Hameln no Violin Hiki

Overview

The Violinist of Hameln is an action platformer developed by Daft and published by Enix for the Super Famicom platform.

Loosely based off some of the earlier chapters of the manga series Hameln no Violin Hiki, this action platformer covers the adventures of Hamel and Flute up to the point where they first encounter Sizer. The game's sound track features a number of famous pieces of classical music (e.g. Mozart's symphony number 25 in G minor).

The Violinist of Hameln was released in Japan on September 29, 1995 and it was never brought to any other country. An unofficial English translation patch was released by J2e Translations on January 21, 2001.

Gameplay

The player controls Hamel, accompanied by Oboe and Flute. Hamel moves around the levels via jumping and gliding with the use of a cape. Combat consists of musical note attacks that correspond to D-pad inputs. In addition, Hamel must interact with Flute to solve the many puzzles along the way. The player can pick up Flute and throw her as a projectile or can force her to dress in a variety of silly, humiliating costumes that have special abilities. The various costumes (assigned via a pause screen) have special abilities: the ostrich costume can walk over spikes, the frog costume jumps extremely high, the curling iron slides along the ground and quickly decimates enemies. When thrown, Flute can break various types of stone obstacles that are otherwise indestructible. Any enemies struck by Flute generate coins when destroyed, so throwing Flute is a good way to build up money generating anywhere from zero to five coins based on how much damage she has absorbed.

Flute is technically invincible, but If the player gets Flute to the end of the stage unharmed they are awarded a bonus of two stars. The player can make Flute stay in place briefly and then call her to catch up with Oboe. If Flute ever falls in to a pit, Oboe will rescue her, but the player will not receive the star bonus for the stage.

Items

There are a wide variety of items to be found in the game, some items are found in the world and som must be purchased.

• Star: Get four of these in a stage to go to a bonus stage after crossing the goal.
• Music Note: Increases Hamel's attack power by one level.
• Fruit: Restores one point to Hamel's life gauge.
• Mysterious fruit: Completely refills Hamel's life gauge.
• Hat: An extra life.
• Coin: There are coins worth 1, 5, 10, and 50 coins per pickup.
• Hourglass: Adds more time to the timer.
• Key: Needed to open locked doors.
• Heart: Extends Hamel's life gauge by one point.
• Magic Wallet: Can only be purchased in town. Prevents gold from being lost when the player dies.
• Shield: Can only be purchased in town. It protects Flute from three hits.
• Magic Mantle: Can only be purchased in town. Hamel takes 3/4 damage, making him slightly more resilient.
• Time Sand: Can only be purchased in town. Automatically refills the timer completely should it run out.

• Curling Iron: Slides when thrown and can fit through narrow gaps.

Costumes

The various costumes that can be equipped by Flute.

• Ostrich: Can walk over spikes and has a high rate of speed.
• Frog: High jump.
• Robot: Can walk over spikes and jumping on its head causes it to punch, destroying enemies or breaking walls.
• Sunfish: Floats vertically, following currents of the wind.
• Penguin: Swims quickly in water. Jumping on Flute will cause her to headbutt enemies, but only while she's in water.
• Orangutan: No action but is necessary to impress some townsfolk.
• Duck: Swims on the surface of the water and can jump out of water in a forward direction. Jumping on the duck will cause it to temporarily submerge, allowing Hamel and Flute to pass under some obstructions.
• UFO: Floats around in an erratic manner. It rises when Hamel jumps and moves forward when he stands on it. In addition, it electrifies whenever it touches enemies. Can be purchased in town or found in stage three.
• Monkey: Advances forward, jumps over pits, and can climb walls.
• Frisbee: Toss Flute to have her fly forward a bit, then boomerang back and ricochet off objects.
• Monster: No action but is needed to trick some enemies into thinking Hamel is on their side.
• Elephant: Advances forward slowly. Jumping on Flute's head while she's in this costume will cause her to squirt water out of her trunk to put out flames.
• Eagle: Flies forwards. The player can maneuver it somewhat by pressing up and down on the control pad.
• Jennifer the Octopus: Allows Hamel and Flute to travel underwater.
• Nuclear Bomb: This costume can only be purchased in a shop for an extremely high price. When thrown, Flute detonates causing incredible damage to all enemies on screen. She can be thrown repeatedly.

Characters

Hamel

The hero. He plays a giant violin with magical powers inherited from his mother, Pandora. He ruthlessly abuses and exploits Flute mostly because he thinks it's funny, but he's actually a good person deep inside. He is the son of the Demon King Kestra.

Flute

The heroine, a country girl from the village of Stocatto. She travels with Hamel after he saves some children from Tuba's soldiers. She doesn't realize it, but she is actually the princess of the great kingdom of Sforshando, hidden away as a baby to protect her from the Demon King's armies.

Oboe

A talking crow who is Hamel's constant companion and, in essence, his conscience (although he gets ignored a lot). He thinks of Hamel as his son. In reality, he was originally one of Kestra's four top commanders and leader of the Demon Hawk army, but he's been stuck in crow form for going against his master.

Raiel

A childhood friend of Hamel's and a rival. He plays a magical piano that summons spirits; he seemingly has no trouble carrying it most of the time, but when it's pointed out that it ways over 500kg it will crush him. His nose bleeds whenever he sees anything "feminine".

Sizer

The current leader of the Demon Hawk army. She wields a scythe which is also a flute, and has a mysterious relationship with Hamel.

Areas

Area 1

The countryside around Stocatto village, it consists of 8 stages (including the village) culminating in a fortress of the Demon Lizard army. The boss is Tuba, a gigantic officer of the aforementioned army.

Area 2

The surroundings of river town, it consists of seven stages including the village. This area is being harassed by Bassoon, a commander of the Demon Beast army; he has killed the parents of a small boy, and Flute asks Hamel to help. Many of the stages are full of ruins, and much of the area is taken up by Bassoon's castle.

Area 3

A village and its surroundings in a volcanic area, consisting of seven stages including the village itself. It has been decimated by a division of the Demon Undead army led by a skeletal officer named Fagotto. The parents of a small girl are stuck in one of the mines since Fagotto's assault; once again Flute requests Hamel assistance.

Area 4

This area has been under attack for some time by Sizer's Demon Hawk army. Raiel confronts Hamel about being the son of the Demon King Kestra near the beginning. Hamel and Flute will finally encounter Sizer here.

Secret

After the game is completed a secret technique will be revealed for Hamel and Flute, the Tchaikovsky Attack. Rotate the D-pad 360 degrees and attack to perform this.