Recently released as Brilliant Hamsters! in the West and before then as Oshare Hamster to Kurasou: Issho ni Odekake in Japan and dismissed by most core-gamers as merely a Nintendogs clone with hamsters. But I ask ‘so what if it is?’ Dogs take up all kinds of time: needing walks, plenty of food, constant attention and worse still they pap a lot, where-as hamsters are far smaller, arguably cuter, eat relatively little and only pap within a confined cage. Hamsters sound not only the ideal pet but Bergsala Lightweight’s Oshare Hamster to Kurasou sounds like the ideal pet simulation.
With my often contempt for maxims, I unfortunately despise the ‘be careful what you wish for’ line, but that’s exactly how the abbreviated OHtK:InO (I think I’ll stick to Brilliant Hamsters!) feels when you first insert the tiny cartridge (hiya guys!). After choosing from one of four hamsters (actually one of two, then sex (as in choose the sex – it’s a children’s game silly!)) and the name you pet your new pet from three different angles (including the ‘is he still alive?’ one above), feed him and see that looking after a pet hamster really is that easy! I almost forgot the cage cleaning but there’s no Tamagotchi turds here. Just. Dust.
There is in actual fact more to Brilliant Hamsters! as the more you pet the more stars (money) you earn and the more unimaginative (they really are graphically awful) stamps on your stamp sheet. With stamps and money you can buy your hamster ridiculous outfits, change his fur colour (is this really a good message to send out to children?!) and upgrade your cage. Did I mention that you need to upgrade your cage to make any progression within the game and to unlock more hamsters and the four AR games (the game really punishes you if you are content with your original cage and solitary hamster).
The four AR games are actually quite fun although all are incredibly simple: it’s just that the process of unlocking them seems pointless. Nabbing the titles from Nintendo Life they are Balloon Pop, Labyrinth, Sunflower Catch and Find My Hamster. Perhaps unsurprising is that the games in order involve balloon popping, a maze, catching sunflowers and finding your hamster. The latter involves taking a picture of your found hamster and for this reason is probably my favourite of the four but whilst all are fun distractions: none are ever more than merely a mini-game distraction and don’t actually constitute a full game in their own right.
Oshare Hamster to Kurasou offers nothing for the hardcore gamer, but that is of little importance to me the reviewer. For a child, the game is incredibly fun in small doses and there’s enough to return to for a few minutes each day. Sadly the game is all too repetitive and there simply isn’t enough to do to justify buying it for all but the ardent hamster fans and even to those ardent hamster fans it doesn’t realistically prepare the child for looking after a pet that even the original Tamagotchi toys offered and with the realism of the character designs, is morally dubious in treating any pet as a fashion accessory. Save that for teddy bear simulations!
5/10
