History VideoGame / BillyHatcherAndTheGiantEgg

''Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg'' is a playful little title from Creator/SonicTeam and published by Creator/{{Sega}} in 2003 for the [[Platform/NintendoGameCube]] and PC (the latter [[NoExportForYou exclusive to Europe]]). It's about four kids that go to "Morning Land," a magical land that's inhabited by chickens in great danger. [[CreepyCrows Dark Raven and his murder of crows]] have invaded their paradise, sealed away the powerful Chicken Elders, and plunged Morning Land into a perpetual, gloomy night. As our heroes don the Legendary Chicken Suits, granting them the power to command eggs, it's up to them to kick Dark Raven out of Morning Land.

The game's controls set it apart from many mascot platformers of its era: Billy and friends roll giant eggs to squash enemies flat and traverse hazards, so preserving momentum, judging when to hatch eggs versus when to keep full-powered ones, and balancing the size and weight of an egg are crucial. ''Billy Hatcher'' also aims for a younger demographic than Sega's usual fare, reflected in all aspects of the game's presentation. [[SurpriseDifficulty That doesn't make the game easy, mind you.]]

** The egg in question hatches, depending on the level you find it in, into any number of Sega characters, such as Sonic, [=NiGHTS=], Amigo, etc.

A playful little title from Creator/SonicTeam and published by Creator/{{Sega}} in 2003 with the most cheerful mood ever. It's about four kids that go to "Morning Land," a magical land that's inhabited by the Chicken People. They need help. In order to help these little chicks, the four don the magical Legendary Chicken Suits and command eggs in order to take down the BigBad with the help of cute little mon-like creatures by your side to whoop some booty.

Sounds cute, at least before you take into account the massive amount of possibly traumatic material. The BigBad and his cronies? [[CreepyCrows Crows]] who want to take over the world by causing endless night. None of this sounds threatening, but boss fights bring a whole new level of creepy. Most of these bosses, and some notable levels, are also [[SurpriseDifficulty much harder]] than most people would have a right to expect from such a child-friendly setting.

The mission-style layout is sort of a ShoutOut to the Adventure games from the ''[[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]]'' franchise with the gameplay focusing more on fighting than speed. It got mixed reviews (well, more like mixed-to-positive) from the gaming community, but the Sonic community liked the game.

%%* BigBad: Dark Raven.

* BullfightBoss: Moles the Walrus. The primary method of rendering him vulnerable involves dodging his charges over the ice, sending him crashing to the walls of the arena. You can then roll your egg into him for damage.
* TheCameo: An egg of Sonic can be seen in some parts of the game. While on the side of cameos, Billy had appeared in other Sega games. While people question on why Sega hasn't made a sequel yet after all these years. For some reason, Billy himself is COMPLETELY absent from ''[[VideoGame/SegaSuperstars Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed]]'', but his friends makes a small appearance in the game, and an appearance in ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsUnite''. How ironic.

%%zce* CharacterNameAndTheNounPhrase

%%* CircusOfFear: The Circus Park during the night.

%%zce* CreepyCircusMusic: The Circus Park music at night.

%%* DarkIsEvil[=/=]LightIsGood
%%zce* DarknessEqualsDeath: During the second phase of the final boss fight.

%%* DoppelgangerSpin: Saltim does this with mirrors.
%%* TheDragon: Dark Corvo to Dark Raven.

%%* EggMcGuffin

%%* EvilIsNotWellLit
%%* EvilSorcerer: Dark Corvo and Dark Raven.

%%* FatBastard: Captain Glur.

%%* FunnyAnimal: All the chicken people.

%%* GentleGiant: Bantam.

%%* GuideDangIt: Some of the Chick Coins and rarer eggs.

%%* {{Keet}}: Billy shows some shades of this, fitting his role as savior of Morning Land.

* {{Kiai}}: "TAAAAAAAH!!", "HYAAAAH!!", "OK!!"

%%zce* PatchworkMap: Morning Land ''in general''.

%%zce* PerpetualMolt: In a game with a lot of cartoon birds, this was inevitable.

%%zce* {{Prehistoria}}: Dino Mountain fits the bill here too.

%%* ProphetEyes: The crows.
%%* PunnyName

%%* QuicksandSucks: There is a lot of quicksand in the Sandy Ruin.
%%* SandIsWater: In the Sandy Ruin.

%%* WaddlingHead: Most of the minion crows.

%%zce* WhaleEgg: All over the place, and even {{lampshade|Hanging}}d by one of the chicks wondering who or what laid them in the first place.