Half Minute Hero is worth more than thirty seconds of your attention!

Intro- Half Minute Hero, developed by XSEED Games, is one that is both retro and revolutionary. Half Minute Hero (now referred to as HMH) is an 8-bit tale of Hero’s who save the world in completely unique ways, all under 30 seconds. Through the use of witty dialogue and untraditional gameplay elements, HMH land into the category of “unique RPGs.”

Story 8/10- HMH has 3 different modes to start off with, and three others can be unlocked later on. To accurately describe the story, this section has to be broken up into three parts.

Hero 30- For years the Time Goddess has saved the world from evil, with just the ‘slightest’ bit of greed to her good deeds. When the player starts the mode “Hero 30,” a hero awakens to a world in peril. He sets out to save the world from an evil lord who casted the “Spell of Destruction,” which takes, you guessed it, 30 seconds to cast. Well that is quite the crunch for the hero, and luckily enough the Time Goddess recognizes that and shows up to help. In return for helping the Hero thwart evil, he must pay the Time Goddess for each use of her powers.

Princess 30- The king of a kingdom has fallen ill, and it is up to the princess to save him. In the mode “Princess 30,” players will take on the role of a crossbow-wielding princess who will do anything to save her father. The only catch is that she has a 30 second curfew, and must be back inside the castle by that time. The Time Goddess shows up again, asking for gold in exchange for her services.

Evil Lord 30- See the pattern? An evil lord, who is not so evil, sets out to lift the curse on his lover, Millennia. He must traverse many human towns and castles, all of which fight him because he is an Evil Lord. With the aid of monsters and the Time Goddess, the evil lord has 30 seconds each night to get into shade before Millennia shrivels up and dies.

There are other modes in the game to be unlocked, but players have a choice of those three when beginning the game. Eventually all the stories tie into each other, and make for a rather hilarious and memorable tale.

Music/Graphics 9/10- The music in this game is fantastic. Each track fits perfectly with each situation, and is catchy. I actually find myself turning the game on and leaving it next to me to listen to the mode select song. Some songs are heavy rock, while others are little diddles that sounds like they belong in pokemon. And fortunately, a track player can be unlocked later in the game for those who can’t get enough of the music.

The graphics are well, 8-bit. They are old, out dated, and yet they work. The game is meant to look that way, and a lot of the humor derives from it. Each sprite is hardly defined, so emotions are absent visually, which add yet another form of humor. Now the use of 8-bit graphics may turn people off, but those people are severely mistaken. This takes nothing from the game, and in all seriousness it wouldn’t be as enjoyable without the 8-bit graphics.

Gameplay 6/10- As with the story section, each mode has its own form of gameplay. They are all completely different, so this section must also be broken up into three different parts.

Hero 30- Hero 30 is the “main” gameplay of HMH, due to the main character being in it and two unlockable modes have the same type of gameplay. This mode has the most RPG elements to it compared to the other modes, though it is a very unique way to approach an RPG. Each level, the hero must save the world within thirty seconds. Going into town will stop the timer (in normal difficulty) and allow the player to talk to NPC’s and buy healing items or equipment. When traveling outside towns, random encounters will pop up, and the fighting is “automatic.” What this means is that the hero and the monster will run at each other , they will bump heads and do/take damage, and who ever wins continues moving forward. Since it is so fast paced and there is a 30 second time limit, leveling goes extremely fast and gold is acquired just as quickly. Grinding for 20 seconds could net you five levels and 1000, which is actually pretty hefty. Throughout each level, usually one or more town will have a “Goddess Statue” where you can pray to the Time Goddess to reset the time limit back to 30 seconds. Each prayer costs more and more as you continue to use the service, as the Time Goddess’ greed is a bottomless pit. New weapons and armor can be found throughout the levels, and equipped in between levels. The game moves extremely fast, but there are plenty of secrets and easter eggs to keep the collectors out there busy. The biggest drawback is that there are only 30 levels (please tell me you have noticed the pattern by now.) The game is short, and it left me craving for more.

Princess 30- Princess 30 is a top-down shooting game, where the crossbow-wielding princess rides atop her soldiers and destroys anything in her way. Her father is ill, so each level is dedicated to finding a cure for him. Players can control the speed of the soldiers by either pressing left or right, and which direction the arrows will shoot with the X,Square,Triangle, and Circle buttons . This has probably the least RPG elements of all the modes, as throughout the mode the only thing that is RPGesque is a couple crossbow upgrades. With a 30 second time limit on each level, having the soldiers walk along the Time Goddess’ red carpet will make time go back up as much as the soldiers stay on the carpet, but of course at a cost. The cost is never an issue, as running out of money is hard to do. Each level is disappointingly easy, but the dialogue saves it. This is probably the funniest mode in the game, due to the ridiculousness of the premise behind the mode itself. Thankfully, the 30 pattern applies to the amount of levels here as well, as it was a bit of a challenge to sit through the entire mode.

Evil Lord 30- Evil Lord 30 is a sort of RTS, but in the most basic sense. Players can summon three types of monsters: Shooters, nimbles, and brutes. Each is a direct correlation to their names, and have different strengths and weaknesses. Below the player is a mana circle, the larger it is the more powerful a demon can be summoned. Getting hit will make the mana circle smaller, in turn making your demons less powerful. Levels are sometimes filled with monsters already there, and by approaching them the Evil Lord can make them his own minions to attack enemies. The levels are generally linear, and by approaching golden barrels, the Time Goddess will take all the gold you have earned in the level so far for a time rewind. Left over gold will be saved in “Millennia’s Bank,” and when enough is saved up the Evil Lord will level up and have the size of the mana circle increased. This mode was slightly more tolerable than Princess 30, but not nearly as fun as Hero 30.

There are three modes that can be unlocked by beating these, one of which has a type of gameplay where you must protect a sage for 30 seconds. The gameplay is fun, but it is lacking. Aside from Hero 30, the other modes seem more like filler than additional gameplay elements. The biggest downside to HMH is the shortness of each mode. 30 levels can be completed in an hour if the player doesn’t feel like looking for every little thing in the game.

Playtime/ Replayability 5/10- HMH is a short game. Even with 100% on each mode completed, the game will probably only last around 20 hours. Before finding everything and getting 100%, I have under 10 hours. As for replayability, the only reason to go back and play the game again would be to play it on hard mode, for the added challenge. Otherwise, it would be the exact same game without anything different.

Final Score 7/10- I would love to give this game a 9/10, but there are a few things that take away from its overall score. Aside from Hero 30, the gameplay isn’t all that great. Secondly, the shortness is a real turn off for those who love RPGs. The games dialogue and music are phenomenal though, and give a huge boost to its score. Should this game be bought at full price? Probably not, but when the price drops I feel every RPG lover should experience this game. It is memorable in its own way, and is an extremely unique game.