Gamertell Review: Half-Minute Hero for PSP
by at November 5, 2009 8:09 am
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Half-Minute Hero has rather humble beginnings. It began life as a brief, 1mb freeware game by developer UUE. Marvelous Entertainment saw the potential for a full game there, expanded it and turned it into Yuusha 30. The Hero 30 mode is nearly identical to the original game, and additional Evil Lord 30, Princess 30 and Knight 30 modes have been added in to flesh out the story and make the overall game more substantial. Now XSEED has picked up this quirky game for a North American release.
Only thirty seconds to complete your quests.
An ultimate evil lord by the name of Noire has been tormenting the land for hundreds of years. With the help of the Time Goddess, a series of heroes will face off against Noire throughout time in the hopes of destroying him and bringing peace.
Chronologically, the game begins with Hero 30, an RPG where a hero must face off against numerous evil lords who have been given a spell that will destroy the world in 30 seconds. It continues with Evil Lord 30, a real time strategy game where a vile man called Noire has placed a curse on the evil lord’s love Millenia and is placing Noire statues that warp the mind around the country. After that comes the shoot-em-up Princess 30, where the princess must retrieve medicines that could heal her father, who has mysteriously fallen ill. The next chapter is Knight 30, an action game where a lone knight must protect a sage with the power to save the world. Finally, it all ties together in Hero 300.
Not all game modes are created equal – Hero 30 steals the show.
Half-Minute Hero is probably one of the better on-the-go PSP games available. Since there are six game modes available (once you unlock everything) that cover four different game genres and typically take only a minute or two for each mission, it offers a lot of variety and a perfect portable game experience. It also has wonderfully retro graphics and a clever script filled with little jokes to make you laugh.
The title is a little misleading though. While it is true that at the start of every mission or adventure in each of the modes you are given 30 seconds to complete it, you can get more time. In Hero 30 or Evil Lord 30, the Time Goddess can grant you more time in exchange for money. In Princess 30, you can ride on a special carpet to slow down time and speed up. In Knight 30, you can put the sage on a spot where he casts faster.
The real problem with Half Minute Hero is that the game modes aren’t all at the same level of quality. If you play two adventures/missions of each of the four main modes, you’ll find that Hero 30 is easily the shining star of the bunch, Evil Lord 30 and Knight 30 are the passable mid-tier modes and Princess 30 lags behind and is formulaic, button mashing and repetitive. The unfortunate part is, you must finish the worst mode, Princess 30, if you want to unlock Knight 30, Hero 300 and Hero 3. Its understandable why the unlocking feature is there, given that the stories in all the modes culminates in Hero 300, but that doesn’t make the unlocking any less tedious.
One of the PSP’s most unique games.
Half-Minute Hero is certainly innovative, funny, unique and great to play on the go. It does have its faults, like how the game can be too easy and some modes (Hero 30 and Evil Lord 30), are better than others (Princess 30 and Knight 30). It’s a great game, but also one of those that could end up being a hit or miss, depending on the personal preferences of the person playing it.
The best advice I can give is go to the PlayStation Store and download the demos. Demos for the Hero 30 and Evil Lord 30 segments are both available immediately. Test both out. If you like them, then chances are you’ll love the full game. Be advised though that the Normal difficulty level of the full game is much easier than both of the demos available. An even better suggestion is to make a Japanese PlayStation Store account – there are demos for each mode of the game available there.
Site [Half-Minute Hero]
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