Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak

The average hamster can expect no bigger an adventure than maybe finding an unopened sunflower seed in a corner of its cage, or running so fast on its wheel that the momentum spins it around in a single, sudden 360° loop. But Hamtaro is no average hamster - and Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak, a massive quest to restore the love to the Ham-Ham's world, is the proof.

The problems kick off when Hamtaro trips into a puddle, drenching his Ham-Chat dictionary full of the words he needs to communicate with his Ham-Ham buddies. But the loss of a few 'Tack-Q's and 'Hamha!'s is nothing compared to the arrival of bad-tempered hamster Spat, who - aided by little more than a great big fork - sets about ruining the love between the Ham-Hams, driving a wedge between previously cuddly relationships. If you enjoyed bringing the Ham-Hams together in Hamtaro: Ham-Hams Unite on Game Boy Color, you'll be nose-twitchingly happy at what follows - a grand adventure to gradually fill Hamtaro's dictionary with over 80 brand new Ham-Chat words, and use them to chat with his friends, solve puzzles in the seven massive worlds, and ultimately undo all Spat's evil-hearted work. "Hamha!" and "Tack-Q" - two of the four words that were spared a soaking after Hamtaro's trip - are enough to prise a conversation out of all but the most stubborn furballs.

With almost every chat, you'll learn a new word - and be offered a hint as to which piece of Ham-Chat vocab will solve that hamster's heartache. So Oxnard teaches you "Bluhoo" (sad) in the middle of a lament about lost love Pepper; Pepper then tells you how to say "Oopsie" (sorry); and as a result, you can apologise to Oxnard on Pepper's behalf - relationship saved! But not all the puzzles scattered around Ham-Ham Heartbreak's levels - which range from beach to castle to ghost-ridden haunted house - are as simple as that. You'll need to find ways of cheering up blubbing Ham-Hams (hint: banana skins only really have one use...), hook up with Bijou to fix Ham-Ham troubles with hamster double-chat, and learn words that open locked doors, operate slingshots and activate abandoned minecarts. A startling demonstration of the rodent species' advanced problem-solving abilities. Each Ham-Chat word scribbled into your dictionary has its own unique animation - and in a turn of events cute enough to make your eyes leak, you'll engage in hamster-dancing battles with rival Ham-Hams. These 'Ham Jams' are so good, there's a whole sub-game based around them - allowing you to string together moves to ten secret songs that you can DigDig (dig up) or Hif-hif (sniff out) in the main game. Filling your little hamster brain with all that Ham-Chat, and restoring over 20 Ham-Ham loves, will keep you busy for hours.

But there's much more to hamster life than chatting and matchmaking. Trade acorns for delicious sunflower seeds. Visit theme park level Fun Land to enjoy three superb minigames, including balloon-bowling and football (played with a pineapple - aw). And find rocks and polish them in the "Rubrub" room to turn them into sparkling gems - then combine them to create accessories that Hamtaro and Bijou can don in the Clubhouse photo studio. As cute and enjoyable as watching a hamster wash its face, Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak is a suitably irresistible Game Boy Advance debut for Ham-Ham and friends. Greatchu!