3 December 2017
For some reason I seem to be fascinated with games that turn out to be incredibly similar. Look at the in depth discussion I wrote on Paladins and Overwatch. Today I stumbled across a new 3D platformer, called A Hat in Time, coming to PS4 on 6th December. It was only a tweet with an animated gif but the super colourful art style and rope swinging prompted me to research further. According to the PlayStation announcement trailer, "A Hat in Time is an upcoming cute-as-heck 3D platformer featuring a little girl who stitches hats for wicked powers!".
It's a great a trailer, showcasing all sorts of different gameplay mechanics. However some give off huge vibes of a certain Mario game recently released on Nintendo Switch. Another 3D platformer where hats are a primary feature and I thought it was a very unique concept. Of course, that's Super Mario Odyssey. The lead character in A Hat in Time can wear different hats, and one in particular shows hidden platforms! Just like the Moe-Eye statues in Mario.
To my surprise A Hat in Time is already out on PC, released on 5th October this year. Interestingly 3 weeks before Super Mario Odyssey. Then I found IGN's review video, obviously explaining the game in more detail.
This where the comparisons truly come to light. The overall goal in A Hat in Time is to find 40 magic hourglasses that power the little girl's spaceship. How similar is this to primary goal in Super Mario Odyssey! - Collecting power moons to power your ship called the Odyssey.
Hats however are used slightly differently. In A Hat in Time you can craft different hats which grant new abilities. For example the witch hat gives the player the ability to throw bombs at enemies. So in fairness, sufficiently different from Mario. However I couldn't help but laugh at seeing the same lead character wearing different hats in a 3D platformer. To my knowledge, I don't believe there's been any game before 2017 that encourages the player to wear different hats, and yet here we are with the two games doing this in the same month.
It's crazy to think that Super Mario Odyssey isn't referenced at all in this video review, because it wasn't out yet. The platforming and puzzle solving is compared to Super Mario Sunshine, but that's going back to 2002! One last similarity is that you are encouraged to return to previous levels with your newly crafted hats to access areas that were previously inaccessible. The beauty of Mario is that you become more familiar with the traversal controls to access the trickier areas, but the replaying past levels concept is the same.
On reading some of the YouTube comments for both videos above, other people are clearly drawing the same comparisons. To the untrained eye, you would say that A Hat in Time is probably copying ideas from Super Mario Odyssey. Just because the latter is developed by Nintendo, the founders of the platforming genre. However that certainly doesn't seem the case.
A Hat in Time was initially funded by a Kickstarter campaign and development started way back in August 2012. Development on Super Mario Odyssey seemingly began in late 2013, alongside the Joy-Cons for the Switch. So I don't see how any copying claim can be made here. It's just a fantastic coincidence that we have two great 3D platformers with a focus on fancy head wear.
I also believe A Hat in Time developer, Gears for Breakfast, deserve huge credit for getting this game out ahead of Odyssey. It just means that reviews (like above) can't mention Mario, as they inevitably would, which could've hindered review scores slightly (look at Super Lucky's Tale for example). The game stands on its own, it's an 8 out of 10 from most media outlets, and I can't wait to play it on PS4.