Happy! the Hippo

DISCLAIMER: Various portions of this game's backstory may or may not be works of fiction, or "unfiction". I mean, who's to say, really?

Welcome to Happy! the Hippo, a previously lost piece of video game history! Originally destined for a PS2 release back in 2002, this once-canceled 3D platformer collectathon has been resurrected and ported for modern hardware.

Roll, jump, bounce, and dive through several unique levels, mastering Happy's heavily momentum-based movement to traverse the level your own way. Chain together moves to reach the highest heights and the fastest speeds, picking your own path through each scenario. Tackle the game's challenges as you see fit, and discover that the most rewarding paths might require some creative thinking.

Experience the low-budget jank of early 2000s 3D platformers in all its glory. Purposefully, all bugs, glitches, and movement exploits are left in (excluding where game-breaking or just unfun). Breaking games, abusing console commands, exploiting glitches, and finding unintended ways to play is what got me interested in development. These bugs and jankiness are a huge part of what I love about these B-grade platformers, so I've decided to leave them mostly untouched in this game.

With almost no invisible walls, you're free to go pretty much anywhere. Want to build up an absurd amount of speed and blast across the map at Mach 10? Feel like bouncing your way to a seemingly unreachable spot? You can do all of those things and probably just about anything else. I'm working on this project because I love these kinds of games, at their worst and their best, and polishing away all of the rough edges would totally remove both the charm it has and the excitement I feel for it. This is a love letter to the games I grew up on, and I want to totally embrace the era this game is a product of, rather than pretend like it's something it's not.

Complete missions and rescue frogs in a handful of enchanting, creative, magical realms! Each level offers a variety of quests to achieve, minigames to beat, platforming challenges to overcome, foes to defeat, and characters to interact with. With a fully circular level design, each level can be played both forwards and backwards, allowing for easy backtracking and exciting replay value.

Oh boy, 6th gen games are considered retro now aren't they? Staying as faithful to its original PS2 version from 2002, the modern version of Happy! the Hippo truly looks and feels like the games of that era. Though the game is powered by Unreal Engine 5, painstaking effort was made to make the game look and feel as close to its original counterpart as possible.

In early 2022, a good friend of mine generously shared with me a treasure trove of files and information for a canceled PS2 game called Happy! the Hippo, which he was a key developer on back in the early 2000s. From the first few minutes of digging through the beta footage, design documents, and barely functional demo disc, I fell in love immediately. With his permission and a formal okay from the original developers, I gathered as much info on the game as possible and was graciously given permission to bring the game to PC and finally allow it to see the light of day. A huge fan of early 2000s platformers (especially of the lower budget variety), I've taken it upon myself to give this long-lost game the release it deserves, and I hope you guys end up loving it as much as I do.