With its primitive 8-bit, pixelated graphics and almost absurdly fast paced gameplay, Marvelous Entertainment’s eccentric take on the role-playing game (RPG) genre doesn’t seem like it should be one of the best, addictive games for the PSP.
However, even though Half-Minute Heroes certainly is not the best looking game for the portable platform nor does it have the most in-depth gameplay, the sum of its distinctly odd yet fun parts make for one of the strangest, enjoyable titles that the PSP has seen in quite some time.
Similar to RPG’s of old, in Half-Minute Heroes, an ancient evil is attempting to destroy the world and its up to four different characters to try and prevent this from happening, in half a minute or less. Your attempts to stave off the world from prematurely being annihilated are broken up into four types of missions.
Hero Mode is is structured like a traditional RPG where your character roams around the world, enters into random battles, levels up, and buys more powerful equipment until they’re prepared to take on that mission’s final boss. However, unlike normal JRPG’s, the fights aren’t turn based. Instead, your hero will enter into battle and proceed to ram into an enemy until all their hit points are depleted. As a result, the average battle takes about three seconds, and emerging victorious will net you gold and experience points.
Gold in particular is important because it allows you to purchase health restoring items and, more importantly, more time to complete your mission. As you only have 30 seconds to beat a level, it’s crucial to periodically return into town and pay the Goddess to reset the clock.
Princess Mode is structured like an arcade shooter where you’re constantly moving forward into waves of new enemies which you need to shoot down. Knight mode has you protecting a wizard for 30 seconds (the timer stops whenever you have to pick him up and move him out of danger), and Evil Lord Mode requires you to summon monsters into battle.
All the modes except for Knight mode mandate that you balance combat with speed. You’ll need to move quickly but not recklessly, and at the same time you’ll also need to be constantly keeping track of how much time you have left and whether you’ll need to purchase more. The gameplay in Half-Minute Hero is fast and frantic, but at the same time, still requires a fair amount of thinking as well.
Each mode packs 30 missions and there’s more than 120 in total. Missions, however, normally don’t require more than a few minutes to complete, making Half-Minute Hero a perfect game for short gaming sessions. Additionally, there’s a local multiplayer function that allows gamers to compete in Hero mode to see who can down the mission’s boss first.
Half-Minute Hero isn’t really a RPG. Rather, it’s an combination of four different mini-games used to emulate the traditional, epic and lengthy RPG experience in only 30 seconds. The gameplay almost parodies classic Nintendo-era RPG’s in the way it takes the concept of 8-bit classics like Final Fantasy, which takes hours to beat, and deconstructs it into bite-sized portions that can be completed in only a few minutes.
In between it’s almost exaggeratedly rough graphics, simplistic gameplay mechanics and humorous dialog spoken by some of the non-playable characters, Half-Minute Hero seems aware that it looks and plays more like Flash game than a full fledged PSP title.
Oddly, even though this should probably work against the title, this conscious self-awareness gives Half-Minute Hero a quirky charm that’s hard to resist.
Final Verdict
Half-Minute Hero is a bizarre yet incredibly fun game for the PSP. At best, it’s a hilarious parody of the sacred 8-bit JRPG with some incredibly addictive games. At worst, it’s a compilation of short, fun mini-games that are perfect for the gamer who only has time for a quick gaming session. Either way, Half-Minute Hero is a winner on the PSP, and, regardless if you like RPG’s or not, it’s worth checking out.
Final Grade: B
Half-Minute Hero is developed by Marvelous Entertainment and published by XSEED Games. It is available exclusively for the PSP now.
