(box art)
Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Games / Tottoko Hamtaro Ham Ham Sports (とっとこハム太郎 ハムハムスポーツ) is the 3rd and final Hamtaro game for the Game Boy Advance. It was developed by AlphaDream, and published by Nintendo. It's an Olymics-themed sports game in which the Ham-Hams partake in a multi-sports event hosted by Bo, and was released shortly before the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Between July 2004 and February 2005, collectible in-game friend cards were distributed through Nintendo Joy Spots for Japanese players, most of which are now unobtainable.
Europe ------: July 16, 2004
North America: July 27, 2004
The sections below describe the game's story and events, and may contain spoilers, insofar that's possible for this game.
Ham-Ham Games follows a seven-day multi-sports event, hosted by Bo. The game starts with the opening ceremony on the first day, where Bo announces the event, and the four participating teams are introduced:
| Team Ham-Hams | the player's team, led by Hamtaro. Members: Hamtaro, Bijou, Boss, Oxnard, Cappy, Pashmina, Penelope, Sandy, and Stan. |
| Team Seahams | a troupe of pirate hamsters, led by [name] Members: [names] |
| Team Djungle | hamsters dressed in animal costumes from [place], led by [name]. Members: Leo, Stripes, Bunny, Warts |
| Team Rainbow | athletes from Rainbow Land, led by Bo himself. Members: Bo, Daisy, Ivy, [name] |
After the ceremony, and between all sports events, the player may freely explore the areas and talk to the other hamsters. This includes the other teams; supporting characters such as Sparkle, Hamstarr and Robo-Joe; and remaining Ham-Hams that aren't participating in sports events, such as Snoozer, Maxwell, and Panda. [more cohesive?]
The first day only has one sports event, the 100hm dash at the Stadium. Days two to six each have three events per day, in order the Tennis Prelims, Hammer Throw, Diving, Beach Volleyball Prelims, Hurdles, Bird-back Riding, Pole Vault, Tennis Finals, Carrot Pull, Swimming, Archery, Sailing, Triple Jump, Synchronized Swimming, and the Beach Volleyball Finals. The final day only has one event, the Marathon at the Stadium, after which the Ham-Ham Games end. In each sports event you control one or multiple of the participating members of Team Ham-Hams, with which one depending on the event. After completing a sports event, you participate in a medal ceremony, where the teams are rewarded a gold, silver, or bronze medal based on how well they performed compared to the others. You also receive seeds based on your placement, and difficulty setting for the event.
After participating in the 100hm dash, Boss leads Hamtaro to the Ham-Ham's sleeping quarters in the Athletes' Village, but since Team Ham-Hams has so many athletes, he explains that Hamtaro will have to sleep in the bed at the Clubhouse, where he takes him next. Stan and Sandy will finally have arrived too, after missing the opening ceremony because of Stan being distracted by a cute girl.
[add some stuff about the tv channels, about the ending ceremony]
After viewing the credits, the game begins anew, with another edition of the Ham-Ham Games. You will also be able to collect friendship cards from the other characters. [some more detail?]
B ------- cancel, run
D-pad --- move
START --- open the menu
The Clubhouse is normally Boss's home, and a meeting place for the Ham-Hams. In this game, it serves as Hamtaro's home base, where he sleeps.
PLACES OF INTEREST:
| Desk | view game explanation and tips. |
| TV |
view one of the TV channels. mornings: Ham Requests noon: Ham Fortune-telling afternoon: Ham Shopping Network, or Ham Requests night: Ham Studio News |
| Bed | sleep to progress time to the next day. [naps?] |
| Hamha Machine | change the default greeting, use passwords, or view some easter eggs. |
| Jukebox | play tracks after unlocking [cd?]. |
| Trophy stands | displays unlocked trophies. |
| Game machines | play a Penelope Baseball minigame. [second game?] |
[location description].
PLACES OF INTEREST:
| [house] | [explanation] |
COLLECTIBLES:
| [item] | [unlock method] |
[location description].
PLACES OF INTEREST:
| [request machine] | [explanation] |
[location description].
PLACES OF INTEREST:
| Event area | [explanation] |
COLLECTIBLES:
| [item] | [unlock method] |
[location description].
PLACES OF INTEREST:
| Event area | [explanation] |
COLLECTIBLES:
| [item] | [unlock method] |
[location description].
PLACES OF INTEREST:
| Event area | [explanation] |
COLLECTIBLES:
| [item] | [unlock method] |
[location description].
PLACES OF INTEREST:
| Event area | [explanation] |
COLLECTIBLES:
| [item] | [unlock method] |
[location description].
PLACES OF INTEREST:
| Event area | [explanation] |
COLLECTIBLES:
| [item] | [unlock method] |
This walkthrough is written with the intention of guiding you through the game if you're stuck. (there's... more to come here)
--- You can view the event schedule from the menu by pressing START.
--- Before entering the event, view the Tutorial, and Practise as long as you like until you feel confident to take it on.
--- If an event is too hard, you change the difficulty with Set Difficulty. You get fewer seeds, but there's otherwise no penalty.
--- Between events, be sure to check out what's playing on TV!
Game data can't be fully erased in this game* - the name, gender, and birthday entered at the start are retained, as well as collected player cards and special friend cards. To erase story data, start up the game, and select Options. From there, select Delete Story, and select Yes.
* You may be able to erase save data through messing with the physical cartridge, but I have no personal experience with this.
GAMEPLAY [rewrite this]:
In this game, Hamtaro joins a seven-day multi-sports event, hosted by Bo. The player controls Team Ham-Hams, one of the four teams competing against each other. The sports challenges consist of 15 different mini-games, which each have different controls. Inbetween mini-games, you can talk to the different characters, explore the map, and collect costumes for your player card. After all sports challenges are completed, the team with the most gold medals wins, and the game ends. You can replay the event as often as you like, and some unlockables require you to beat the game multiple times.
At the beginning of the game, you set your name, birthday, and gender - these are displayed on your player card, and can't be changed later. Your player card is accessible from the main menu, and can be customized by setting a different background, comment, or changing your costume. Player cards can be exchanged with other players using a link cable, and are stored in the same place as special friend cards obtained through password or Joy Spot.
The game features a couple of easter eggs, as well as a series of passwords that can be entered in the Hamha Machine on the second floor of the Clubhouse.
(nothing yet!)