Hatris (Game Boy)

Hatris
Developer(s)	Bullet-Proof Software
Publisher(s)	Bullet-Proof Software
Platform(s)	Game Boy
Release	WW: 1991
Gameplay info
Next pieces	1
Playfield size	6 × ?
Hard drop	Yes

Gameplay

See also: Hatris series gameplay overview

Name	Score (1P)	Score (2P)	First Level (1P)
Beanie	50	50	00
Cowboy Hat	80	80	00
Sombrero	120	120	00
Top Hat	150	150	01
Wizard Hat	200	200	03
Crown	300	1000	06
Helmet	5000	1000	n/a

Sale

See also: Hatris (Famicom) Sale screen

Clearing 6+ hat sets

A flat 1000 point bonus is awarded for clearing an over-sized hat set.

Fire

In addition to the 2x scoring bonus, clearing a hatris also awards one Fire stock. If the player has Fire stocked, they can press the B button to change the right-hand hat in the upcoming pair into a fireball. A fireball burns the topmost hat set in the column it is placed, but cannot burn crowns.

The maximum Fire stock is two; if the player would earn a third Fire stock, the Fire stock is reset to zero and the right-hand hat in the upcoming pair is changed into a Helmet.

Helmet

Helmets are somewhat analogous to blue fireballs featured in some other Hatris games; the Helmet crushes all hats in the column they are placed until it is stopped by a Crown or the playfield floor. However, there are two other properties that differentiate the Helmet from blue fireballs. First, the helmet is a seventh hat type that remains in the playfield. Clearing a stack of helmets is worth 5000 points. Second, regardless of being stopped by a Crown, the weight of a Helmet still crushes any remaining non-crown hats in the column beneath it.

Clearing two sets in one column

Using the properties of the Helmet's crushing weight and the Crown's uncrushable sturdiness, it is possible to clear a hatris in a single column. By creating a stack of 4 Helmets beneath a set of 5 Crowns partitioned by crushable hats, the player can set up a chain reaction. Adding a 5th and final Helmet to the column will cause the soft hats to be crushed, which causes the Crown set to clear, which makes way for the Helmet set to clear as well.

Super Hatris

Using the Crown and Helmet chain reaction to clear two sets also opens up the possibility to clear an additional set with the remaining hat. Clearing three sets with the same piece pair is called a "super hatris," and awards 3x the points of all sets cleared with the pair.

2 Player mode

There is a two-player versus mode using the Link Cable. The players engage in a "tug-of-war" with a segmented limit line; when a player clears a set of hats in a given column, it raises the corresponding segment of the limit line on their playfield and lowers that segment of the limit line on their opponent's playfield. In addition to the limit line tug-of-war, a player can also win a round by being the first to clear 40 sets of hats.

The 2 Player mode differs slightly in how it handles Fire and Helmets. Each player starts with a Fire stock of 3, and there is no limit at which Fire stock is exchanged for a Helmet. Instead, Helmets are included as one of the hat types that can appear in the random pairs. Clearing a set of Helmets greatly advances the position of all segments of the limit line.

In addition to granting a Fire stock, performing a hatris also changes the opponent's next three pairs of hats so that both hats match. Similarly, in addition to granting two Fire stocks, performing a super hatris changes the opponent's next six pairs of hats into matching pairs.