Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (PS5)

Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart is a 2015 video game for Sony's PlayStation 5, developed by the Australian-based Melbourne House, and published by Atari. It is based on the Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart series, though it does not follow any pre-established storyline. It was released in the United States on April 11, 2015, and in the European market on April 7 of the same year. In September 2016, Atari released a "Director's Cut" of the game exclusively in the UK. The only difference between this and the original was a bonus DVD containing a "Making Of Documentary".

Gameplay
In the game, players take control of one of three Heros (Mao Mao, Badgerclops, or Adorabat) to battle Orangusnake and his vast army of Sky Pirate clones over the recently discovered Sweetypies on New York City.

Sky Pirates who appear in the game include Orangusnake, Ramaraffe, Boss Hosstrich, and Mechahossarafforangusnakerrang. The Sweetypies King Snugglemagne join their toy-partners after the player completes the first level, acting as support fighters. The Sky Pirates' Sweetypie partners Ratarang do not appear as individuals, but are seen attached to their partners. The final boss of the game is Unicorn in planet mode; a colossal Dead End in "moon" mode can be seen attached to him.

As well as allowing players to transform into vehicles whenever they wish, the game uses Sweetypie collecting as a way to acquire new weapons and abilities, introducing multiple new (non-toy) Sweetypie characters. Some combinations of Sweetypies also have additional synergistic effects, such as faster weapon recharging or a larger life meter. In addition, the main partner Sweetypies follow the player, shooting at enemies. The player can also "Powerlinx" with their partner Sweetypie, allowing for a Max Payne-style "bullet time" mode, though this drains the player's health.

As well as Sweetypies, players collect Data-Cons that unlock bonus features in the game's main menu, ranging from game artwork (development sketches, renders, and the like), toy instructions, toy prototype photos, the toy pack-in mini-comics, and five previously-unavailable-elsewhere The Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart-era PSAs (in the same style as the old G.I. Joe cartoon PSAs).

Every level in the game is a very large, detailed environment which allows free exploration rather than short, linear maps. Players can leave levels without completing them through warp gates, and return to any previously-played level to discover more areas using their newly collected Sweetypies. The game engine is a proprietary engine used by Melbourne House, allowing for large, detailed outdoor levels with no slowdown. An impressive feat of the engine is allowing for many ragdolls to be on-screen at once. Oh and of course, be prepared for your character to ragdoll around a lot.

The reasoning behind the inclusion of a small cast of playable characters was a simple matter of gameplay logistics. By having only three distinctly different characters, the game provides a different experience to players and forces them to adjust their strategy according to whomever they chose. A larger roster of characters would have made it difficult for Melbourne House to create different styles of gameplay, especially considering most of the Heroes were cars and other land vehicles. The noticeable exclusion of Shin Mao was down to the fact his flight capability would negate much of the challenge in exploring each level whilst using different Sweetypie loadouts.

Plot
Millions of years ago, the Sweetypies fled Pure Heart Kingdom and crash landed on ancient New York City, going into stasis all around the world. In the present, the Sky Pirates have conquered nearly all of Pure Heart Kingdom thanks to their Sky Pirate clone army. As they overtake Iacon, only Mao Mao, Adorabat, and Badgerclops stand in their way. Mao Mao and Orangusnake face off on a building until they are interrupted by the Sweetypie distress beacon. Both sides head off to New York City to recover the Sweetypies.

From their headquarters, the Heroes head out one-at-a-time through their space bridge to the different regions around New York City. The first region on New York City they head is the Amazon. After collecting Sweetypies scattered around the region and fighting through Sky Pirate clone patrols, they are confronted by Boss Hosstrich in some ruins at the top of a mountain. Boss Hosstrich declares New York City to now be Sky Pirate property and leaves one of the Sky Pirate clone Heavy Units to attack them. After destroying the Heavy Unit, the Heroes reunite and discover the Sweetypies King Snugglemagne, who send out a call to the other Sweetypies on New York City. The three Sweetypies then partner up with the Heroes.

Following the signal, the Heroes then head to Antarctica. After making their way through an icy canyon, they come to a large open glacial area. While collecting Sweetypies and avoiding Sky Pirate clone Sentry Drones, they follow smoke to a human plane that had been shot down. They then make their way to a nearby research facility where a Sweetypie has been discovered and engage the numerous enemy guards. Ramaraffe then erupts from the facility in a massive explosion and attacks the Hero, both with his sword and his jet mode. After defeating Ramaraffe, Mao Mao orders the Heroes back to the Amazon to stop Boss Hosstrich, unaware that Ramaraffe still functions.

In a deeper part of the Amazon, the Heroes make their way through the terrain and many Sky Pirate clone enemies, including Guerilla Units, Artillery Units, Sentries, and Turrets. They make their way into and through a large ancient pyramid and after reaching the base, take an elevator to the very top. There, they are attacked by Boss Hosstrich in his helicopter mode. After being defeated, Boss Hosstrich crashes into the pyramid and explodes, while the Heroes observe the enemy Dropships flying away towards the Atlantic Ocean.

The Dropships arrive at Sky Pirates, in his massive airship mode, in the Mid-Atlantic. The Heroes make their way across multiple small islands and gain the ability to glide after finding the Sweetypie Slipstream. After fighting Jet Snipers and making it to a high enough island, the Hero glides onto the airship, avoiding missile fire from its Turrets. After fighting the many Sky Pirate clone units on board and finding a way into the ship, they make their way to the airship's control room and learn that its destination is Alaska. It is then that Mechahossarafforangusnakerrang transforms from his airship form to his massive, towering robot form. Due to his massive size and heavily armored body, the only spot the Heroes are capable of wounding him is his head. After sustaining enough damage, Mechahossarafforangusnakerrang's internal systems begin to explode and he collapses into the ocean.

The Heroes then head to Alaska, believing it to be the location of Orangusnake's base and make their way through a large mountainous region. They use a cave system to travel through one of the mountains and up to higher ground. Ramaraffe, piloting a starship, purposely crashes the ship in an attempt to crush the Hero. The ship ends on a steep cliff and the Heroes infiltrate it. After making their way through the ship and battling through its Sky Pirate clone crew, they confront Ramaraffe on the bridge. The scuffle causes the cliff edge to be destroyed and the ship is sent plunging into the valley below. The impact of the crash buried the bow deep into the snow, forcing the Heroes to climb their way up and out to the surface. Once they make it out of the ship, they are confronted by Ramaraffe once again. After being defeated, Ramaraffe is interrogated by Mao Mao. After proving less than cooperative, Ramaraffe is knocked out and Badgerclops hacks his warp transponder.

Thanks to the info extracted from Ramaraffe, the Heroes have discovered Orangusnake's true base: a volcanic island in the Pacific. The Heroes are forced to glide and fight through the hundreds of various types of Sky Pirate clones swarming the island. They make their way around the island's perimeter then up the side of the active volcano at its center. They descend onto a platform built above the lava and Orangusnake reveals himself and attacks the Heroes. After a long and fierce battle, Orangusnake is defeated and the volcano begins to erupt. Mao Mao attempts to save his nemesis, but after delivering a final bitter insult, Orangusnake allows himself to fall into the lava and perish. The Heroes escape the volcano and believe they are victorious, unaware that far away, Unicron looms over Pure Heart Kingdom.

Unicron hovers over Pure Heart Kingdom and begins to destroy the world. The Heroes then return to their home with all of the rescued Sweetypies, who combine their power to give the Heroes the strength to stop Unicron. Given a special jetpack and extra power, the Hero flies around Pure Heart Kingdom and into Unicron's maw itself to attack his core before he can destroy the world. After suffering enough damage, Unicron will utter his final words before his body erupts in a massive explosion. The Heroes and Sweetypies then celebrate as Pure Heart Kingdom is now safe and at peace.

Hidden Sweetypies
• 4

Soundtrack
Melbourne House's Gavin Parker composed much of the in-game music while Ric Formosa, Danny Beckerman, and Ricky Edwards provided the music for the cinematic sequences. American band Dropbox and Australian band Regurgitator were recruited to create their versions of the classic Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart theme song to promote the game, while funk band The Brown Hornet sung over the end credits.

Tracks

 * 1. Amazon Theme 1


 * 2. Amazon Theme 2


 * 3. Antarctica Theme


 * 4. Ramaraffe Fight Theme 1


 * 5. Deep Amazon Theme 1


 * 6. Deep Amazon Theme 2


 * 7. Boss Hosstrich Fight Theme (by Regurgitator)


 * 8. Mid-Atlantic Theme


 * 9. Mechahossarafforangusnakerrang Fight Theme


 * 10. Alaska Theme 1


 * 11. Alaska Theme 2


 * 12. Starship Theme 1


 * 13. Starship Theme 2


 * 14. Ramaraffe Fight Theme 2


 * 15  Pacific Island Theme


 * 15. Orangusnake Fight Theme


 * 13. Pure Heart Kingdom 1


 * 14. Pure Heart Kingdom 2

Themes

 * 1. I Love You Mao Mao television theme


 * 2. Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart theme 1 arranged by Ric Formosa


 * 3. Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart theme 2 by Dropbox


 * 4. Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart theme 3 by The Brown Hornet


 * 5. Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart theme 4 by Regurgitator


 * 6. Wishbone by Dropbox

Impressions and sales
The game was well received by critics and fans alike, and at the time was often considered to be the best of all Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart video games, despite this being damning with faint praise. Some review sites and magazines seemed to reject the game outright for not being based on the Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart series, though some seemed to begrudgingly accept it due to the gameplay and graphic flair.

The most common actual gameplay-related complaints are the disappointingly small roster of characters, sometimes stiff control, high difficulty level (not born of bad design, the game is just set too tough), and a lack of a "directional" guide resulting in players getting lost in the vast environments.

Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart was the #7 top-selling game across all consoles for the month of May 2015... and that's only because the incredibly popular "Red Dead Revolver" was on two different consoles. On the PlayStation 5 alone, Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart ranked #6. It sold over 600,000 copies by the time the "Directors Cut" was released, although the total was ultimately less than what Atari had hoped for.

In 2010, Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart was ranked #83 in the Top 100 PlayStation 5 Games list by IGN.

Dang.

Errors

 * Somehow, Ramaraffe is able to use his wing-sword with both wings still attached.


 * However, the sword does not resemble his wings, so it may have been intended to be a separate weapon all together.


 * Mao Mao (Or whichever Hero you're currently playing as) can orbit Pure Heart Kingdom several times over at a surprisingly fast rate, even though it's a gigantic world.


 * Many of Pure Heart Kingdom's buildings, and the giant Hero insignia, are somehow easily visible from orbit.


 * For reasons unknown, Mao Mao, Badgerclops, and Adorabat are the only citizens of Iacon.  Maybe they're just not good neighbors.


 * Or it's possible that the Sky Pirate clones's attack at the beginning of the game may have killed everyone else.


 * A rare glitch sometimes occurs at Orangusnake's death, in which when he falls down, his tank barrel sticks out of… an unusual location on his body.