Introduction

(Note: All reviews contain spoilers, and you'll have more fun just watching the videos)
Gamespot: "...a good story combined with first-rate production values."
IGN: "...buy this for your cousins, your nieces and nephews, and any half pint within arm's reach that owns a computer and an imagination...then play it when they aren't looking."
Mr. Bill's Adventureland : "It is a masterpiece, and should be in everyone's collection!"
A review by Gamefaqs user Firesword : "My god, for a game intended for 8-10 year olds, this game must turn children to the dark side."

It's hard to find reviews for this game, but that's important. The most important legacy of this game is its lack of a legacy.

Okay time to copy and paste from the wikipedia article-OH WAIT IT DOESN'T EXIST

Hype is a playmobil-licensed game developed by Playmobil interactive, a former agency under Ubisoft France. Playmobil interactive is now defunct, and when it disappeared so did any official mention of Ubisoft's connection with this game (The same goes for the two other Playmobil interactive titles- Alex Builds His Farm and Laura's Happy Adventures- but those are a little too simple to LP, sorry). Ubisoft's name is plastered all over the box, however, so the removal of Hype from their search program was probably a contractual thing more than anything else, especially since the game isn't terrible; it's really actually very good.

If you read the Gamespot or IGN review, you'll know that Hype was billed as the next Zelda, and wasn't. Just a bunch of overly ambitious (and slightly egomaniacal) French programmers. Obviously I agree- no game can really stand up to Ocarina of Time. Even so, I consider myself lucky to have picked up this game. I must've had excellent timing, because from what I can gather Hype sold exceedingly poorly, and was probably pulled very quickly.

Hype is an action adventure title, and lasts about 9 hours. That was on a quick non-100% run I recently did, so I'd imagine this time around it'll be significantly longer. The combat system is...interesting, and it has enough collectables and side quests to reach a pretty satisfactory level of depth. The difficulty really ramps up towards the end, and I'm ashamed to admit that I returned to the game several times over my childhood, each a couple of years apart, starting at 8, and only finally beat it when I was around 13. Now the game isn't as imposing, but I hope you will appreciate the difficulty that the game would have for younger audiences who, despite some pretty heavy adult themes, it is geared towards. I'll make sure to point out areas that caught me up as a kid.

For some reason, the game manual is included in a .pdf on the game CD. I think more games should do this, if they don't already (and I haven't noticed). At any rate, a lot of game content is included in the booklet that isn't in the game, so I'll be printscreening that and posting 'history' with each update.


Videos:
In album form for easy viewing or

Episode One: Part 1, Part 2
Episode Two: Part 1, Part 2
Episode Three: Part 1, Part 2, Boss Battle
Episode Four: Part 1, Boss Battle
Episode Five: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Episode Six: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Episode Seven: Part 1, Bosses
Episode Eight: Part 1, Part 2, Bosses
Episode Nine: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Episode Ten: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Boss, Bonus
Episode Eleven: Part 1, Part 2, Boss
Episode Twelve: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7
Episode Thirteen: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Episode Fourteen: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Episode Fifteen: Flag I, Flag II, Flag III, Flag IV, Boss
Episode Sixteen: Part 1, End Boss

Fan Art a.k.a. things Simmerl has made









he made some youtube videos too

Armoured Magician tribute
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdwBph-uxe0

Everybody let this be our own time quest!! Thread tribute
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5_dWBP1KCk