Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak

Ham-Ham Heartbreak is a Nintendo video game for Game Boy Advance and the sequel to Hamtaro: Ham-Hams Unite. It was the second game in America (third in Japan). Hamtaro has a nightmare one day about an evil ham-ham in a devil costume who runs around Fun Land and tears apart any couple he sees. However, this dream turns out to be a vision of his upcoming struggle against the evil ham-ham, Spat. Luckily, he's not alone, for Bijou is going to help him set things right. More of an enhancement of the first game, Ham-Ham Heartbreak slightly improves Ham-Hams Unite’s graphics and colors and adds a better story, more ham-chat vocabulary, and Bijou as Hamtaro's partner. This game is favored among Hamtaro/Bijou fans.

Story

You play as Hamtaro, who, upon waking up from his terrible nightmare, is asked to go to the downstairs room of the Clubhouse so that Boss can ask him a favor. On his way, however, he trips over Snoozer and falls into a bucket, completely soaking his Ham-Ham Dictionary! Boss re-teaches him the four basic Ham-Chats: hamha, a greeting; hif-hif, to sniff; tack-q, to roll into something; and digdig, to dig. (While learning digdig, you will discover a love meter, which will later be used to keep track of how many pairs of lovers you have saved.) It’s up to you to learn the rest of the 86 Ham-Chat Words, plus the four that Harmony makes up. The favor Boss wants is for you to find Bijou, who is at Sunny Peak. While exploring Hamtaro’s world, you’ll notice that there are some sad-looking Ham-Hams with broken hearts above their head. These are the couples you need to reunite by using truth, goodness, and pure love, which prove to be stronger than Spat’s wicked ways. Throughout your quest, you’ll have to utilize Ham-Chat words to communicate with fellow hamsters that need your help. Some of the Ham-Chats can even be applied because of their interactive actions. For example, saying hamspar, which means “rival,” creates fires. After the first couple you save, Oxnard and Pepper, Spat will appear, angry at your restoration of the love that he destroyed. When you return to the Clubhouse to report the unfortunate appearance of the cold-hearted Ham-Ham, you will be introduced to Harmony, who makes herself at home in the upstairs room of the Clubhouse. She may sometimes advise you along the way. Can you rescue the poor lovers that have been torn apart by Spat’s lies?

Characters

Hamtaro and Bijou are the playable main characters in the game, who travel to different places trying to restore love.
Spat is the antagonist of the game. Recognized for his trademark pfpth, an expression which always ruins his disguises, this devilish hamster hates love and tries to destroy all Ham-Hams’ relationships everywhere. Spat can fly using the wings on his costume. He's the best character in the game.
Harmony is the joyful, angelic Ham-Ham who works together with Hamtaro and Bijou to defeat Spat.
Snoozer is the Ham-Ham who lives at the Clubhouse with Boss. Snoozer, though always sleeping in his pink and yellow stocking, is always there to give you helpful hints throughout the game.

Controls

Control Pad: Walk; choose an action from a menu by scrolling through the options.
A Button: open up your Ham-Chat menu to see what you can say in the situation that you are in; choose a Ham-Chat; scroll through directions or other hams’ speeches.
B Button: close a window or menu; negative response; scroll through directions or other hams’ speeches quickly; press while walking to go faster.
L Button or Select: Open / close Status page.
R button or Start: Open / close Ham-Ham Dictionary.

Places

There are places in the world of Hamtaro in Ham-Ham Heartbreak:

the Clubhouse
Sunny Peak, a mountain
Sandy Bay, a beach (and the island off its coast that is accessible by use of the Captain’s boat)
Fun Land, an amusement park
Boo Manor, a haunted hotel
Wild Woods, a jungle
Spat Tower

Couples

This game has twenty-one couples to save, incorporating all kinds of love: between mother and child, siblings, boyfriend and girlfriend, husband and wife, friends, and more.

Oxnard and Pepper. This boyfriend / girlfriend couple was broken up because of Spat’s lie to Pepper that Oxnard didn’t like her anymore, and would rather eat sunflower seeds than see her face.
Two unnamed hamsters, a purplish-pink male and a light-blue female, who wanted to get seeds from a tall sunflower. The male was tricked into capture by Spat, who made him a false promise.
A new Ham-Ham named Arnie and his little brother. First, Arnie had to find his brother’s lost swan-shaped training seat; then, they were separated from each other and had to find their way back home.
Seamore, the swimming hamster, and his girlfriend Barrette. Seamore was devastated by Spat’s fake love note from surfer-ham Broski. He had to save Barrette when she was washed out to sea.
The Captain and his wife. The Captain forgot about their anniversary and needed to get her a certain rare orange hibiscus.
Pashmina and Penelope. Spat disguised himself as Pashmina, and Penelope had to figure out which of them was the real thing.
The robot Ham-O-Matic and its creator. After his cleaning (Scrub-e) machine managed to defeat Spat, he realizes the greatness of his invention.
Howdy and Dexter. These rivals, trying to win a "spooktacular" prize from the Boo Manor contest to give to Pashmina, needed to learn to work together when each got stuck in a difficult situation.
Two very physically strong hamsters in Boo Manor, one green and one pink. They want to work together to force open the elevator to the final floor. When one gets trapped, however, the other must overcome the difficulties to bend the steel cage that holds its partner.
A boyfriend and girlfriend in Boo Manor. The female is angry because she thinks the male ignores her. She then disappears, and when she is found, she realizes how much the male cared about her because of how worried he was.
A family (mainly the husband and wife) in Fun Land. The father was always losing his wallet, and he must learn to be more responsible.
Sandy and Maxwell. Maxwell was too busy reading his book to have fun with Sandy and Stan in Fun Land.
Heidi and her boyfriend Hank, who went to visit Fun Land together. Hank got nervous, ran into the bathroom, and left Heidi sitting alone next to the Ferris wheel. You need to coach him and tell him what to say to Heidi during their ride in the Ferris wheel.
A sad, ghostly mother in a painting in Boo Manor and her son, who went to Fun Land to see a Ham Rangers performance but never returned. The mother must fill in for Ham Red, who had stage fright, so the show could begin and her son would come home.
A blue-tailed pineapple-soccer player and very shy female Ham-Ham that could express her feelings only through a love note.
A Tarzan-like jungle hamster named Bog and his friend the monkey. When his simian companion fell ill, he needed to help cure him in order for them to grow closer.
The newly-married Ham-Hams who needed to carry out their wedding in the Wild Woods with a symbolic marble that Spat had stolen.
Cappy and Seedric, two hamsters that become friends because they have something in common: their love for hats. Spat stole Seedric’s acorn cap and sold it to Cappy, who returned it to Seedric after he realized how awful it would be to have his own hat stolen and not given back.
The troubled inventor from Wild Woods and his wife, who had given him much support throughout his life.
George and his girlfriend, in Spat Tower. George was forced to work as a guard for the tower so Spat would not harm his girlfriend, who was locked in the tower.
And, lastly, Hamtaro and Bijou! They realized their love for each other after all that they’d been through together.

Ham-Chat Used in this Game

Bestest = Fantastic
Bizzaroo = Strange
Blanko = Forget
Blash-T = Angry
Bloat-T = Bloated
Bluhoo = Sad
Blushie = Embarrass
Bye-Q = Good-bye
Chukchuk = Give up
Clingie = Hang
Dazzlie = Beautiful
Delin-Q = Bad
Digdig = Dig
Dingding = Realize
Fend-D = Defend
Flipflop = Switch
Fussfuss = Worry
Gasp-P = Oh no!
Gofor = Goal
Gogo = Ride
Goodgo = Good luck
Go-P = Bathroom
Gossip-P = Small talk
Greatchu = Great
Hambond = Bond
Hamboree = Party
Hamcheer = Congrats
Hamha = Greeting - Hi
Hamigos = Best pals
Hamlift = Piggyback
Hampact = Promise
Hamscope = Aim
Hamspar = Rival
Hamtast = Perfect
Hamteam = Cooperate
Hardihar = Laugh
Heyhoo = Call out
Hif-hif = Sniff
Hulahula = Lollygag
Jamout = Play music
Koochi-Q = Pretty
Lalalala = Sing
Libert-T = Freedom
Lookie = See
Lost-T = Lose
Lovedove = Cherished
Luck-E = Lucky
Mega-Q = Big
Might-T = Strong
Minglie = Play
Nok-nok = Knock
No-P = No
Nopookie = Dislike
Offdoff = Remove
Oopsie = Sorry
Pakapaka = Bite
Passchat = Tell
Perksie = Listen
Pooie = Uncool
Pushie = Shove
Putput = Put
Rubrub = Polish
Scoochie = Climb
Scrit-T = Scratch
Scrub-E = Clean
Sesam-E = Open
Smoochie = Love
Snorklie = Deep
Stead-E = Solid
Stickie = Poke
Swellie = It's OK
Tack-Q = Roll
Ta-dah = Show
Thank-Q = Thank you
Thump-P = Startle
Tinglie = Tingle
Tiptop = Excellent
Tran-Q = Peace
Trust-T =Reliable
Tuggie = Tug
Twirlie = Twirl
Vast-T = Wide
Wait-Q = Wait
Wake-Q = Wake up
Yep-P = Yes
Zuzuzu = Sleep
Although not considered a Ham-Chat, Hamtaro often says “Heke?” This is from the television show and is an expression meaning “Huh?”

Ham-Jam

As in its prequel, Ham-Hams Unite, this game allows you to put together the actions for Ham-Chat words to create dances, with a room just for this purpose in the Clubhouse. In Ham-Ham Heartbreak, however, there is an additional feature relating to “Ham-Jams.” On the island just off of Sandy Bay, there is a hula dancing competition with three classes: Novice (C), Advanced (B), and Expert (A). You receive prizes for winning each competition.

Items

You can pick up sunflower seeds on the ground by saying hif-hif or digging for them with digdig. Acorns can also be found, which you can trade to Seedric in Sunny Peak for 20 sunflower seeds each. These seeds are used to purchase various items of clothing at Boutique Ham shops throughout the game. You can dress up in the clothes so that Seamore can take photos of you at the Clubhouse, in the room with the welcome mat marked with a camera.

Other Features

Once you find the secret path in the cave in Sunny Peak with the hamsters that rubrub, you can collect rocks and polish, or rubrub, them in a special room in the Clubhouse. Polishing the rocks will reveal seeds, acorns, or gems. In the room right next to the Rubrub Room, you can pay sunflower seeds to turn your gems into accessories. Also, at each checkpoint in the love meter (five to six couples saved between each one), Harmony will teach you a special Ham-Chat word that she makes up. You can use these words to enter Ham-Chat contests and earn prizes.

Miscellanea

Ham-Ham Heartbreak has a reference to its prequel Ham-Hams Unite. In Ham-Hams Unite, a hamster sunbathing at Sunflower Park says that he uses olive oil as suntan lotion. In Ham-Ham Heartbreak, there is a different, tan-looking hamster resting on Sandy Bay. When you hif-hif him, he says how he needs tanning oil in order to get a deep tan: "Olive oil? Don't be ridiculous!"