…To make an omelet

On his own, Billy is rather useless. He can run around, jump, and climb; but to really be of any use, an egg has to be in his hands before he can progress through the level. Once armed with his chicken suit, Billy can launch offensives by throwing, dunking, bowling, and pile-driving eggs. Strangely enough, these eggs seem to be indestructible in the hands of Billy.

The eggs have a greater purpose than just weaponry. They are vital to advancing through the game. Nearly all areas throughout levels can only be accessed with the assistance of an egg, where a launcher will send both you and your egg to a higher ledge or a new area.

Side of bacon?

Naturally, the eggs in Billy Hatcher are more than just oddly shaped rocks and cannon balls. Billy can hatch animals and helpful items after feeding an egg a certain amount of food. These food items are Pac-man-style fruits that are freely sitting around and also left behind from dead enemy carcasses. After running over a fruit, an egg meter in the lower right hand corner of the screen will tell you when your egg is ready for Hatcher. As soon as the egg is ready for the real-world, hitting the right shoulder button will make Billy let out a “cock-a-doodle-doo” and the egg will pop open revealing whatever’s inside.

You’ll come across many different types of eggs, each with its own distinctive outer artwork (think Easter Eggs). You’ll eventually recognize which patterns contain which animals and items so that you won’t waste any fruit hatching anything redundant or unneeded.