REVIEW: Half-Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax

Have you ever wondered how much action can be crammed into 30 seconds of gameplay? If so, Marvelous Entertainment has you covered, with the belief that a half-minute is more than enough time for an enjoyable RPG experience. Say hello to Half-Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax, but be quick about it!

Overview
Half-Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax is the HD release of the PSP cult hit Half-Minute Hero. You can expect plenty of play on RPG stereotypes and much more than 30 seconds of tongue-in-cheek humor. The game follows you, the Hero, on a quest to stop an evil lord who has taught many a-wannabe a spell which can destroy the world in under a minute; 30 seconds to be precise. How convenient!

Gameplay
The adventure works something like this: Each of the campaign's 30+ scenarios start you with 30 seconds on the clock at level 1. You encounter random enemies on the world map which net experience and money upon defeat. There are towns scattered across the map for you to purchase equipment, healing items (of which you can carry only one) and replenish health. If you let the clock hit zero, game over. To combat time, your gold-digging project manager, the Time Goddess, accepts donations of gold to replenish your timer, though the timer will never go over 30 seconds. Should you become pressed for time, you can sprint both on the map and in battle, though at the expense of a chunk of health per second used.

Battles consist of a 2D side scrolling rush. If you're fairly well leveled and suitably equipped, you will be able to run through fodder enemies in one pass. Ill-prepared heroes, or those facing stronger enemies will lock into a bouncing battle, where he of greater fortitude emerges victorious. After each successful - or failed - scenario, your level and accumulated stats reset, with the only carryover being your equipment.

For a premise as silly as saving the world in 30 seconds, Half Minute Hero is relatively robust. Multiple paths, recruitable characters, hidden treasure, and secret bosses are some of the goodies you can expect to find in your heap of half-minute happenings. In addition, each scenario offers you a unique title or two for meeting special conditions, raising replay value for the completionists amongst us.

Multiplayer is also included, though I felt as it it weren't compelling enough to come back to consistantly. Race against up to 3 other heroes to amass equipment and beat the evil lord as quickly as possible. The mystique is a bit lost outside of the main adventure. Instead of multiplayer, why not try 3 Second Hero - available after completing the main story - in which you must defeat the evil lord in.. Take a guess.

Art & Sound Design
Whereas the original on PSP was limited to 8-bit pixel art, the revamp offers you a choice of pixels or HD art. The new art is a bit weak, almost more fit for South Park than an Xbox LIVE Arcade game. I've seen Xbox LIVE Indies with more inspired art, which is either a knock on Half-Minute Hero, or props to the quality of certain indie developers. Some sprites weren't even cleaned up properly, featuring a ghostly border around the sprite's digital cutout. Laziness? Carelessness? Intentional? You be the judge!

The pixel art is pleasing if you're a gamer of yesteryear or hipster who appreciates the flair of outdated styles. The slightest armor changes are even reflected on your little 8-bit hero, a testament to the microscopic attention paid to the characters.

The music, for the most part, is good enough. My problem with it is the lack of variation, as the entire game seems to be filled with the same 4 or 5 tunes. When I finally heard something new, I was so excited that my brain was processing riffs that I hadn't heard before, I couldn't even tell if the quality was good or not.

After an extended period of play your ears may be ringing with the slashing sound that was surley purchased from a stock audio library. Regardless of your weapon, you'll hear the same tinny slash in rapid succession over and over again.

Conclusion
For what it is, Half-Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax is a good time, and money well spent. It's not the longest or deepest adventure out there, but at the equivalent of $10 it probably shouldn't be. If cheesy, humorous, old-school role-playing game spoofs appeal to you, check this one out.

Buy it: If you liked S/NES era RPGs, enjoy games with humor, are thrilled by time attacks
Don't Buy it: If you're looking for a deep experience
The Score: 7 outta 10 Blasters!