However, as an overall product, A Hat in Time is a must-buy for any 3D platforming fan. The pacing is superb in every stage, and there’s far more variety here than in any 3D platformer released in the past decade. The game definitely has some rough edges – but they’re a bit like eating a fine meal on a cracked plate. The overall experience is so great that you don’t remember the small nagging issues very much. The camera could definitely use some work, and the soundtrack may not be the most memorable ever – but it’s genuinely great, as is the voice work. It’s clear that this was a passion project, and it’s one of the finest crowd-funded projects ever made.

Sugar sweet, sophisticated 3D platformer, close the greats of the genre, with lots of creativity and great level design.

Buckets of adorable charm and solid platforming fundamentals win out over some minor shortcomings to cement A Hat in Time as one of the best surprises of the year.

A Hat in Time is delightfully charming and always manages to take a left turn, surprising and challenging even a storied gamer like myself.

A Hat in Time is a solid and fun 3D platformer, with inspired and charismatic characters.

A Hat in Time is more than a lovingly crafted homage to the world of platformers; it’s a delightful adventure in its own right that brings creative innovation to the genre in an abundance of wonderful ways.

A Hat in Time excels with an overwhelming charm in its writing and art direction that overcomes any missteps in these areas. Its core, smooth mechanics also benefit from promising ideas, but none of them prevent the game from being pulled into a wormhole of mediocre level design and objectives. The potential for phenomenal platforming and exploration is here, but for every positive, there seems to be a negative in A Hat in Time.