Hatch Tales: A Heroic Hookshot Adventure review

It is fair to say that Hatch Tales: A Heroic Hookshot Adventure has had a bit of a lengthy gestation period since it was originally conceived as a crowdfunded sequel to 3DS indie fave Chicken Wiggle, where you took on the dual role of a chicken, obviously, and their worm pal. For my money, the original name was much snappier, too. This finally-here spiritual sequel has a title that doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but it does include some excellent and unexpected Chicken Wiggle content, more of which later.

Hatch Tales: A Heroic Hookshot Adventure is a deceptively deep, great value package that gives you a lot of bang for your buck. Not only is there this brand new Hookshot Adventure starring a Farfetch’d dead-ringer and their bird of prey companion, but there are some actual “retro” Chicken Wiggle levels to play, and unlockable stages based around Renegade Kid’s other indie hit, Mutant Mudds. The fact that games released in the 2010s are now considered retro doesn’t half make some of us feel old, but here we are.

But developer Atooi have fine form with retro-inspired fare, I recall having a lot of fun with Xeodrifter. And this is more wholesome and well-crafted fun. In the main game you control your hero on a quest to best an evil, abominable snowman-esque Big Bad. You can beat each stage by collecting a set number of gems by hookshotting your way around the levels, but there are an absolute tonne of secret things to find, well-hidden sprites tucked away around devious environments that open up special tower areas for each clutch of stages, a magic scroll that triggers off a side-quest (!), and additional gems that if fully hoovered up (100 in total!) unlock the sweet, sweet, Chicken content.

Progression also awards you special abilities than enable you to survive and explore more effectively, like a MetroidVania. You can turn into a ghost to pass through spikes without being harmed, gain the power of double-jumps and even flight, a sprint that allows you to smash through breakable areas like Samus, and a drilling ability that lets you bore your way down into the ground. The actual hookshot is the principle gimmick and it works really well. You can pull yourself around the place smoothly and intuitively in a way that I haven’t experienced since Umihara Kawase or, going back even further, our old pal Bionic Commando.

As well as gem collecting, there are also enemies to deal with in a variety of well implemented ways, including good old-fashioned pecking. The only gripe I really had was a lack of proper decent, innovative boss battles. I was desperate for a challenge, a crazy pattern, something out of the ordinary that harkens back to the golden age of Super Nintendo platformers that clearly inspired this adventure, however they are just too simplistic and left me wanting more.

In addition to the generous main game and raft of old-school Chicken Wiggle and Mutant Mudds stages, there is also a level editor mode, something that was originally planned as part of the original Chicken Wiggle over-haul back in the day. It is good fun to tinker with and there are a huge number of variables pulled from the different games to use when constructing your hookshot-themed masterpiece.

For Chicken Wiggle fans this is the ultimate package, as it completely does over the original game with a slightly more mature theme and a frankly bonkers amount of add-ons that will keep you playing for a fair old while before you milk every drop out of it. You can understand why this was originally conceived as a game for the 3DS, however, Hatch Tales: A Heroic Hookshot Adventure deserves its place in the pantheon of retro platformers on the Switch.