Hype: The Time Quest (1999)
A fantasy game with a world that consists entirely of Playmobil toys. Players act as Hype, a knight who must journey through time to save his kingdom from an evil, renegade god.
First released
Nov 20, 1999
Franchises
Playmobil
Developed by
Ubisoft Montreal Studios
Published by
Ubisoft Entertainment, Playmobil Interactive
Platforms
PlayStation 2, Game Boy Color, PC
Genres
Action-Adventure
Themes
Fantasy
Rating
ESRB: E
Releases
- GBC - Hype: The Time Quest United Kingdom
- PC - Hype: The Time Quest United States
- PS2 - Hype: The Time Quest United Kingdom
Community reviews
*Warning: spoilers* Wonderful and great game that is still fun today
Hype: The Time Quest is an epic game that holds up, even today. It is based on the Playmobil toy line and at first glance, does not look that impressive. However, when playing, everything about it was just amazing.
The story is a classic hero vs villain one. There was a civil war in the kingdom that just ended. For his bravery, the knight Hype is rewarded by King Taskan IV with the powerful Sword of Peace. During the ceremony however, a mysterious black knight appears on a freaking dragon and disrupts the service. Brave as he is, Hype takes his sword and attacks the black knight. The knight is too strong however and Hype is cursed and turned into a statue, before being yeeted back in time.
Two hundred years earlier, Hype is teleported in his statue form in the backyard of a young wizard. The wizard tries for many months to lift the curse on the statue, failing every time. Then, one day, he succeeds, and Hype is returned to his human form. The young wizard, named Gogoud helps Hype understand what happened and explains that there is still hope to set things right. Hype needs to collect different crystals that allow him to travel through time and prevent the events two hundred years later, take revenge on the black knight, known as Barnak and return to his beloved. On his journey, Hype encounters many enemies, subjects of the previous King Taskan I, who ruled the land with terror, wildlife and eventually, Barnak himself. Hype defeats Barnak, travels back to the present and restores peace to the land.
The story is linear and certain areas are not available until you complete the previous task, however, you are free to go wherever you want in the kingdom. You can always backtrack to collect or earn a certain bonus that you forgot earlier.
When you progress further in the game, you unlock the ability to travel through time and explore the kingdom in various different periods, each with their own unlocked areas, different enemies, time-specific quests, and different items. As a kid, it was quite confusing what you needed to do in what time period, but my lack of understanding in the English language was mostly to blame for this.
Hype the Time Quest plays as a action arcade RPG. Although you do not earn experience or level up, you still collect gold (Plastyks), health potions, herbs for your magic attacks, and you can earn various backpack upgrades to hold more items. You can earn the backpack upgrades by shooting beehives that have been scattered and hidden in towns and forests. Get them all and the upgrade appears for you to collect.
The graphics and animations look quite nice in this game, especially for its age. The buildings, character models and water all look good. The walls and boundaries, however, look terrible. Those are .png files slapped on walls.
The music is gorgeous, it is typical medieval fantasy soundtracks that work perfectly with the game. The sound effects are solid and one of the better sound designs out there.
In terms of controls, they are a little clunky and stiff and need some time to learn and master. After that, you will not know any better.
There are two small issues with the game in my opinion. One is the controls which are kind of stiff and slippery, especially when running. Some platforms are out of reach for a normal jump and require a running jump. When running and jumping however, you jump so fast and far, you easily overshoot a platform and fall to your death. The second issue is an exploit in which you pay hundred forty Plastyks total to a father and a son in the game, that makes running shoes. They offer you a mini game in which you need to speed run a course before the time is up. The first time, you earn a backpack bonus. After that, you can run the course endlessly if you want at any time, earning a health potion or herb to replenish your health and magic. This way, you never have to pay or scavenge for items, making it feel kind of pointless at times.
In the end, I loved Hype the Time Quest. It is a solid action-adventure game with nice RPG elements, a good story, colorful graphics, nice atmosphere and music, and good mechanics. It is another classic from my youth and of all the toy-based games, I still think this is the best one out there.
Definitely recommend it.
The story is a classic hero vs villain one. There was a civil war in the kingdom that just ended. For his bravery, the knight Hype is rewarded by King Taskan IV with the powerful Sword of Peace. During the ceremony however, a mysterious black knight appears on a freaking dragon and disrupts the service. Brave as he is, Hype takes his sword and attacks the black knight. The knight is too strong however and Hype is cursed and turned into a statue, before being yeeted back in time.
Two hundred years earlier, Hype is teleported in his statue form in the backyard of a young wizard. The wizard tries for many months to lift the curse on the statue, failing every time. Then, one day, he succeeds, and Hype is returned to his human form. The young wizard, named Gogoud helps Hype understand what happened and explains that there is still hope to set things right. Hype needs to collect different crystals that allow him to travel through time and prevent the events two hundred years later, take revenge on the black knight, known as Barnak and return to his beloved. On his journey, Hype encounters many enemies, subjects of the previous King Taskan I, who ruled the land with terror, wildlife and eventually, Barnak himself. Hype defeats Barnak, travels back to the present and restores peace to the land.
The story is linear and certain areas are not available until you complete the previous task, however, you are free to go wherever you want in the kingdom. You can always backtrack to collect or earn a certain bonus that you forgot earlier.
When you progress further in the game, you unlock the ability to travel through time and explore the kingdom in various different periods, each with their own unlocked areas, different enemies, time-specific quests, and different items. As a kid, it was quite confusing what you needed to do in what time period, but my lack of understanding in the English language was mostly to blame for this.
Hype the Time Quest plays as a action arcade RPG. Although you do not earn experience or level up, you still collect gold (Plastyks), health potions, herbs for your magic attacks, and you can earn various backpack upgrades to hold more items. You can earn the backpack upgrades by shooting beehives that have been scattered and hidden in towns and forests. Get them all and the upgrade appears for you to collect.
The graphics and animations look quite nice in this game, especially for its age. The buildings, character models and water all look good. The walls and boundaries, however, look terrible. Those are .png files slapped on walls.
The music is gorgeous, it is typical medieval fantasy soundtracks that work perfectly with the game. The sound effects are solid and one of the better sound designs out there.
In terms of controls, they are a little clunky and stiff and need some time to learn and master. After that, you will not know any better.
There are two small issues with the game in my opinion. One is the controls which are kind of stiff and slippery, especially when running. Some platforms are out of reach for a normal jump and require a running jump. When running and jumping however, you jump so fast and far, you easily overshoot a platform and fall to your death. The second issue is an exploit in which you pay hundred forty Plastyks total to a father and a son in the game, that makes running shoes. They offer you a mini game in which you need to speed run a course before the time is up. The first time, you earn a backpack bonus. After that, you can run the course endlessly if you want at any time, earning a health potion or herb to replenish your health and magic. This way, you never have to pay or scavenge for items, making it feel kind of pointless at times.
In the end, I loved Hype the Time Quest. It is a solid action-adventure game with nice RPG elements, a good story, colorful graphics, nice atmosphere and music, and good mechanics. It is another classic from my youth and of all the toy-based games, I still think this is the best one out there.
Definitely recommend it.