As is obvious, Hype is set in the Playmobil universe during the medival time period. Hype is King Taskan IV's champion, and was in the middle of being honored in celebration when the Black Knight Barnak rudely interrupts the ceremony and turns Hype into a stone statue. To add insult to injury, he also chips Hype's nose off to honor the Sphinx...ok, maybe not, but that would have been funny. What he really does is throw Hype back in time to the first Taskan Dynasty, where Taskan I reigns supreme in both the kingdom and the mental state of paranoia. As is natural with great heroes, you must find a way to get back to your own time and defeat the Black Knight by cutting off all his limbs and leave him sitting there shouting about how its just a flesh wound...errr, wrong Black Knight. But anyway, once you defeat Barnak, you will have saved both the kingdom and the ever-present betrothed princess; in this case, her name is Princess Vibe.

Hype is, of course, meant primarily for children. Puzzles are relatively easy, and enemies are permanently knocked unconscious, rather than being ripped in half by the enormous sword that Hype lugs around. The game features a few side quests, but other than that is as linear as roadkill.

Players' graphics will only sit at either end of the spectrum. Hype is rather unfriendly to any video card that does not run Glide. Even on a powerful TNT in D3D mode, the graphics are noticeably lackluster. Texture and lighting quality depend soley on what API you are using. However, the developers have done a good job of adding personality and emotion to otherwise static characters. The Playmobil figures' facial expressions are always moving and their bodies have smooth animations. The areas that Hype visits in his quest are the same (Tasken's castle and the surrounding forest areas) though the seasons are different in each new time. The layouts for forests and towns are quite simple, though they also tend to be claustrophobic from time to time.

Sound in Hype is truly the game's strongest point. The medieval musical themes are excellent and do great justice to the environments. The voice acting is also top-notch, and when combined with the many expressions on the characters' faces, really bring the plastic Playmobil figures to life.

Combat rather simple: run up the the enemy and slash him as fast as possible; strafe as needed. Hype can also use his crossbow and twelve magic spells, though you'll usually be better off with just using his sword. The crossbow is hard to aim, as are the spells which are pretty much just used as projectile weapons; both are slow. The most frustrating part about combat, however, is the slow turn rate. Although Hype can move fairly quickly in straight lines, he's about as fleet of foot when turning as a waffle iron. Although there is a strafe key/button, there is no target lock as there was in Zelda.

Other annoying featuers include odd save points, many of which come before a boss or hard area (as they should) but they are in front of a new loading area. This can be rather tedious since the game has to load the area that the save point is in, and then reload the boss area.

All complaints aside, Hype is still a solid game that is perfectly suitable for children, and can also provide entertainment for older audiences. Hype may not be Zelda but it can be fun.

· · · Mithril