'Henry Hatsworth' a jolly good show

The game includes inventive and wacky puzzles.

By Chase Koeneke

Published April 27, 2009

Maybe it's because of my admiration of Hugh Laurie. Maybe it's because I melt every time I hear Stephen Fry's voice. "Maybe I'm amazed at the way I love" the Beatles, but I've always had an obsession with all things British. Hell, I even made a Facebook group in high school named, "I Wish I Was British."

So when I heard about a game that not only had an interesting premise, but was also drenched in English "humour," all I could say was I got to get you into my life.

In "Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure," a famed treasure hunter, gentleman and titular character, is searching for an ancient golden suit "rumoured" to possess magical powers. After finding the hat portion of the legendary ensemble, a portal to a mysterious puzzle world opens up, releasing monsters into the world of Tealand. Mr. Hatsworth then selflessly vows to find the rest of the suit to ban the monsters back to their own dimension, as well as the more selfish reason of becoming the best-dressed adventurer in the land. Although Henry has laid claim to the first piece of the suit, he is by no means alone in this pursuit. The dubious Leopold Charles Anthony Weasleby the Third is also on the hunt for the golden garb and contracts other ne'er-do-wells to impede Hatsworth's progress down the long and winding road of Tealand.

"Henry Hatsworth" is one of the few games that really takes advantage of the Nintendo DS dual-screen format. The action on the top screen consists of a pretty basic platformer. You'll do some jumping, some combat and a little exploration -- all well done, but nothing you haven't seen before. The bottom screen contains a simplistic puzzle game in which you arrange "coloured" blocks into horizontal or vertical lines of three. Because what you do on one screen affects the other, mastering both games will be essential to advance.

You really will have to master both parts to stand a chance because "Henry Hatsworth" is a tough game that'll have you yelling for "help!" Enemies are varied and plentiful, each having its own strengths and weaknesses to consider. Enemies you defeat on the top screen are sent to the puzzle game below. If the enemy blocks aren't stopped in the puzzle screen, they'll be revived back into the top screen rowdier than ever. There will even be parts of levels where enemies come from here, there and everywhere to stop you. In these instances, players would be wise to unleash tea time, where Henry drinks a spot, then hops into a gigantic, invincible, robotic suit powered by your success in the puzzle world.

With oddities such as robots, bosses that attack from giant cakes and puzzle worlds, "Henry Hatsworth" is definitely absurd, but its story is not what makes it a great game. The tight controls, deep move-set and inventive combination of game-play mechanics makes it something to definitely pick up. A perfect game for a day tripper, it appears that all you need is "Henry Hatsworth."