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Yapping Eevee
Nov 12, 2011

STAND TOGETHER.
FIGHT WITH HONOR.
RESTORE BALANCE.

Eevees play for free.
Update 04: Can love bloom in the sunflower field?





Now that we have Maxwell on the team again, we can start clearing away some obstacles and opening shortcuts around the ranch. First and foremost, we have to move this log down to make a bridge back to the start of the area.



I’m kinda jealous.

Aw, how sweet. :3:





You two are certainly eager. I wish you all the best, lovebirds.



If we make a brief journey back to where we picked up the log, Butterfly Bridge 3/4 is just on our left… but there’s also a minigame here that we wouldn’t have been able to do before.



That’s because you need to find Maxwell first. So, what are we using his booksmarts on today?





Nothing but a simple memory game, sadly. There are six cows to choose from, and that number actually goes down with each round (because you’re taking the selected cows away). So it’s a minigame that gets easier as you play it.

The points are 10 + 1:1 for time remaining, so you could get 60+ points if you’re quick enough. And it’s repeatable without any downtime between games. Basically, just play Cow Hide if you’re after Flower Ranch stickers.



The other Butterfly Bridge game offers 20 + 1:1 for time on the clock, has twice the timer, more ground to cover and way more butterflies to scatter dust everywhere. Be careful with this one!



Passing through on the way to Cappy, you can see by the lack of a sunflower on the sign that Butterfly Bridge 1/2 are indeed counted as one game.



A bit of Ham-Ham muscle, and our friend’s freedom is secured! Hope we didn’t hit anyone with that bowl.



Th-thank you! It was really scary in there!

Then the sunflower garden is just what you need to feel better!



:toot: Now it’s back to the horse, and on to the sunflower garden! There’s a couple of things to still get along the way, though.





Moving the log on the starting screen aside allows us to climb up to one of those square things, which is…



Our first five-star sticker! Unlike the others that can all be gained from tasks, minigames or stores, five-star stickers can only be found in their one specific spot, or given to us by NPCs.



Shoving the bunny aside down below also gives us another five-star, which is probably more useful than the unknown singer’s one.



The other sleeping bunny was just lying on some sunflower seeds, but at least it let me take this picture. :)



Anyway, back to this horseride…



It must have finished eating the big carrot.

Now we can’t get to the sunflower garden. What shall we do?



Gee, whatever shall we do. Woe is us. (To be fair, we didn’t have to come over here at any point before this.)



Nice and easy. We need all five Ham-Hams to pull this out, but since we don’t need the carrot before the horse wanders off, it’s a moot point.



...Yeah, I wouldn’t want to animate the horse reappearing either. It’s the only one we’re ever going to see this close up, so why bother?



Indeed we can! Let’s climb onboard and see how it handles.



Hope he doesn’t mind us clambering all over him. :sweatdrop:



Oh hey, an artist. What’cha drawing, buddy?



See! I’ll give this to you! I haven’t colored it yet, so you can use your own colors!



See ya again!♪



Well, that was nice of them! The wandering artist is the source of many colouring-in pages, so keep an eye out.



I think by this point, we really ought to see what the fuss is about.

OK!♪ Then let’s use this horse to get you there!





...Have I mentioned that the Flower Ranch backgrounds are great? Because they’re really great. :3:



The horse ride is pretty neat, though you do have to sit through it going both ways.



Again, why animate that when you don’t have to? Let’s move on and see these sunflowers.



As well as more lovely orange carrots. (:mmmhmm:) But when we try moving to the next screen…



It’s Oxnard! Let’s go!



Ah, Hamtaro. It’s terrible. The sunflower garden!



We don’t understand why you’re crying.

That’s right. What’s so terrible? Just say it.



Let’s go.



Hmm, what could possibly be…







Well, that certainly makes things more difficult. Also, I think Hamtaro momentarily turned into a zombie.



Hi, Ham-Hams. You’ve come all this way, but…



They should’ve bloomed by now, but… Huh… It makes me so sad.

This is a problem. We can’t get the ingredient!

Looks like we’re going to have to go somewhere else for it.

Oh, come on! We’ve come all this way, so we can’t give up now! (Sunk cost fallacy? What’s that? :downs:)



When we climb down off the fence, it seems our buddy has wandered off… and opened up a new path for us. Let’s see if we can calm him down a bit.



Hmm? He’s stopped crying, so that’s a good sign. What’s up, Oxnard?





I know that crying won’t help… even with this small sunflower. Let’s work together to make it bloom!

Bloom? How?









Mmm, when Maxwell doesn’t know what to do, it’s not exactly a great sign. We need another source of inspiration.



I know! How about asking Elder-Ham?



Oxnard, please calm down. You’re going to blind someone with those eyes.

Let’s go ask Elder-Ham about making a sunflower bloom!



Welcome aboard, Oxnard! I really like this guy, partly ‘cause he’s just a big loveable lugg. :3:

Didn’t Elder-Ham say he was going to take a nap somewhere?

”Climb some stairs, and find a comfy red bench.” Something about his favorite place. I’m sure he said that.

What happens if he’s sleeping?

We’ll wake him up!



And so Oxnard takes the lead for a little while. There also seems to be a carrot I overlooked earlier, so let’s pull it up quickly and get going.





:stonk: What kind of horrible mutant are you?



Bo, is that you?



That’s kinda weird.

Hif-hif… Ohh! I smell fresh, yummy carrots!



Want to trade two carrots for one sticker?♪

So, this is what we use our carrots for. Saying Yep-P will start up a roulette, and you can get any of the area’s three or four-star stickers from it. Yes, that does mean we will be finding Carrobo in other places. He won’t be any less freaky either.

Of course, having access to something like savestates would make Carrobo very useful to people that cared about getting all 451 stickers.



I had exactly ten carrots, so I could have got five stickers… But I just grabbed one and ran.

OK, I’m going home. If you need me, just come find me!



Driver, get us out of here as quick as you can! Don’t spare the horses! Or horse, as the case may be.



The scenery is still great, as is Oxnard’s celebration animation. :3:





After sticking the dismount, we can make a couple more stops on the way to Elder-Ham’s bench. The turnips around the ranch can be plucked from the ground now that we have six Ham-Ham’s.



Someone find her and bring her back.

Ah, a sidequest! Don’t worry, it’s a turtle. It won’t have gone far.





Behind the other turnip is a place where we can finally put down the second log, which lets us see that Oxnard has different dialogue for doing so.



Oh, good. We didn’t crush anyone with that bowl earlier. Though it may have been a near miss… :ohdear:



Picking up the bowl is actually progress, so let’s make one more little detour. Now that we have Oxnard in the party, he can Tack-Q some items down from high places. It nets us quite a few sunflower seeds, and…



This rather important item! There’s a flyer for every area in the game, and you’re going to need them for some of the stickers and colouring-in stuff.





Heading back to the hole in the tree, we can finally reach that store. Quite a flash little place, honestly.



Aren’t you lucky? We just got a whole bunch of new items!♪



Remember how I said that I’d be picking up every sunflower seed I saw? That’s because the stuff in the shops is really expensive when you want one of everything.



There’s a full five pages of items in this particular store, but the last two are ‘On Sale’. What this actually means is that you cannot buy those items without the Flower Ranch Flyer.

Even with 272 seeds, it turns out that I am exactly ten seeds short of buying out the store on the first visit. I had to come back to buy this Snoozer sticker later on this session. :sweatdrop:



At least I got a picture of Panda mending the red saucepan Cappy sometimes hides under. :)



Anyway, back to the bowl. It’s the most boat-like thing we have available, so let’s use it to get behind that farmer struggling with their cart.



Bowl Boating is super-duper easy, because it lacks the main complication that a minigame like this should have.



The bowl won’t tip over if you tilt it all the way to one side. :eng101: That was worth 10 points plus a 1:1 bonus for time remaining, and you can do it in both directions. Another really easy way to earn some sunflower points.



Another sleepy roadblock hamster is here, but we have more important matters to attend to.



Like opening up this shortcut, and probably doing some serious damage to that guy’s cart.



And bringing Catherine back where she belongs.

Ah! That’s...that’s Catherine! You guys found her for me, right? What good Ham-Hams! This...is a favorite of mine, but...I’ll give it to you!



...Snoozer in a spaceship? :psyduck:



Anyway, back where we found the wayward turtle is another jerk who wants Boss to show off his stair-hopping skills. This one is even easier, because always doing three-step hops gets you most of the candy.



This leads us into an area with plenty of sunflower seeds, and the still slumbering Elder-Ham.



Let’s wake him up together.



The sunflower hasn’t bloomed yet. Plus, Pepper is really depressed. We can’t get the ingredient. We might not be able to get delicious seeds this year. Um. Did I forget anything? Anyway, we’re in trouble!

Hmm. Yes. That is not good.

How do we make the sunflower bloom, Elder-Ham?

Yes, yes, yes. Well, it hasn’t rained much this year. I guess it’s just late in blooming.



Can you go with us to the sunflower garden?

That sounds like a good idea, especially since it seems Oxnard won’t take waiting as an answer… Not when Pepper’s happiness is at stake.



Well?



I’ve seen people at the local retirement community who drop off just as easily as Elder-Ham. It makes me just a little bit jealous.

That’s right. I suggest giving it plenty of water...buckets even.

Give it water…

That’s it! There’s some water near the flower so…



Do you understand?

Understood!



I’ll try hard!



That’s just Oxnard being Oxnard, Maxwell.

When you’re ready to start, talk to me.

Alright, it’s finally time to earn that yellow ingredient!





Sunflower-Bloom Relay is very straightforward; just be in the correct position when the buckets are being passed down the line, left or right. There’s a fairly generous pause before a waiting bucket will be spilled, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble with this.



You lose after three mistakes, and the payout is 20 points per ‘life’ remaining. Though I can’t help but notice that we wouldn’t have needed a minigame if Bijou were helping…

Although, the real question is… Did watering the sunflower work?



And it’s splendid!



Amazing!

We need to show Pepper, too!

She’ll be so glad! Let’s show her!





Oxnard rushes off ahead to tell Pepper the good news, of course. :D



Hmm, I’m with Boss on this one. What could have possibly…






















:psyduck: Maxwell is going to have an aneurysm if all this strange magical stuff keeps happening.



It’s a topper!

Figures that Cappy would use a slang word like that. :rolleyes:

It’s fabulous.

Ha ha! Everyone’s playing around! I’m glad the sunflowers bloomed!

I’m really glad you’re feeling better, Pepper!

I was sad because everyone wanted to see the sunflowers. I was worried, but I’m fine now! Thanks for thinking of me, Oxnard!

You bet!



Hamtaro, the ingredient!





As lovely as this moment is, we must indeed leave Flower Ranch…



...and return to the Ham-Ham Lawn, so that another colour can be added to Bo’s umbrella!

Bo! Look! We found the yellow ingredient!



It looks like you’ve been through a lot!

Yeah! These animals kept attacking us. Boy, was it rough. But whenever those beasts came near, I showed them…

I’d bet it was Boss’s imagination that scared them away!

...

Good work calling Boss out on his tall tales, Bo. :mmmhmm:









And with that, we are one step closer to returning Bo to Rainbow Land! I hope to see you all next time, when we get a very special lead on our third ingredient…

Yapping Eevee fucked around with this message at 08:44 on May 14, 2015

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Scalding Coffee
Jun 26, 2006

You're already dead
Those are some big sunflowers.

Leave
Feb 7, 2012

Taking the term "Koopaling" to a whole new level since 2016.

Scalding Coffee posted:

Those are some big sunflowers.

Or are they just small hamsters?

Waffleman_
Jan 20, 2011


I don't wanna I don't wanna I don't wanna I don't wanna!!!

I'm disappointed the shop isn't run by the Heartbreak merchant.

KennyMan666
May 27, 2010

The Saga

Waffleman_ posted:

I'm disappointed the shop isn't run by the Heartbreak merchant.
Does it even make you... heartbroken?

Leave
Feb 7, 2012

Taking the term "Koopaling" to a whole new level since 2016.
I think it's a goddamned tragedy this thread isn't getting more love.

Robindaybird
Aug 21, 2007

Neat. Sweet. Petite.

I'm still stunned how charming a licensed handheld game for a children's anime this is. Usually these things are utter crap, but it's just so good.

Robindaybird fucked around with this message at 07:31 on Mar 11, 2015

Forer
Jan 18, 2010

"How do I get rid of these nasty roaches?!"

Easy, just burn your house down.
Note, This is made by alpha dream.

The alpha dream that makes the mario and luigi games

If they didn't have time and attention put into them I would have been surprised more.

IAmTheRad
Dec 11, 2009

Goddammit this Cello is way out of tune!
The Hamtaro Games are pretty cute in general, and are actually fun even if they are made for kids. It'd be pretty acceptable to have a little kid play them as an introduction to video games that's not too patronizing.

Xander77
Apr 6, 2009

Fuck it then. For another pit sandwich and some 'tater salad, I'll post a few more.



Yapping Eevee posted:

As well as more lovely orange carrots. (:mmmhmm:)
People and hamsters have trouble naming things.

quote:

We might be able to get delicious seeds this year.
"Might not be able", probably?

Yapping Eevee
Nov 12, 2011

STAND TOGETHER.
FIGHT WITH HONOR.
RESTORE BALANCE.

Eevees play for free.

Waffleman_ posted:

I'm disappointed the shop isn't run by the Heartbreak merchant.

It is sad that he isn't running the shops, but let's be honest... There's no way he could have started up a proper store, let alone a whole chain of them. :v:

KennyMan666 posted:

Does it even make you... heartbroken?

:rimshot:

Xander77 posted:

People and hamsters have trouble naming things.

"Might not be able", probably?

Good catch. (I'm glad that people are actually pointing out any typos or errors I make with all this transcribed text.) Also, a decent little sketch. :)

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
Well, this is quite possibly the best exercise in hamster-based magical realism available on the Game Boy Advance.

Picayune
Feb 26, 2007

cannot be unseen
Taco Defender

Robindaybird posted:

I'm still stunned how charming a licensed handheld game for a children's anime this is. Usually these things are utter crap, but it's just so good.

Seriously. I had to be pushed into playing Heartbreak back in the day--"Hamtaro? Seriously?"--but my friend insisted and I ended up being really glad she did. Such adorable games, and reasonably fun, too.

corn in the bible
Jun 5, 2004

Oh no oh god it's all true!

quote:


Aww, that's cute.

HomestarCanter
Oct 21, 2008

Strong Bad,
you're a horse's twees.
The way you keep recruiting Ham-Hams to accomplish bigger and bigger feats of strength makes me want to call this the Wonderful Ham-Oh-One.

"Ham-Hams! Diplomacy has Failed. Tack-Q!"
"Ham-Ha!"

Yapping Eevee
Nov 12, 2011

STAND TOGETHER.
FIGHT WITH HONOR.
RESTORE BALANCE.

Eevees play for free.

HomestarCanter posted:

The way you keep recruiting Ham-Hams to accomplish bigger and bigger feats of strength makes me want to call this the Wonderful Ham-Oh-One.

"Ham-Hams! Diplomacy has Failed. Tack-Q!"
"Ham-Ha!"

:allears: Being compared to W101 is pretty high praise. Chip's LP is one that I've been encouraging Leavemywife to watch; I assume he hasn't yet, because I haven't heard him gushing about it. :v:

As for the next update, it will probably happen by the end of the day (it's 7:30am on Saturday for me), but could possibly be delayed until tomorrow. The delay is because S&P mentioned the Toontown MMO in the Sandcastle, and I decided to go check out whether it was another under-appreciated gem.

My verdict is that it feels a little low budget, is sometimes hesitant to spawn the specific enemy you need to defeat and has a chat filter, but is also surprisingly willing to kick your butt up and down the street if you aren't careful. Made for a good way to get through my backlog of VLP episodes, probably going to muck around with it again sometime. Not the best MMO I've ever played, but also far from the worst.

Yapping Eevee fucked around with this message at 00:34 on Mar 14, 2015

Yapping Eevee
Nov 12, 2011

STAND TOGETHER.
FIGHT WITH HONOR.
RESTORE BALANCE.

Eevees play for free.
Update 05: Elementary, my dear Watson!



Oh, looks like some of the clubhouse Ham-Hams are already here today. What’s going on?



He has something for you, Hamtaro.

Ah, it’s time for a visit from the on-again, off-again Clubhouse member.



I’d like to be a carefree traveller.



Where does he live? He might just be a stray, like me.



I’ll bet he eats tasty foods, too. I’m so jealous!



about it hundreds of times. And Jingle’s stories make me want to go see everything he talks about!

Have we established that Jingle is cool yet? Because he also plays guitar. And rides a hog (by which I mean a literal pig).

Jingle!





Oh yeah, he also can’t get Hamtaro’s name right at all.

How are things, Jingle?



Four-leaf clover?



Most clovers have three leaves, but some rare ones have four leaves! If you find a four-leaf clover, you’ll get your wishes granted!

Any wish I want? That’s amazing!



Well, no surprises there. :rolleyes:



...Cool-looking, sure.



We should wish to find the ingredients!

Th-That’s Bijou! Whatta good idea!

With the clover, you and I can find what we’re looking for. I wanted to tell you that I thought I could help.

But just where is the four-leaf clover?



But I don’t know if it’s true or not. I’m sure we’ll see each other again.



My name’s Hamtaro!



And then Jingle just peaces out. :c00l:



It’s worth investigating, at least. Next stop, the aptly named Clover Elementary!



You’re not feeling well, are you? Gain some energy by eating fruit.
The second luckiest one for today is...Aries. You’ll have a clear head all day long. Use it on your homework.♪
The luckiest one for today is...Sagittarius. You may find a new discovery. It might be a rare sticker!
Today will not be very good for...Capricorn. No matter what you do, it might not turn out very well. School is your lucky place!


Right after taking care of a few things here, of course. Jingle is the Sagittarius of the group, and Snoozer is the Capricorn. The latter’s hints are pretty spoilery again; if you talk to him before Jingle’s conversation, he’ll spoil what it’s about!



Jingle himself has moved out onto the Ham-Ham Lawn, where he’ll stay for the rest of the game.

Hi, guys. Can you hear the voice of this tree? It’s saying that it loves all of you. This is a present from this tree.



The mystical musician will hand over a walnut whenever you come and speak to him, so if you’re really struggling with a minigame, Jingle’s got you covered.



Now, let’s head to school! Make sure you’ve got your homework!



Man, this place looks huge. If we have to explore all four floors, this is gonna take forever.



We’ll have a little poke around the school grounds before heading inside… Perhaps this police officer can help us find the clover?



A four-leaf clover, you say? Umm. Wait! There’s a hamster by a telescope who knows a lot. Maybe that hamster would know where to find the clover.

I suppose that depends on what he’s using the telescope for, doesn’t it?



Unless you are on the case, access is denied!

There’s a problem? That’s not good!

Just what kind of problem is it?

That information is confidential!

Looks like we can’t even get into the school itself just yet. Perhaps we can find another way in… Or maybe it’s plot-locked. Only one way to find out.



Inspector Hams! He can solve any case! Ohhh! He’s so cool! Just once, I’d like to meet him!

Ah, surely such a talented inspector will need no help from the protagonists in solving this case, whatever it may be.



Moving on from my attempt to break sarcasm detectors, the screen west of the school entrance is populated by two similar minigames… Neither of which we have the right Ham-Ham for.



But only a really small Ham-Ham can do it.

Case in point.



So instead, let’s pursue this lead about the observer.



The school grounds have a lot of flowers growing around the place, including some growing on trellises for us to climb up. However, looks like someone’s in the way…



I’m scared, so I’m playing dead. Don’t talk to me.



Fair call, man. Fair call. Still, thanks for budging over in your panic.

The snake is adorable.



Let’s move upward and see if we can either bypass the snake, or find something to use against it.



Oh? Where did he…



Oh, right. Also, Class 3-3 is doing a lovely job with their gardening.



I can’t get down because of this snake!

Nice coke-bottle glasses, nerd.

Oh, no! We’ll help you!



:stare: Perhaps try a slightly less gung-ho approach, Hamtaro.

Umm...if only we had something to hit it from far away!

H-h-helllllp!

Hang in there! We’ll save you somehow!



Well, time to look around for anti-snake weaponry. Preferably something high caliber.





...Eh, it’s worth a shot.



Bombs away!



Didn’t do much more than startle it, but if that gives him a bit of breathing room, I’d call the plan a success.



You saved me! Thanks! If you need anything, ask me, and I’ll see if I can do it!

Actually, we’re looking for a four-leaf clover. Can you tell us where it might be?

Umm, sorry, but I’ve never seen one before. But if you look through my trusty telescope, you might find something!

Fadecut to…



Alright, let’s see what it shows us!







There’s a lot of strange stuff at school!

Mm?



Let me see! Mmm… … It’s tough to see, but it just might be the four-leaf clover!

Maxwell! Where is that place? Where is it?

It looks a lot like the science room. We must go there now!

Great! Now, the question is… How do we get inside if the problem hasn’t cleared up?



Look for a hole in the left side of the school building. Use it to get into the building and into the science room.

Okay, that’s good to know. Now we just need to be able to get over there.

Unfortunately, we’ve got a slight issue. Now that the snake has been knocked closer to the feigning-dead hamster, he’s actually blocking off the exit. :sweatdrop:





Huh? I heard Penelope’s voice!





Ah, the path the snake was blocking originally! She’s been trapped down there along with the telescope hamster, only we didn’t know it.



Penelope!

Huh? Penelope was supposed to be with Pashmina!

Penelope, did you lose track of Pashmina?

Ookwee!

Penelope! Come with us!

Uh-huh! Let’s go look for Pashmina together.



:toot: And since we already know where Pashmina went, it’s just a matter of getting rid of that snake and into the science room!



I say we’ve got to hit it with the ball one more time.

That’s it! Let’s drop the ball down the pipe!

A good plan, but I’m sure you can all see the problem here. The snake is no longer in front of the pipe! We need to make a slight adjustment…





Heading past the little hamster the ball apparently belongs to, we can find part of the solution to our problem. The hamster there even says the curved pipe is supposed to connect to the rest of it, and asks us to put it back.



So let’s oblige him. Amusingly, we can’t actually lift this pipe piece without Penelope’s help.



Got to make sure to push it on properly, so the tennis ball doesn’t just slam into the turn and knock the piece off.



Now, we just need our ammunition.



What? You want this ball? Umm… Just over there, there’s a hamster that makes caps. His caps are really cool! If you’ve got one, I’ll trade you for the ball.





It’s a short journey to the cap maker, but there’s something special to be done here. If you slip around the glass and examine the shogun wig…





You can press L, A, B, L, R for our second secret picture! Like I said, Boss has got it bad.



I’ll drop the caps I’ve made, and you catch them! If you catch them all, I’ll give you the very best one!



If you didn’t guess this was a Cappy minigame, you seriously need to work on basic pattern recognition.



Crazy Cap Catch♪ is fairly simple, though the bugs do flop around on the ground for a while before letting you pass by again. You do have to catch every hat, so stay on your toes.



I got a pretty sweet sticker this time. :sugartits: Look at Hamtaro being all heroic and such.



Out of all the caps I’ve made, this one’s easily the best!

Uhh…



I think we just got cheated.



Uh-huh, sure!

Thanks! Then, here’s the ball, as promised!



Well, so long as he’s happy. Now, there’s just the little matter of getting the ball back up to the ledge, and we can finally deal with that pesky snake.



Then, all you need is to push it up the ramp to the leaky faucet!

Ah, that’s semi-convenient.



Tennis-Ball Ball still requires a lot of work on Boss’ part, though. Getting a good initial push helps, but you have to mash A pretty drat hard.



The game is nice enough to warp us straight up to rejoin Boss, because AlphaDream are good like that.



Then it’s just a simple matter of carrying the ball over to the pipe, and we can finally head back toward the entrance.



Although it should be noted that the repeatable version of Tennis-Ball Ball (called Hamster Press) is a separate minigame, so make sure to do that too if you want to try each one once.



I got sleepy from playing dead… Good night…

Playing dead sure does take a lot out of you, I guess.



Back on the west side of the school grounds, we can try out those two minigames now that we have the petite Penelope in our party.



Water Crossing is basically the practice round, here to showcase that Bowl Boating was just a freebie, and you do indeed have to worry about tilting too far in this type of game. Mainly because Penelope is actually having to balance on top of something.



Speaking of which, Balancing Act is just plain vindictive. You need enough speed to overcome the current caused by the hose, but Penelope slips further down the side she’s on as time passes, so you have to keep her just barely on the edge of falling off for a few seconds.

The single-frame flicker where Penelope vanishes is caused by recording with Fraps, not the game itself. It happens fairly rarely.



Getting across takes more attempts than I care to admit. :sweatdrop:



Of course, just because Penelope got across that way doesn’t mean everyone can.



Huh? What? You want me to turn off the water?

Ookwee!

Oh! You want me to make it go “ookwee!” Isn’t that right?





And then he hurled. :v:



Seriously though, the puddle’s been taken care of. Must have some pretty good drainage around here.



:gonk: Go away, Carrobo!



Moving swiftly along, we just need to shove this rock aside to find that hole in the wall we’re looking for.



And we’re in! Also, Penelope is leading the party since she split off from everyone for a minute there.



This means that instead of starting every single conversation with Hamha, we give people a different greeting. :3:

I’m keeping an eye on the principal’s office! Even important Ham-Hams on important errands are not allowed in until the case is solved!

Still don’t know what this case is, but it must be a great mystery.



I saw her go into the science room.

Thanks for the reminder, weirdo.



Something about it is very fishy.



:mmmhmm:





The western corridor doesn’t lead anywhere of interest yet, aside from this rock…



Which is hiding the area’s store. I don’t have anywhere near enough to buy even the normal stock, so not having the flyer isn’t really a concern at this stage.



At least I managed to buy Best Friends Forever, which is my favourite picture yet. :3:



Heading east from the hole we entered through, it looks like somebody spilt their milk. The hamster there wishes they had a sponge to clean it up with, so that’s something to keep an eye out for.



There’s a few little holes here and there which serve as Penelope’s task, but…



It’s kind of a pain. You can win stickers and sunflower seeds, but a single X leads to automatic failure.



They gather things from the school and hide them all over. I think you should go ask them about the shoe.

Hmm? What shoe?



Right now, we’re asking questions. Come back.

Mm-hm...we heard about the problem. Just what’s going on?

Ask Inspector Hams about it. He’s at the shoe box.

...Oh, right! This is a Japanese school, so you’re supposed to take your shoes off indoors and wear uwabaki instead. :eng101:



The eastern corridor just leads to an area exit hole and this guy, who explains the five different rarities of stickers. Kind of a public place for a hermit to be hanging out, isn’t it?



Anyway, let’s head to the school building’s proper entrance and meet this inspector.



The victim is a 1st-grader named Hamlin Hampton. His grades aren’t that great, but he’s a very friendly kid!





A girl, who likes Hamlin, took it as a souvenir! Maybe I’ll shift my focus to this possibility…

:rolleyes: Wow, get a load of this guy.





:cripes: I think we may need to take care of this ourselves.





Sure you do, Hams. Sure you do.



Until then, Hamlin’s foot is in grave danger. I need to check the shoe, but I don’t want to smell it!

...He could be here a while. We’ll leave him to his investigation, and go look around the science room… next time.

Picayune
Feb 26, 2007

cannot be unseen
Taco Defender
Man, that poor (adorable) snake. :ohdear:

Leave
Feb 7, 2012

Taking the term "Koopaling" to a whole new level since 2016.
Holy poo poo, Inspector Hams is awesome.

He's got a loving mustache!

GeneralYeti
Jul 22, 2012

Look at this smug broken asshole.
That snake is quite adorable. I almost feel bad about hitting it with a tennis ball. Twice.

Waffleman_
Jan 20, 2011


I don't wanna I don't wanna I don't wanna I don't wanna!!!

Re: Penelope. You ready to get your minds blown?




She only appears without her blanket like three times.

Scalding Coffee
Jun 26, 2006

You're already dead
You mean that wasn't someone making an approximation of what she looks like?

That snake is probably waiting for a kid wearing a green tunic or another kid named Mike.

Silegna
Aug 20, 2013

Hey, heads up. I'm about to unleash my rage.

oh my god, she's even MORE adorable without it!

Kallev
Nov 16, 2014
I'm a little ashamed to say that I never did beat Heartbreak as a child, and had to revisit it when I read your LP. These games were always my secret shame for playing on car rides.

Silegna
Aug 20, 2013

Hey, heads up. I'm about to unleash my rage.

Kallev posted:

I'm a little ashamed to say that I never did beat Heartbreak as a child, and had to revisit it when I read your LP. These games were always my secret shame for playing on car rides.

You kidding? I played these all the time as a kid. Didn't understand them, but I loved the adorable little buggers. I even watched the show.

Yapping Eevee
Nov 12, 2011

STAND TOGETHER.
FIGHT WITH HONOR.
RESTORE BALANCE.

Eevees play for free.

Waffleman_ posted:

Re: Penelope. You ready to get your minds blown?

This is indeed a proper picture of Penelope-sans-blanket. Quillpaw posted the same one back during the Heartbreak LP! (You can actually see her without it twice during the English show's opening; when they're all asleep she's on the far left, and she lifts it up briefly during the train-in-space scene.)

Kallev posted:

I'm a little ashamed to say that I never did beat Heartbreak as a child, and had to revisit it when I read your LP. These games were always my secret shame for playing on car rides.

I'm always glad to hear that my LP got people playing (or replaying) Heartbreak! :) I hope that everyone's enjoying Rainbow Rescue as well.

If I don't manage to get it done in the next two hours, the next update will definitely be out tomorrow.

Kallev
Nov 16, 2014

Silegna posted:

You kidding? I played these all the time as a kid. Didn't understand them, but I loved the adorable little buggers. I even watched the show.

Dude I'm not saying I didn't love the hell out of them. But I had to be very careful and stealthy on car rides, because I'm the youngest of four boys. When I first got my Gameboy Advance, the Hamtaro games were the only ones my aunt got with it, because she didn't want me playing anything violent. Once I started getting other games, my brothers were merciless in teasing me about me still playing these games.

Yapping Eevee
Nov 12, 2011

STAND TOGETHER.
FIGHT WITH HONOR.
RESTORE BALANCE.

Eevees play for free.
Update 06: Sports, Science and Searching.



Now that we’ve met Inspector Hams, we’re able to head into the science room in search of Pashmina and that elusive wish-granting clover.



Climb that chain to find a hand that leads to the shoulder.

I think if a sink plug can reach all the way to the floor, the chain might be just a bit too long. Helpful in this instance, though.



I’m sure it was the mice who hid it as a prank!

If we could get the sponge, we could clean up the milk.





It’s not a great hiding place he’s chosen, but I suppose body-blocking us from getting the sponge is a decent alternative. We’ll have to come back with a little more hampower.



For now, let’s take a look at one of the counter tops and see what science the human kids have been getting up to.





There’s some very pretty experiments going on up here, though the young one there is too busy being scared by the skeleton to appreciate them. Speaking of, we were just told to climb the arm…



It’s so far away I can’t get a good view, but you’re probably right!

Pashmina should be around here somewhere. Let’s go!



After that brief reminder of where we’re going, the NPC down below moves aside and lets us clamber over the test tube rack like a bridge. Sure hope none of these solutions are giving off dangerous fumes…



It’s an experiment using a saline solution to make crystals. Put a piece of fabric in salt water, and crystals form on it.

Really? Thanks for telling me!

A nifty little introduction to the wonderful world of science. Though if it doesn’t involve at least a little bit of fire, can you really call it an experiment?



:stare: Which genius set up a test tube rack between two counters? They need to lose some serious marks for this.



All seven rainbow colors!

But if you look closely, the colors are not in the correct order.

I’m not sure you have to look closely. It’s fairly obvious, especially when the labels on the rack are in the right order.

What?

The colors of a rainbow are always lined up in a specific order.





Can you imagine just how much I wish the forums supported coloured text by now?

Oh! Uh...but it’s not like I was really done just yet. Yeah...so, go ahead and arrange them for me. I don’t mind.

You’re welcome, jerk. And no, this is not the telescope guy from outside. That’s just the generic scientist headshot.



Anyway, let’s make Maxwell do some magic science! You get fifty seconds to swap everything around, and you can only swap two test tubes that are side-by-side.



Oh, and if you don’t bump into this guy when he appears, he swaps two test tubes himself. Of course, he always does it wrong.



Once you’re almost done, the coloured solutions all begin to bubble. I don’t think they should be doing that just by being in the same area as each other… :ohdear:



Wow! It’s pretty!

Let’s hurry and find the ingredients to make the rainbow for Bo!



With a very pretty and hopefully not dangerous bridge all in order, let’s continue on with Maxwell in the lead.



Seems they’re doing more than one crystal-based experiment in here today. The kid just goes ‘waaaaah’ at us, so let’s continue through the glass tube (between counters again, even less visible).



The next screen presents us with only one option for moving forward, and that’s making Penelope leap between swaying test tubes in a sink full of water.



Mind you, I like that she uses their buoyancy as a way to launch herself upward for that candy.

Ookwee!



How this tap turns off just by being lightly jumped on by a tiny hamster, however… And who left both the tap on and the sink unplugged? :argh:





With the sink drained, we can continue on and just catch a glimpse of Pashmina running across the windowsill.



We had better catch up to her, see what the story is.





I’m glad you’re OK, but I was worried about you!

I’m sure she was hiding because of the snake.

You must’ve been so scared, Penelope. I’m sorry! When we lost you, we looked in the school building.

‘We’? Pashmina and Penelope are the only two clubhouse hams that came here originally. I think someone might have gotten confused.

Umm...what’s everyone doing here?

You see… and then… but…

-------



Thanks for finding Penelope, everyone! I’ll help, too!

Right, Penelope?!

Ookwee!



And with the reunion of Pashmina and Penelope, we finally have a full party. Eight Ham-Hams is our absolute limit, so no feat of strength is beyond us right now.



Then, everyone, let’s go that way!

Oh, Maxwell. You really don’t get how this works, do you?



We have just a little more exploration to do before moving on with the plot.





But...I don’t see anyone. How strange.



Well, there’s a whole lot of nothing in this sink and no other paths, so there’s really only one place the unfortunate soul could be.



Being stuck in a science lab drain must smell just fantastic, by the way. :gonk:



All I saw was a thin ray of light in the darkness!



...When inspiration strikes, I guess! Or so I assume; I haven’t got an artistic bone in my body.

Unless you consider LPs to be art, of course.



What do you think? It’s my masterpiece. Look at it!



Ah, a spot the difference minigame. Naturally, you only get to see the original for a few moments before being presented with the edited version instead.





It gives you a generous ten seconds for looking at the first picture, and since this is a repeatable minigame, the changes aren’t always the same. I’ll let you find them yourselves, since you have the luxury of seeing both images together. The reward is 10 points + 10 per life + 1 for every two seconds remaining.



What even is this sticker. :psyduck:



All in all, I think this artist would do better with paint than chalk.





He does give us a pretty great picture of this lovely couple, though.



Back in the direction of progress, the scientist blocking our way backward says that he’s lined up the next set of test tubes himself.



I suspect he may actually be colour-blind.



Using a simple transfer pipette this time around, Maxwell has to hop back and forth to the beaker so that he can swap the solutions around. You can’t just swap the pipette’s contents with the test tubes, because that would be too easy.



Oh, and this jerk is also throwing stuff into the test tubes. You have to transfer the bubbling solution elsewhere before its countdown ends, or it’s automatic failure. The timer is pretty generous though, so you might be able to just power through.



Actually, I’m honestly not sure what this sticker is. Possibly a crime against nature.



On the other side of the test tube bridge…



Yeah! It’s the clover!



This is what we were all looking for, right?

Ookwee!

Everyone…





Mustard sprout?!

Mustard sprout?!

Mustard sprout?!

Ookwee?



Um… Simply put, this is not...a clover.



How disappointing! Right, Penelope?

Ookwee…



Uh-huh! It’s got to be somewhere at this school.



And then, seduced by the promise of wish-granting, the clubhouse Ham-Hams proceed to ignore an entire tray of very green mustard sprouts and continue looking for the four-leaf clover. Since we’re here though, let’s talk to that hamster hanging out on the windowsill.



We thought a mustard sprout was a four-leaf clover.

You guys are looking for a four-leaf clover, too? A Ham-Ham with an umbrella just came by looking for one, too.

It’s got to be Bo! Where did he go?

Don’t really know. The hamster in the principal’s office mentioned clovers. Ask him about the four-leaf clover if you want.

Ah, a new lead! Also, as far back as entering the science room, Snoozer will spoil the fact Bo is around. :rolleyes:



On our way back through the science room, Pashmina can perform her task to calm down the two crying kids.



These peanuts may be good for preventing adult diseases. Oh! I want to run tests on the peanuts of the world.

Aiding the first child leads to nothing more than this… unique individual.



The one back by the skeleton hand, however… That path leads to another minigame!



Teeter-Beaker is much like Penelope’s minigame from earlier, except instead of having to jump when both tubes are tilted toward each other, the two beakers have to be side-by-side. It’s not very difficult.



Draining the sink this time around earns us another five-star sticker. Come to think of it, I wonder where those two got to…





Back down on ground level at last, we can scare away the snoozing mouse and claim the sponge for ourselves. Which of course goes on this spilt milk…



Now we can go in there!

...and opens up another path for us!





Well, maybe you shouldn’t stand near it then. Now, exploration calls!



No doubt about it. This has to be it.

The mice were playing a prank.

How about this! Let’s all take the shoe to Inspector Hams.



So much for the Inspector’s theory! Let’s find out how he reacts when we solve the case for him.



It seems the mice were playing a prank, and they took it!

Mmmm… To tell you the truth… that was my next theory! Ha ha hrr…





I’ll get to the bottom instantly! Ha ha ha.

Oh, you colossal charlatan.



Mmmm? Aren’t you the child that was reported missing?

Penelope helped a lot as we looked for the shoe!

Ah, thank you.



What’s that? You want me to find something else?



Mmmm… Mmmm… I see… I see…

What’s Penelope doing?

Looks like Penelope wants something. She’s been looking allll morning long.

So that’s why she was at the school!

I understand! I, Inspector Hams, will find what you are looking for!



Do you think we can trust him?

Ookwee! Ookwee!!

Leave it to me! Well then, everyone! I appreciate your help!



This is for the hamster near the principal’s office.



Oh, right. There was that guy blocking the way into the office until the investigation is completed; now we’ll be able to continue our search for the four-leaf clover.

Put that shoe back where it belongs. So long! I will excuse myself for now!



And with a quick fade cut, Hamlin’s problem is resolved before he ever even learns about it. Such is the power of Ham-Hams working together for a common goal. :toot:



...Well, I can’t say the description of the memo is inaccurate.



Youth today! They don’t listen to the elderly at all.

Ummm, I see. It’s important to listen to everyone.

At least one of the police hamsters learned something here today. Now, how about their colleague?



Oh wow! What a mystery he solved! Egad! He fought with the culprit? Amazing how he was able to solve such a big case!

Big case? I don’t recall anything major happening.

He’s Inspector Hams, yes indeed! Well, I will be going now!

...What a massive con artist that Inspector is. It’s honestly kind of impressive.





You got it, chief. We’ll make sure not to damage any of the principal’s stuff.



Even with eight Ham-Hams, the sliding door to the office takes a good bit of effort to open up… but now we can access one more part of the school.



The principal’s office has quite a lot of sunflower seeds on the left side of the table, a full sixty to give the player a nice boost. After spending everything I had at the ranch’s store, it’s very much appreciated.



You can also get onto another screen back here, but both paths are blocked off at the moment.



The bean-toss prize is now a card? Man, I wanted that! The last prize was a silver spoon. Gahaha!



At least it’s very clear what we have to do to get through here. The competition must be back on the last screen somewhere.





To the right of the office entrance, we can climb up onto this very ratty-looking couch. So much for this place being full of valuable things… though I suppose that is a gold spoon over there.



Bouncing to the table and walking over the spoon lets us get up on the back of the couch, and wander over to this interesting sight.

Everyone, there’s a clover here!

Yeah! Let’s look for the four-leaf clover!





We are looking for the four-leaf clover.

Ohhh. Well then, the four-leaf clover’s in the room there. When I find clovers, I press them into a book. But right now, the book’s locked, and you can’t open it.

Wh-what? Well, that is a problem.

If you unlock it, you can have the four-leaf clover.♪

OK! Let’s try to unlock the book!

Use the left side of the table to get to the back room.



And now we know the clover is definitely here, and we have an open invitation to take it. It can’t be that hard to crack the lock on a book.



Continuing to poke around, there’s an odd fellow here if we cross the previous bean-toss prize.



I thought about going somewhere I hadn’t seen… so, I went out on a journey again. Right now, I’m taking a rest.

Omar appeared in one of the earliest Hamtaro episodes, a traveller of the world who happens to look exactly like Snoozer. He’s the pet of a king of a far-away land, but prefers to travel instead of living in the lap of luxury.

While it’s nice to see old friends out and about, we have a certain competition to complete. So, let’s check out the middle of the coffee table.



It’s your favorite game, the “Coffee-Bean Toss”! For this, the 86th tournament, we have a fabulous prize! Whoever wins this game gets a lucky silver card!



Oooh, fancy.



Ookwee!

Two-player mode, engaged! Yes, some minigames call for you to have more than one specific Ham-Ham in your party.





Sadly, Coffee-Bean Toss is not a very good game. Hitting the alien is almost certainly a matter of chance, and getting the meters to behave enough to hit the deceptively small target areas is dicey at best. Oh, and you can’t back out to have another shot at setting the vertical meter once the horizontal one starts.



The alien is worth 100, the smaller targets 30 and the bigger ones 20. So you can get a score of 310 at most… which translates into 62 sunflower points, because the point reward is equal to your score divided by five. Just beat the game and move on.



This is what you’ve won! Take it!



:sugartits: Let’s go show this to that body-building hamster.



...Thanks?





Climbing the principal’s potted plant lets us clamber up onto his desk, where that locked book awaits us. Finally, the four-leaf clover is within reach!



Ah, there he is! I was wondering where he’d gotten to…



Hamsters were talking about a clover, and then it hit me! There’s a four-leaf clover in the pages of this book!

We heard it too! It’s in the pages of this book, right?

But I can’t get the book to open.

Ummm, I have no idea how we can open this book.

Do you not understand how locks work, kid? You find the right shaped key/emblem/statue and put it in the hole.



Hmm? Penelope’s freaking out over there.



Um… Is this the key that will open this book?!

The shape doesn’t look right!

No! Look closely! Pieces of the key are scattered all around! Put them together to make the key, then use it to open the lock!

As usual, Maxwell! You’re really smart.

Maxwell! We need you to try hard to get this book open!



And so it comes down to this, Puzzle Scramble. The pieces can be rotated 180 degrees with L and R, but it’s otherwise fairly straight-forward. At least it’s pretty. (You get 10 points + 1 for each three seconds remaining from this minigame.)

It’s done! It’s now open!



This is it! The four-leaf clover! There’s no mistaking it!

We did it! We finally found the four-leaf clover!





Its color is perfect for the green ingredient!



:cripes:

Huh? You really think so?

Oh, well!

I’ll go back to the Clubhouse first to get ready! See ya!



But as Bo flies away, it seems all is not well. :ohdear:

What’s wrong, Penelope? Are you saying your wish wasn’t granted, Penelope?

Hmm, we heard a lot of different wishes from the other Clubhouse Ham-Hams. But what might Penelope’s be?









Ookwee! Ookwee!!

What? You’re giving it to me?



These are the prettiest flowers I have ever received!

Seems that Inspector Hams came through for us after all. :3:

Now Penelope’s wish has been granted! They’ll be best friends forever!

That reminds me… I feel like I’m forgetting some…

Hey! What about my wish?

What about my cap?

What about my seeds?

That’s great, but what about my love?

It’ll be OK! If all the Ham-Hams work together… I’m sure any wish will be granted!





Ok! Let’s head back to give the clover to Bo!



And so we shall… Next time.

Leave
Feb 7, 2012

Taking the term "Koopaling" to a whole new level since 2016.

Yapping Eevee posted:



What even is this sticker. :psyduck:



Clearly, it's the best sticker, and a new alternate outfit for Boss.

Waffleman_
Jan 20, 2011


I don't wanna I don't wanna I don't wanna I don't wanna!!!

We coulda just used the mustard sprouts.

Mustard sprouts are green.

Picayune
Feb 26, 2007

cannot be unseen
Taco Defender

... is that... is that a Bob Ross hamster? :swoon:

HomestarCanter
Oct 21, 2008

Strong Bad,
you're a horse's twees.


Diplomacy has failed!

Scalding Coffee
Jun 26, 2006

You're already dead
If you find a clover with more than four leaves, it will not grant you wishes.
Being inches from those chemicals must be murder on the senses.

Silegna
Aug 20, 2013

Hey, heads up. I'm about to unleash my rage.

Awww. Penelope is adorable. She wanted to give her sister a gift of pretty flowers.

Yapping Eevee
Nov 12, 2011

STAND TOGETHER.
FIGHT WITH HONOR.
RESTORE BALANCE.

Eevees play for free.

Leavemywife posted:

Clearly, it's the best sticker, and a new alternate outfit for Boss.

So, are you going to make that or the fancy Inspector Hams picture your new avatar? :v:

Waffleman_ posted:

We coulda just used the mustard sprouts.

Mustard sprouts are green.

Do mustard sprouts grant wishes? I think not! (If mustard sprouts do indeed grant wishes, I need to visit the gardening centre.)

Picayune posted:

... is that... is that a Bob Ross hamster? :swoon:

I had to ask Leave whether that was really what they were going for, because it's pretty great if it is. :allears:

Scalding Coffee posted:

If you find a clover with more than four leaves, it will not grant you wishes.

Ten-leaf clovers are pretty lucky though... until they disappear in puffs of smoke.

Yapping Eevee
Nov 12, 2011

STAND TOGETHER.
FIGHT WITH HONOR.
RESTORE BALANCE.

Eevees play for free.
Update 07: Not-so-friendly competition.



Having recovered the four-leaf clover from the local elementary school and harnessed its might wish-granting powers, it’s time for Bo’s umbrella to regain another of its lost colours!



Hello, everyone! How was the school?

Panda! Did you know people study at school?

Boss builds schools, but hasn’t spent much time in them! Ha ha!

...



Here comes number three!

OK, then! Let’s go ahead and make a rainbow color!

And of course, we all know how this goes by now. :)





OK! We’re doing so well! Let’s go find the other colors!



And with just four to go, we’re almost half way there! :toot: Now, let’s see what our next lead will be…

-------



Umm… This is all over my head, Maxwell.



Ah, sounds like the old rivals are at it once again. Maxwell’s efforts to educate Hamtaro are noble, but I don’t think they’ll go well with this ruckus going on.

Everyone in the clubhouse wants to weigh in on this one, so…

They’re back at it again? Will it ever end?

When Hell freezes over, perhaps.

When something bad happens, I like to sing and dance!

...Thanks for your input, Bo.



They really don’t like to fight.



Oh, looks like it’s not just Howdy and Dexter making a fuss. The twins are in on it too!

Keep fighting, and you’ll start to get hungry!

Man… They’re hopeless.

What a mess! I wish they would just stop fighting.

Sorry, Bijou, but we already used up the clover.



Ookwee! Ookwee!!



I’ve had it with Howdy!

Hmph! For a big brother, you have a small brain!

Why can’t you understand what I’m saying, you blockhead?



If it’ll help the four of you to calm down, sure. Tempers seem to be really raging at the moment.

You see, when we were at the park lookin’ for…



What?! We followed you because you said you had an idea!



Stan, stop fooling around and start looking for the ingredients!



Jingle?!

Huh? If I’m not mistaken, you’re the Ham-Hams.





That’s a really good question, honestly.

Jingle! Is that the blue bird you were talking about?

It’s about the blue bird! It makes its owner happy. I was looking all over and finally got here, but…

I know! Why don’t we all look for the blue bird with him! A blue bird means blue feathers, right? Don’t you think it might work as the blue ingredient?

That’s a good idea! You sometimes use that brain, huh?

”Sometimes”? You didn’t have to say that!

And we might just find a little happiness while we’re at it!





It’s all your fault! Saying vague things… making trouble… Saying you saw it here… No! It’s there! That’s why everyone ended up fighting!

Huh?! You’re my sis, and you’re a pest! It’s all your fault because you weren’t listening to me!

I say Howdy didn’t plan it well enough, so it’s all his fault. We’d be fine had we not gone looking for the blue bird.

What’re you sayin’? It was your swell idea…



Man… They’re hopeless.

Hamtaro, we can’t just leave them like this.

You’re right! Let’s go after them!



And so we shall! We’re back down to four Ham-Hams again, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. There’s just time to get our horoscopes before we go…



Patch things up with the one you had a fight with. Be brave.
The second luckiest one for today is...Aries. Talk to your pals. You just might get a great hint.♪
The luckiest one for today is...Scorpio. You’ll glow brighter than anyone today. Be brave!
Today will not be very good for...Virgo. Something might get lost. The aquarium is your lucky place.


Hamtaro and Cappy are both Leos, Panda is Aries, Maxwell is Scorpio and both Pashmina and Boss are Virgos. It’d have been more amusing if the Leo’s fortune had applied to any of the quarreling Ham-Hams.



Alright, time to go take a stroll around the park! Looks like they have a big fountain out there, and probably lots of other interesting stuff besides.



Are you nuts? With my brains and Stan’s athletic abilities... we’ll find it first! We won’t lose! We won’t lose!



Well, the challenge has been issued, the gauntlet thrown down! Let the hunt for the blue bird begin!



Oh, and I guess we should probably stop those four from killing each other. That’d be good too.



Among Ticky-Ticky fanatics… it’s popular for it’s huge size and room to… ticky-ticky!

Yes, ticky-ticky is one of the walking/running sounds made by the Ham-Hams. In the show, some of them have their own specific onomatopoeia for doing so.



Since we can’t jump down from that ledge, we have to follow in Stan and Howdy’s footsteps first. Getting to the park proper would be very easy if it wasn’t for this soccer goal in our way… but as is, the NPCs point out that we need to take a detour through Ticky-Ticky Pond.



Outside of the park itself, there’s a hamster-sized play area for the little ones.



My grandchild is so cute, it’s...it’s...it’s… unbearable!

:3:



The ice cream that my big brother makes is so yummy!

Mmmm. Sounds good. I want to try some!



Sorry. We’re still getting things ready. Please come back a little bit later.

Sorry, Oxnard. Looks like we’ll have to wait.





As we leave the play area, our path is blocked by this kid insisting we try out their Hopscotch course.



Entry-level hamster hopscotch is long (you’re seeing maybe 30% of the court in this one picture), but pretty simple. It’s advanced hopscotch that’s absolute hell… You play by pressing and holding the buttons shown on the next set of circles before landing, with Pashmina starting to jump to the next once the buttons are released.



The next screen has some issues with foreground objects, and this dude who’s creeping on some girl smelling flowers that we can’t get to.



Why are you crying?

What’s the matter with this kid? Why won’t he stop crying?

Tee hee! Leave it to me when it comes to things like this.



One quick juggling act later… Actually, is it juggling if you’ve only got two props? Ah, no matter.



Oh, well! See you.



Huh. Who knows? (The player will, if they talked to Snoozer after the clubhouse scene! He’s just full of spoilers, that guy.)



Heading in the direction the kid went leads to a second round of hopscotch, which adds in these bugs we’ve seen in a few other games. Remember, holding the buttons of the circle(s) you’re on makes Pashmina wait in place.



We can’t cross as long as it’s like this.

This path only leads to a dead end, unfortunately. Time to backtrack a few screens.





Aside from the upward path that the kid was standing in front of, there’s a small area to the south with a minigame we can’t yet play…



And a place where we can’t reach the second floor due to the stairs being broken. We could make a Ham-Ham ladder if we had more clubhouse folks with us, though.



Let’s continue on the proper path inste-

CHEEP CHEEP



:roflolmao: RIP Oxnard.



Nah, only joking. We’re gonna kick this chicken’s butt, badass eyepatch or no.





The fight is all about kiting the chicken around and using the rocks as obstacles to give you enough time to knock some pinecones down, then pummeling the bejeezus out of it with them. The rock in the top left makes the left tree a deathtrap, because the chicken only has to touch Oxnard once for you to lose.



It’s pretty good fun, honestly. And Oxnard gets to be awesome, so it’s all good!













Continuing on after absolutely nothing ominous happened at all, we’ve already managed to reach Sunny Pond! We’re making pretty good time on this one.







Huff huff! Huh? Where did it go? Hm? There! I hear a bird over there.





Aaaaand of course they split up.

Seems like they found the blue bird!

But it looks like they went separate ways.

Fact: Roland Grapow’s version is much better than the original.

What are we going to do with them?



Trying to head left instead of following our wayward friends only leads to another minigame we can’t complete yet, so let’s track them down.



I’ve spent a long time here, and I’ve learned some Ham-Chat in my days on Sunny Peak!

Hmm, now this is interesting. Both Grandpa Frog and a sign later on call this Sunny Pond, despite what the NPCs said earlier (calling it Ticky-Ticky Pond). It appears AlphaDream might have wanted this area to be part of Sunny Peak instead.



What is it? Please tell us the problem.

Well, I don’t see my grandchild anywhere. It’s a rare pink color. It’s a cute, cute little frog.

I’m sorry, but we haven’t seen it.

That’s okay. But if you do, please bring it here.

You got it, chief.



What a polite old frog he was. Oh, and looks like somebody threw their frisbee into the pond.





The hamsters living here have spotted an occasional red flying saucer flying around in the sky! A flying saucer is a UFO...an unidentified flying object! This might just be a tremendous scoop.



Typical member of the press. :rolleyes: That’s okay, we have other places to be.





Both paths to the right are dead ends at present, though it seems Grandpa Frog’s grandchild hasn’t gone very far. Let’s head north instead.



Oh, hi there shopkeep. How goes?

I’m sorry, but I seem to have dropped the key to the store. Now I can’t open the door! Oh… What should I do?

Don’t worry, ma’am. I’m sure we’ll find some way to help you out, being the protagonists and all.





Speaking of which, let’s get back to being funneled down this path.



Oh, hey Stan. Having some trouble?

Everyone! You got here just in time!

Check this out! I chased the blue bird up here… but this dumb frog is blocking the way! I can’t get by it!

If I could get around it, I could get the blue bird’s feather! Will you guys help me find a way to the other side?



Sure thing, buddy. Teamwork tends to work better than going it alone! :toot:



Progress demands a little bit of backtracking to where that journalist was hanging out…

Look! Something is coming this way!



...Well, it certainly is a red flying saucer. And no, we can’t just go through the log now to check it out. We’ve got to take the long way first.





Lily Pad Row 3 is just like the first minigame we ever played, right down to waiting for the first frog to pass and then just mashing A. Which kind of lends more credence to this originally being a Sunny Peak area.







There’s another pesky frog and a carrot to gather after crossing the lily pads, but more importantly it puts us behind that journalist.



Which lets us knock the frisbee out of this tree just by walking into it. Must have been very precariously balanced.



I usually get a ride from a pigeon, but it’s not here. I wonder why? The park’s too big to walk all over!

Nothing for us to do up on the treetop, so let’s see what our friend thinks of his flying saucer.



I waited around all this time for...this? What a waste. I’m going home.



Sure sucks to be that dude, but we can put this plastic toy to good use here.



The grandchild that Grandpa Frog couldn’t find… isn’t that it?

Ribbit.♪ Ribbit.♪

I bet that’s the one!

Let’s take it with us.





...How very direct.



That pink color! No doubt about it! It’s my grandchild! You found her for me? Thank you!



Is there anything that’s troubling you?

A blue bird flew past the pond, but a frog is there and won’t let us by! Is there anything you can do to make it move?

Yes! When you see the frog, call me with a really loud voice. Believe it or not, I’m actually well-known around here. Troublemaking frogs jump and run at the sound of my voice.

Is that true? Cool! Now we can get to the blue bird!

Let’s go back to where we just found Stan!

Yeah, let’s go!



Alright, let’s see what the old frog can do.



Haha, nice work! Now we’re free and clea-



There’s a big rock here.

Can we move it?



It would appear not. :sweatdrop:



Ah, right. We did ignore another path near Grandpa Frog’s grandchild…



Namely this one.



It leads into Lily Pad Row 4, which attempts to trip up players who use the same strategy as in 3 by making the second frog spend a little longer on its lily pad. Just wait for it, and then mash A.



Clearing out another troublemaker along the way, we come to…



Everyone’s favourite punster! And the flyer for this area, sitting tantalisingly just beyond our reach. We’ll need to come back for that later, but we can chat to Howdy now.





Uh… That’s a chick colored blue!



Yes, Howdy does sit there for almost three seconds before getting rid of the chick that ran afoul of a paint can or something. It’s just long enough to feel awkward, and I love it.

Is that so? Well, leave it to Stan! You can count on him!

Heh heh! You know it!

I’ll find it before Dexter and give him a surprise he’ll never forget!

Me, too! No way is my sis gonna beat me to it!

Huh…



I think we still need to work on some things here, but at least we can shift that stone aside now.



And with Howdy’s cleaning skills, we can also open up a little shortcut to help us get back there.



There is actually a path next to the rock, but…



The blue bird is the other way!

We can’t go that way just yet.



One bit of boulder budging, and that bird is as good as ours!





Nab him! Jab him! Tab him! Grab him!

...Wait, wrong bird.



You rushed it from the front. What did you expect?



Also that. Masters of strategy, we are not.

I’m mighty sorry.



I’ll go look for it a little more.

I’ll find it, just hold your horses and expect greatness!



You’re right.

Oh, well. Let’s go see how Dexter and Sandy are doing.

Hopefully our other friends will fare better once they find the bird… We’ll have to head into the park proper and see where they’ve gotten to.

Leave
Feb 7, 2012

Taking the term "Koopaling" to a whole new level since 2016.
If we could only get our hands on the Frisbee, we could use that to knock the bird off-course enough to set a feather loose, then take that.

And, hell, the Frisbee is red, so that's a twofer in my book.

Picayune
Feb 26, 2007

cannot be unseen
Taco Defender
Yeah, a 'red flying saucer' sounds like a perfectly adequate rainbow part to me. :colbert:

Zanzibar Ham
Mar 17, 2009

You giving me the cold shoulder? How cruel.


Grimey Drawer

Yapping Eevee posted:

Nab him! Jab him! Tab him! Grab him!

Someone actually remembers that show? I'm amazed!

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Jade Rider
May 11, 2007

All the pages have been censored except for "heck," and she misread that one.


Yessss another Hamtaro game LP :3: I liked the show but never got to play these, so I'm glad you're showing them off!

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