The new Hamtaro game has a new genre and a new developer: Alpha Dream, who you might remember from Mario & Luigi. This high-class developer may bring something new and special to the Hamtaro games with Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Games.

Instead of a pseudo-RPG puzzle-solving game, Ham-Ham Games is a collection of 15 Olympic-style sporting events which include:

• 100 hm (ham-meter?) Dash

• Archery

• Beach Volleyball

• Bird Riding

• Carrot Pull

• Diving

• Hammer Throw

• Hurdles

• Marathon

• Pole Vault

• Sailing

• Swimming

• Synchronized Swimming

• Tennis

• Triple Jump

These events are tied together with a little bit of exploring between events and lots of dialogue with the fellow ham-hams and the other hamster teams (one of which appears to be a group of ham-ham pirates). The events depend on proper timing skills, like some other Olympic-type games have over the years. For example, the 100 hm dash is controlled with a scrolling cursor that is stopped with the 'A' button; the cursor needs to be stopped at the end of the bar for maximum speed, and the timing becomes trickier the faster the ham-ham moves. The player can change the difficulty of the opponents, or shoot for the world record. Players should be able to compare best times with a Game-Link cable, as well as trade collectable Player Cards.

The ultimate goal is to gain as many gold medals as possible. Sunflower seeds (the currency of the future, no doubt) also play a part in the game. There are a great deal of distractions from the main events, like playing dress up with your 'Friend Card' or watching a DJ hamster spin the discs on the TV and give a shoutout with whatever bizarre word the player puts in the 'Hamha Machine.' Dozens of other ham-hams are available for chats, each with its own highly characterized speech and expressions (...like the pirate team! Yarrrr!).

Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Games appears to have some very interesting gameplay for players of all ages, including some older players, since the events can be set to more difficult levels. It releases very soon the U.S., so you might want to pick it up if you want to trick your younger brother or sister into experiencing some real gameplay, or if you secretly love ham hams and/or pirates yourself.