A Hat in Time

This game is all a 3D platformer has to be at its basis. A main collectable that lets you progress in the game, a side collectable that gives you hats, and a currency with which you can buy some useful badges to improve your platforming. There are linear and open world levels, based on funny and charming ideas. No more things needed. True, it doesn't do anything out of its way that hasn't been done before, but it was never trying to aim for that in the first place. It's just a fun nostalgic, very solid, and mostly cute 3d platformer I would recommend to everyone.

This game is, as it's core, a good old platformer. The controls are tight as you can run around landing precise jumps even on power lines and such, A Hat In Time is not afraid to ask you to use the skills you quickly learn. It is a very nice experience to explore. I did expect a very good platformer before getting into this, my expectations were a bit high in that regard and Gear For Breakfast delivered. What I didn't expect was charming, well designed and fun characters everywhere. There is a "murder mystery" mission, soul stealing creatures, a disco-penguin bent on winning a movie award, to mention a few. Their stories are kept simple, just enough to deliver their jokes, plot and change the pacing a bit here and there with great voice acting overall. Outstanding soundtrack. Every theme is great and fitting to the situation. The only problem I had was with the camera getting stuck very close on some places. Don't get me wrong, it works very well most of the time, happening rarely, but when it does it is a bit annoying. If you ever cared to any extent about 3D platformers I can recommend this game in a hearbeat. There may be an odd technical issue here and there, but hey, it still is among the best games of the genre out there.

A hat in time truly captures the essence of the fun, simple, and nostalgic platforming games that came out back in 1996. Super Mario 64 is a definite inspiration for this game. However, it has made many improvements of the formula and added it’s own mechanics and charm to keep it from feeling like a clone. A Hat in Time absolutely stands on its own when it comes to being a platformer. - It’s absolutely fun! There are many different things to do in each planet/area of the game. Some being similar, others being vastly different. But I love that I see a representation of different genres. I never expected to see a bit of horror and stealth in this game. - The boss fights are genius. If there is one thing that A Hat in Time has over any of the 3D Mario games, it’s the boss fights. They are longer, takes more skill, and are fun and satisfying to complete. Don’t get me wrong, just be cause they take more skill doesn’t mean that the boss fights are difficult. You may die once or twice on some of them, but they are by no means hard. Each boss fight has different phases and it takes much more than 3 hits to beat them. - The music transports you to a simpler, fun, and more wondrous time in my childhood. The tones remind me of many N64 games that exemplified simple, fun, and memory making music. You will have some tunes of A Hat in Time stuck in your head for sure. - The character movement in this game is sooooo smooth and intuitive. You can double jump, run on walls, do a mid-air dash, and jump cancel after the dash. When you get used to it and add some of the hat powers and badges, you get some of the soothest fast movement in any game. - The hat powers keep the game fresh and new. You can switch hats at any time on the fly to experience different powers; each hat can give you new and distinct powers that will enable you to reach some previously impossible areas to reach. All in all, this is the platformer second coming, outside of Mario, that I have been looking for.

It takes the best elements of our nostalgia, modernizes it, and adds enough of its own personality and charm to make a great and fun experience. It's never repetitive or boring. Suffers from small issues like any 3D platformers (some camera issues and depth issues) but they're minor. If you like 3D platformers you will love this

Pardon my language in the title. This game is the best thing to a proper 3-D collect-a-thon you can get, unless you have a Switch. Gears for Breakfast crafted a witty and charming game with great movement mechanics and wonderfully thought-out level design. Character performances are outstanding and the game is just really fun. It's hopefully a mark of a new era for Independent 3D game design as a whole, and a strong revival of a long-shelved genre of game.