Eggs of Steel: Charlie's Eggcellent Adventure

Overview

Developed by Rhythm & Hues, Eggs of Steel was published in America by Atlus. In Japan, it was published by Enix under the name "Hello Charlie!!" It was the only game ever developed by Rhythm & Hues, who were more typically known for pioneering a number of visual effects for film and TV. Notable productions featuring Rhythm & Hues visual effects include Hocus Pocus (1993), Hollow Man (2000), Superman Returns (2006), The Life of Pi (2012), and The Mist (2017). In 2013, Rhythm & Hues filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, though the studio lives on after being purchased by 34x118 Holdings, LLC. that same year.

Originally, Eggs of Steel was exclusively available through the Blockbuster Video chain of rental stores in 1998. The game was eventually given a wide release in 2000.

The game is notable for featuring a significant amount of full-motion video sequences, fleshing out the game's story, showing Charlie's many pitfalls, and generally providing the game with its personality.

Story

Mom Steel's newest night watchman, Charlie, is slacking off on the job when he causes a catastrophic accident that threatens to destroy the entire steel mill. His only hope of saving the mill is to shut down the computer that governs the mill's systems, but the bridge to the control room has been destroyed in the accident, forcing Charlie to snake his way down through the hazardous steel mill before things get any worse. Unknown to Charlie, he's being stalked by a mysterious entity that may know more about what's really going on.

Gameplay

Eggs of Steel is almost exclusively played from an isometric perspective. Levels are presented as a series of static, pre-rendered screens, somewhat reminiscent of the original Resident Evil. Unlike Resident Evil, Eggs of Steel is more of a 3D platformer.

Charlie must traverse the steel mill jumping across platforms and solving puzzles. Charlie's abilities include rolling for increased speed, throwing bolts, and swinging his wrench for melee attacks. In different levels, the wrench can be upgraded to either silver or gold, dealing extra damage to the robots and creatures inhabiting the steel mill.

In addition to a health meter, Charlie has a temperature gauge. Certain areas featuring fire or molten steel will slowly begin to cook Charlie, requiring the player to find a place to cool Charlie down. As Charlie heats up or cools down, the color of his hat changes from blue to red, as well as the thermometer increasing at the bottom of the screen.

The goal in most areas is to punch out at a certain number of time clocks located around each level, though some levels have other sub-objectives and minigames that must be cleared as well.

Coins are available for the player to collect, increasing in value from silver, to gold, and to blue. After collecting more than 100 coins, an extra life will be awarded. Green coins are also available that will allow you to play a bonus round at the end of each stage, where large quantities of bolts, coins, and extra lives can be collected.

A map can be accessed to show Charlie's progress through the steel mill, with a rudimentary fast travel system allowing you to access areas related to the current level you're tackling. At the end of each level, you must face off with one of the 12 bosses of the Mom Steel mill, after which Charlie will dance.