All kidding aside, Sega's about to hatch (heh heh) their latest Game Cube game on the unsuspecting public, and it's engine is based on an even more suspect creation. Billy Hatcher and The Giant Egg borrows heavily from the Super Monkey Ball engine for most of it's physics. Instead of being a monkey inside it, you control Billy on the outside rolling it around. Your mission; to locate all the creatures trapped inside eggs, feed them, and then hatching them.
Billy himself is a little odd job. Imagine an 8 year old dressed in a rather cool looking chicken suit (did you ever think you'd hear those words stringed together?) that must save his world from an eternity of darkness. The animals inside the eggs will help set the sun free, which would apparently lead to a quest for a…sunny side up world. Ha ha ha! Heh…eh….
When it comes to managing your egg, it really is Super Monkey Ball, only here the world doesn't flip around. You'll be moving eggs up and down hills, into rings to shoot them across stages, feed them everything from pineapples to bananas, and even use them to crush the bad guys. That's right, trounce the opposition and leave egg on their face! Har Har! You can also use the A button to hop around with the egg, and should you pick up too much speed, poor little Hatcher simply holds on for dear life as you roll around. Billy will also be able to control the animals he hatches, as the preview version allowed the manipulation of a penguin and seal.
The Preview didn't allow for much playtime, so we'll just have to wait and see how Sega's Yuji Naka and Team pull off the finishing touches in this very bizarre yet oddly amusing adventure game. Here's hoping the game is everything it's cracked up to be.
Ah…I love my life…
