Part 7: 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! 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!





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



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. 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!



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.



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.