Part 9: Games and grudge matches.

Howdy, what are you so excited about?

What? C’mon, Hamtaro! Today’s the Ham-Ham festival!

Wow! You’re right! It is that time, isn’t it?



Ham-Ham festival?



There are booths with all kinds of stuff!

And all kinds of yummy things to eat!

That really sounds like a lot of fun!



OK! I guess I’m going to the Ham-Ham festival as well!

Get your party hats on, people! Or perhaps your kimonos… After all, this is a Japanese festival!

Before we go anywhere though, let’s have a chat to all our Ham-Ham friends and see how hyped they are for this festival.



Ookwee!

Of course! Do you want to go over there now? This’ll be great!

There are lots of yummy things to eat at the festival! I’m looking forward to eating all of it!



But how do I ask her to the festival? Mmmph.





I make no apologies for choosing to show Stan mid-backflip and Sandy mid-twirl.



I’m fixin’ to make a huge profit at this year’s festival!

Not so fast, Howdy! This time, I’ll open a booth too.

It’s a match to see who’s better at getting customers!

Oooh, sorry Dexter. I don’t think salesmanship is something you want to challenge Howdy on… despite the Howdy Doll incident last update.



What shall we do? Ham-and-seek!

Hmm, I can’t decide if Stucky and Cappy sounds more like a comedy duo or a children’s toy.



I’m really busy getting ready!



So many...coming...to play… I’m so...excited. Zzzz.

Oh, I can totally tell. This is the most lively Snoozer’s been in ages.



There are all kinds of vendors, and it’s so crowded!

Ham-Ham festival? It has a fun ring to it! I’m so excited, I’m dancing and I don’t even know it!



Have you heard what everyone’s saying?

Sure, we did the rounds. Sounds like we’re in for a nice bit of relaxation after all this running around.



Well, we’d be kinda treading on Boss’ toes…



Of course, Hamtaro would never refuse Bijou like that! Which is why this is a ‘but thou must!’ situation.





...For a strong guy, Boss sure cries easily.



Don’t stay up late tonight. Go to bed early so you can enjoy a nice dream.
The second luckiest one for today is...Libra. Talk to your pals. You just might get a great hint.♪
The luckiest one for today is...Capricorn. Playing sports today is a good thing. The popularity you experience just might be great!
Today will not be very good for...Sagittarius. You may be warned not to ditch. Your lucky game is tree climbing.

Penelope is Pisces (so she shouldn’t be staying up late anyway), Dexter is Libra, Snoozer is Capricorn (which makes for a great mental image of him playing sports…) and Jingle is our Sagittarius. (Trying to stop him ditching the group would be wasted effort.)



Now that Hamstarr has once again read our horoscopes, it’s time to head to the festival… Or as the map screen calls it, Tip-Top Fair.



Wow! Look at all the fun-looking booths!

Hamtaro! Look! It’s Bo!



Hmm, looks like he flew straight past that guard. Wonder if that means we can just go in?



Once the gate is done, the stamp rally will start. Since it’s not done, I’m not allowed to let anyone in! I’m sorry to ask, but can you go look at the gate?

Ah, the police are just incompetent (still). Guess this is a good chance to just poke around, see the sights…





...and make sure not to get sick.



The stall owners have plenty to say around here, and there’s a lot of them! Expect plenty of chatter at the festival.



...Are these trading cards or sweets? Oh, maybe it’s the Ham-Ham version of Pocky. For just being breadsticks and chocolate, that stuff is incredibly satisfying to eat.

Also, maybe we should go look at the next stall before I sound any more like a weeaboo.



Like I said, I can’t go! I’ve got a booth I have to look after!

What’s it gonna hurt? Just come along with me.

Didn’t Auntie Viv just say she’d look with you? You’re starting to get on my nerves!









I’m going to go look around the festival with Maxwell!

How many times do I have to say it? I’ve got a booth to run!



So, uh… That didn’t go so well. Seems like we might need to find a way to stop Boss pestering Maxwell at some point.



The area to the right of Maxwell’s booth is where the dance contest is going to be held, so naturally Stan and Sandy are here.





Being their usual selves, of course.



Wow, that guy looks like his life is pure hell. Must be Sparkle’s manager.



I’m Sparkle!



Sorry, I’m too busy right now. Make them wait.



Yep, she’s a diva. My sympathies to that guy.





I’m sure Panda knows what he’s doing. I mean, being the guy who builds and/or repairs stuff is 95% of his character. _{(With a 5% margin of error.)}



Heading north from the site of Maxwell’s torment leads us to finding a minor gimmick of this area. Instead of having sunflower seeds scattered about, there are these animal toys we can interact with to get some. The catch is that they’re based on a strength check, so we need more Ham-Hams for bigger toys.



There are a couple of minigames we can see around here, but they aren’t available until the stamp rally begins. Must be a big event…



I’ve called ahead, so the stamp rally should be starting pretty soon. Why don’t you try going back to the assembly grounds.

Ah, excellent. And what do your workers have to say?



Sparkle is here at the festival! Work faster! HURRY! HURRY!

We’re all big fans of Sparkle! We’ve got to hurry!

Yes, all of the workers are identical. Must be more of that slide guy’s brothers.



Back at the entrance, we’ve now tripped the flag to get us into the assembly grounds… but we have the left side of this area to see yet, so let’s hold off on that.



I sure hope the Ham-Ham doesn’t get a stomachache.

Gee, I wonder who that might have been.



Because of that, my sales are through the roof! Thank you!



Huh. The Ham-Hams are definitely some kind of famous amongst hamsters. Must be a weird feeling to see someone wearing a mask that looks like you.



Over to the west, two of the afro hamsters are performing the Boogie Down on stage. Oh, and there’s this picture of Howdy and Dexter…



...that responds to the code R, L, A, R, B.



One practical gift, one romantic. Kinda says something about those two, doesn’t it?



Huh… Attending a festival alone is...well, pretty lonely. Plus, my shoulders are really starting to bother me.

We’ll have to see if we can do something to help out Auntie Viv too.



The northwest exit from the starting screen leads to another seed dispenser, this soccer-related minigame and another gate under construction. The foreman has the same thing to say, but…

Really, our boss treats us hamsters badly!

I just want to get done and go to the festival!

I’m hungry! I want to get some food at the booths!

The workers have their own problems over here. Still, nothing we can do now but go to the assembly grounds and see what this stamp rally is all about.



Ah, there’s Bo! Let’s poke him a bit.



Anyway! Take a look at that!



Wow! It’s huge! But, what is it?

That’s shaved ice! The red syrup looks really delicious!





...You have got to be kidding me.

What?!

Boys and girls!





The rules are easy! You need to clear all the Ham Games at this year’s festival! For every Ham Game you clear, you get one stamp! The Ham-Ham who gets all 12 stamps wins!



Well then, is everyone ready to begin?! Ready…





OK! We’re going to do the stamp rally, too!

So, yeah. That’s what our red ingredient is going to be. Shaved ice.

Just let that sink in for a minute.

Also, here’s what happened after I told Leavemywife that the Ham-Hams were going to a festival.




Also, apparently Bo is actually flying around and telling us how to play Ham Games? I don’t even know what’s going on any more.



There’s a couple of other hamster teams that plan to compete…



...though none of them are half as cool as the Sundown Kid over here.



Anyway, we should probably start filling this thing in.





Oh, and also finish the gates ourselves on account of those six workers going AWOL. We can’t really do anything about it with just Hamtaro and Bijou, though.



So let’s focus on getting some stamps first.



Acorn Shoot ‘n’ Score is a nice easy one to start off with, though you can get bonus points by having more acorns at the end, provided you can stop the meter in just the right spot to take out two cards. It’s 10 + 6 per acorn, so you could make 40 points if you manage that twice.



After successfully completing a Ham Game, we actually get to see the stamp on our card, as well as a map of the area with all the Ham Game locations on it. The map is ever so slightly inaccurate, as the north most area does not exist. There is a north exit from that long starless room, but it’s for leaving and going back to the world map.

We’ve only seen the bottom two rows of the festival though, so we still have plenty to explore.



If we return to Auntie Viv, her dialogue goes a little bit further after the stamp rally’s started. Let’s give her a hand.

Huh? Really? Then, I guess there’s still hope for today’s youth!





And just like that, Bijou’s off on her own! Of course, we know one Ham-Ham who might be interested in talking to her now…



Boss, if it’s OK, will you look around the festival with me?

B-B-B-Bijou. Look around with you?

Uhhh… I don’t believe it! Of course I’ll look around with you!

Great! Let’s go get Hamtaro together!



Sorry, Boss-man.



Still, at least Boss gets a little bit of time alone with Bijou, just until we walk back over to Auntie Viv.





Great! Seeing the festival together is a lot better!

Heh… At least he’s settled down now. Still, those gates seems like more than a three ham job, so…



Well, the obvious solution is recruit Panda. But first, I think we need to take a certain prima donna down a few pegs.



Everyone else is too scared to come on stage.





Oh, what is it? Are you a fan? An autograph? A handshake?



You bet your psychotic little butt we are!



Wow, how long has it been since Bijou had a minigame? Actually… No, I think this may be her first! And that’s despite being in the party for every area except Ticky-Ticky Park.



…



Heart Catch is a simple enough game, where you can move around and press A to gather up hearts, but is perfectly winnable by standing somewhere around here and just mashing A. Well, unless…



Sparkle manages to body-check Bijou off of the stage too many times.



Successfully dodging her by jumping with B will give you plenty of free time to suck up hearts, so getting 50 points for a full meter shouldn’t be difficult.



I really hope she doesn’t hire someone to hunt us down over this.



That’s no fair! Next time, I won’t lose! You’ll see!



…



Let’s just take our stamp and make a hasty exit.



Listen, Panda! The work on the gate is behind schedule.

What?! Really?! That’s terrible!

Uh-huh! Of course, I’ll help! Take me to the gate!



And at long last, Panda joins our party! That’s all thirteen playable Ham-Hams that’ve been with us at one point or another.



There is one last thing we can do before finishing off the gates, though. Let’s give Boss a chance to flex his muscles!



Barbell Lift requires you to set the meter, then mash A hard enough to keep it in the sweet spot for a few seconds. Boss is a pretty strong Ham-Ham, so this isn’t too difficult.



Even the second round shouldn’t give you much trouble.



Alright, that’s a quarter of the Ham Games done already!



Now, a little bit of elbow grease and this gate should be done in no time!



...Well, it’s certainly something.



By the way, it’s important to go to both sides and finish building the gates. If you don’t do one side, you won’t be able to use it to get around the festival!



The rest of the festival has plenty more booths and things to see, but I think we’ll save that for later.





So for now, let’s just enjoy this picture of Jingle riding his hog and playing some tunes, and I’ll see you all next time.