sewers, clock tower, city and weaslebys mansion.
Development and Progression to the Nintendo DS
The concept for Henry Hatsworth started as a prototype in Adobe FlashAdobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
and was initially called Monkey Business
Monkey Business
-Film and television:* Monkey Business , an Our Gang film* Monkey Business , a Marx Brothers film* Monkey Business * Monkey Business...
. In a 2009 interview at Nintendo Life with Kyle Gray, where Kyle was asked if it was difficult to get Henry Hatsworth made at EA, Kyle had this to say. "Surprisingly, it wasn’t too bad! I initially pitched the swell gents at Tiburon with a project idea which basically involved me doing some crazy stuff in Flash on my own. Luckily, they totally approved it, so I started making little DS game prototypes– which gradually led to the Monkey Business prototype, which ultimately became Hatsworth."
Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure was created by Kyle Gray, who founded the Experimental Gameplay Project with Kyle Gabler, the creator of World of Goo
World of Goo
World of Goo is a physics-based puzzle game by 2D Boy, an independent game developer consisting of Kyle Gabler and Ron Carmel, both former Electronic Arts employees, released for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, iOS, Android and WiiWare...
, in 2005. Gray led a seven-man team at EA Tiburon
EA Tiburon
EA Tiburon is an Electronic Arts video game development studio located in Maitland, Florida, United States founded in 1994. It is located just north of the Orlando, Florida downtown area. It was formerly known as Tiburon Entertainment, which was acquired by EA in 1998.The studio is most well known...
to develop the game. The seven man team included; Kyle Gray as Director, Peter Ong as Lead Designer, Ryan Pijai as Lead Programmer, Robert Nystrom as Tools Programmer, Andrew Malesky as Animator, Jay Epperson as Art Director and Loel Phelps as Level Designer and Tileset Artist.
The art of the game was envisioned by art director Jay Epperson, using a mix of wood grain and paper-cut themes.
Soundtrack
The original soundtrackSoundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
of the game, composed by Gene Rozenberg, was released by EA Games for free download on its website.
Reception
Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure was mostly well-received by reviewers, obtaining an average score of 82% in MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
.
IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Mark Bozon commented that the game was "completely old school in design and execution", featuring "pop-up brawling, a wall jump that feels like Mega Man X
Mega Man X
The Mega Man X series is the second Mega Man franchise released by Capcom. It debuted December 17, 1993 in Japan on the Super NES/Super Famicom and spawned sequels on several systems, with the PC platform notably having the most releases within the series...
, Mario
Mario (series)
The video game series, alternatively called the series or simply the series, is a series of highly popular and critically acclaimed video games by Nintendo, featuring Nintendo's mascot Mario and, in many games, his brother Luigi. Gameplay in the series often centers around jumping on and...
-like platforming, and a great blend with the puzzle aspects". He commended the game's "beautiful" art style, but criticized the game for technical issues, and called the gameplay "unforgiving at times". GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
's Tom McShea also called both platforming and puzzle aspects "first-class" and "an absolute blast", with "tight controls and varied environments" as well as "fast and frantic" puzzle gameplay, but was frustrated by "the high difficulty in the later stages". DigitalSomething.com gave the game a 9 out of 10, stating that the game "is one of the best that has ever been released for the Nintendo DS". http://www.digitalsomething.com/news/2096.html
Herny Hatsworth has been nominated for the "Outstanding Achievement in Portable Game Design" Interactive Achievement Award from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences , founded in 1996, is a non-profit organization that promotes computer and video game entertainment with the annual D.I.C.E. Summit event, where its Interactive Achievement Awards ceremony has been held annually since 1998...
.