Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg

Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg
PAL region cover art for GameCube
Developer(s)	Sonic Team
Publisher(s)	Sega
Director(s)	Shun Nakamura
Producer(s)	Yuji Naka
Artist(s)	Hideaki Moriya
Composer(s)	Tomoya Ohtani Mariko Nanba
Engine	Modified Sonic Adventure 2 engine[1]
Platform(s)	GameCube Microsoft Windows Mac OS X
Release date(s)	GameCube NA September 23, 2003 JP October 9, 2003 PAL October 31, 2003 Macintosh & Windows PAL May 31, 2006
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Distribution	Nintendo optical discs, CD

Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg (ジャイアントエッグ～ビリー・ハッチャーの大冒険～, Jaianto Eggu: Birī Hacchā no Daibouken) is a 2003 video game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Nintendo GameCube. It was ported to Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X in 2006, exclusively for Europe.

Plot

The story begins with a peaceful fantasy world by the name of "Morning Land", where the Chicken inhabitants live in peace and harmony. But all that is shattered as Dark Raven and his army of Crows assault Morning Land, catching the inhabitants by surprise and shrouding Morning Land in a blanket of unnatural, eternal night.

Meanwhile, being late to meet with his friends due to oversleeping, the slightly mischievous Billy Hatcher races out of his house to go meet them. Upon arrival, Bantam tells Billy he is late, showing him a pocket watch in the shape of an egg. And, being some sort of tradition among the four friends, Bantam Scrambled, Chick Poacher, and Rolly Roll prepare to dish out a consequence on Billy, but they're stopped by the weak chirping of a chick. Two Crows that are looming nearby dive at the chick, as if they're finishing it off, but Billy intervenes, saving the baby chicken by fending the Crows off with a stick. The chick suddenly begins to glow, transporting Billy and his friends to Morning Land.

Billy, being informed by Menie-Funie that the Crows are trying to take over Morning Land and will soon take over his world. If he doesn't save Morning Land, Dark Raven will bring eternal night, darkness will overcome the hearts of everyone, and the two worlds will be ruled by evil. goes and receives the Legendary Chicken Suit. He then goes on a journey to free the six Chicken Elders, which have been imprisoned in golden eggs by the Crows. Uri-Uri, the Chicken Elder of Pirates Island, reveals that Dark Raven is reborn every 100 years to try and bring eternal night. Once he has freed the Elders, defeated the six Crow Bosses, and opened the Rainbow Gate, Billy travels to the Giant Palace, where Dark Raven is trying to hatch the Giant Egg to receive ultimate power.

Billy battles Dark Raven, and once he defeats him, the Giant Egg unfortunately hatches... granting the wishes of... Dark Raven. A second battle then ensues. Dark Raven attacks Billy, destroying the Chicken Suit. Afterwards, Billy must avoid his attacks until Menie-Funie speaks to him, telling him that he must not give up. Then the Courage Emblems he has collected form into a new and enhanced suit, imbued with the power of courage. Billy must then use this power to turn Dark Raven's attacks against him.

Billy finally defeats Dark Raven as his heart explodes, and the power from the Giant Egg restores true morning to the land below. Once he and his friends return to where they entered Morning Land, they return the Chicken Suits and return to their world. It seems that when they're leaving, Billy is saddened that he has to leave Morning Land. The four friends wave goodbye and they are transported back. Upon their return to the human world, Billy is a few feet from the others. They get his attention and he runs over with a smile, thus ending the game.

Characters

• Billy Hatcher - An inquisitive boy from the human world. With the courage bestowed upon him, he has been chosen by the Chicken to save the Elders and return the Light to Morning Land. He's the main protagonist and titular character.
• Rolly Roll - A lighthearted and carefree girl. She always tries to help others who are in trouble, but can sometimes be a bit "scatterbrained".
• Chick Poacher - Chick may look small but his spirit is strong, giving him a misplaced air of superiority. He has a tendency to act before thinking, which always makes his friends a little nervous. He wears teal goggles on his head and seems to have the biggest of the chicken combs on his head.
• Bantam Scrambled - The heavy and powerful friend of Billy, Rolly, and Chick. He wears the largest and most distinctive clothing of the entire human crew. Bantam is a gentle giant and only uses his strength to look after his friends. Despite his rough outward appearance, he adores cuteness but hates injustice.
• Chicken Elders - Each of the regions of Morning Land is ruled by an elder, who brings morning to the world each day with a hearty "cock-a-doodle-doo." The Crows however have captured the elders and sealed them within golden eggs. The six Elders include: Oma-Oma, Uri-Uri, Ura-Ura, Ponee, Alliani and Meri-Meri.
• Crows - Through some strange power, the Crows have shape-shifted into various monsters and plan to engulf Morning Land in eternal night.
• Dark Corvo - Likely a crony of Dark Raven, Dark Corvo is the one that does Raven's dirty work, which is trapping the Chicken Elders and transforming the other Crows into monsters. He is seen at the beginning of the game after Billy receives the Legendary Chicken Suit. He is the sixth boss in the game.
• Dark Raven - The main antagonist of the game, he plans to use the Giant Egg to grant his ultimate desire to shroud both Morning Land and the human world in undying night.
• Menie-Funie - The god of the chickens that watches over Morning Land. His appearance is not shown, but he speaks during missions to inform the player/Billy of what must be done.

Gameplay

Billy Hatcher has a unique style of gameplay revolving around rolling large eggs. The player controls the hero, Billy, who cannot do much by himself aside from moving and jumping. However, he becomes a powerhouse once he finds an egg. While rolling an egg, Billy moves faster and is more agile. He can also dash, throw and return the egg along the ground, slam the egg down from the air, and Billy can travel on rails and fly through NiGHTS styled rings.

Eggs

The color-coded eggs themselves are another gameplay element. As Billy runs over fruit while holding an egg, the egg gets larger until it flashes and is ready to hatch. Then Billy can hatch the eggs, which can contain helper animals, character powerups, and extra lives. With variables such as egg size, helper animals, and personal powerups, Billy Hatcher can be played in many ways. Different animals can come out of the same eggs, and some creatures are vital to progressing through certain challenges.

Players should be wary of their handling of the eggs, as they take damage when attacked by enemies or impact certain obstacles. The egg gauge in the lower right-hand corner of the screen begins to crack, as does the egg Billy wields. When the egg takes enough damage, it is destroyed and no bonus comes from it. Eggs can also be 'lost', i.e. put into positions or situations that the player can not retrieve them from. In such cases, the egg will disappear from its position after several seconds of inactivity and will 'respawn' in its nest of origin. All work done to the egg, however, is lost. Some characters from other games appear in certain eggs, such as Sonic the Hedgehog or NiGHTS. These specific eggs are marked with the Sonic Team logo on them.

Levels

Morning Land is divided into seven stages, six that are seen almost immediately and a seventh that is unlocked when the requirements of the previous six have been met. Each stage is divided into a series of 'Missions' that Billy can play through to collect 'Emblems of Courage'. The goal of each Mission is to fulfill the conditions required and collect the Emblem as a reward. The player is graded on their skill in completing the mission and given a rank letter, with S-Rank being the highest. There are eight (8) Missions per stage, and Billy can only play through the first five Missions. Upon rescuing his friends, Rolly, Chick and Bantam would each unlock their respective Missions in the stages and become playable for those Missions only.

Game Boy Advance connectivity

Billy Hatcher is one of a handful of GameCube games that supports linking between the GameCube and Game Boy Advance handheld system. Using the Nintendo GameCube Game Boy Advance Cable, players can load games such as Puyo Pop, ChuChu Rocket!, and Nights: Time Attack on their Game Boy Advance systems after certain objectives are completed within the game.^[2]

Development

Producer Yuji Naka stated in an interview with IGN that eggs were chosen as the focus of the game to give the player joy from caring for and hatching eggs, and a feeling of anticipation "because you don't know what's going to come out of eggs". Animals were incorporated into the game to convey a mood of adventure, in contrast to the digital pet-based Chao creatures highlighted in previous project Sonic Adventure 2. The GameCube was chosen for development over the competing PlayStation 2 and Xbox because of its wide audience that Naka felt would appreciate such a family-friendly game. The game uses an engine that Naka called "an evolution of the Sonic Adventure 2 engine." The game was exhibited at Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2003.^[1]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings 72.43% (51 reviews)[3] Metacritic 71/100 (37 reviews)[4] Review scores Publication Score GamePro [5] GameSpot 6.7 out of 10[6] GameSpy [7] IGN 7.7 out of 10[8] X-Play [9] Gaming Age C+[10]

Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg received a mixed to positive reception from critics upon release, landing around the 7/10 mark. Critics praised the visuals and music, gameplay style, presentation and multiplayer mode, while criticizing the controls, camera and very simple plot. The title has yet to produce a sequel, though executive producer Zachary Brown stated that Billy will appear in various other Sega titles.

Appearances in other games

• Sega Superstars (PS2) - There is a minigame based on Billy Hatcher.
• Shadow the Hedgehog (GC, PS2, Xbox) - The Egg Vacuum weapon references Billy Hatcher.
• Sonic Riders (GC, PS2, Xbox, PC) - A portion of the Sega Carnival course is based on Billy Hatcher. Billy himself can be seen on the track rolling an egg.
• Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (PS2, Wii) - Billy appears as an unlockable playable character.
• Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (PS3, Wii, DS, Xbox 360, PC, iOS) - Billy appears as a playable character. Also, some racetracks based on the game appear.
• Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (PS3, Wii U, 3DS, Xbox 360, PC, iOS) - A new racetrack based on the game appears. Cameos made by Billy's friends (but not Billy himself) are in this game.

Other appearances

Billy Hatcher would later be featured as one of several Sega and Capcom franchises in the Worlds Unite crossover between Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Man comic lines. ^[11]

References

External links

• Official website
• Official website (JAP)
• Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg at MobyGames