Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure is a game whose name is more literal than you might suspect. This is both a platforming adventure and puzzle game, played simultaneously. The top screen hosts the platforming action while the bottom contains a sliding block puzzle field. Henry Hatsworth comes from the ill-named EA Casual brand. Don't let that fool you though; the only thing casual about the game is that it's designed so that casuals will be able to pick up the gameplay. However, the game itself should please core fans with its classic platforming and puzzle gameplay and the strategy involved in managing the two screens simultaneously.

Henry Hatsworth is an Englishman who's on the hunt for a great treasure. The platforming aspect of the game appears to be a polished, slightly cutesy, classic 2-D experience, with standard run, jump, and shoot mechanics. Far from barebones, I saw a wide variety of areas including jungles, ships, clouds, lava, and ice. The platforming component was very solid and could be a great game even without the puzzle inclusion.

Switching to the puzzle side pauses the action, and tthis portion of the game plays much like Nintendo's Puzzle League (a.k.a. Tetris Attack/Panel de Pon) series. The biggest difference is that the game isn't over when blocks overflow the top of the screen. Normal blocks simply continue to scroll past. It's the interaction between the two screens that makes things interesting. Defeated enemies don't die right away; they fall off of the top screen and into the puzzle. These newly minted enemy blocks can be destroyed for good. But if they scroll past the top of the screen, they re-enter the adventure portion of the game and begin attacking anew -- and a lot more aggressively than their original incarnations. The various types of enemies have different effects in the puzzle portion of the game. For instance, large enemies can take up several block spaces, which must be broken down first. Skeletal enemies don't match any blocks except themselves.

The puzzle also provides power-ups that are used in platforming. A power meter is built up by clearing puzzle elements. After the meter is filled once, Henry becomes a younger version of himself. This increases his attack power and gives him more life. However, if this secondary life meter is depleted, he will revert to his normal old age. Filling up the power meter a second time enables the activation of “Tea Time,” where Hatsworth rides in a giant mech, crushing everything in his path. The hilariously nonsensical “Tea Time” sequence shows Henry sipping on some tea, followed by the mech rising up in front of a British flag. Tea Time depletes the power meter quickly, so the ability should be used strategically. Money collected in the game can be redeemed in a store, which provides upgrades that can make either the action or the puzzle components easier.

If Hatsworth fires his electric pulse gun and players switch the puzzle while the shots hover in midair, the frozen pulses can have their power boosted. Up to a point, every match made in the puzzle increases the power. Re-entering the action then unleashes a huge blast into unsuspecting enemies. It feels like cheating at first, but later on this tactic becomes important simply to survive.

Boss battles do a good job showing off interactions between the two screens and how frantic things can get. One boss battle takes place on a pirate ship against a character named Lance, who is more interested in singing than fighting. When Lance sings, music notes fall into the puzzle. Destroying the notes result in Lance 's fans stampeding him, while letting the notes re-enter the top screen will bring in Lance's fans to shield the man. Lance can also call in an anchor, which falls from the top screen into the bottom to freeze movement and prevent the use of specials.

Though the game isn't the first to attempt to merge two different games to be managed simultaneously, Henry Hatsworth is one of the first to do it well. The title exudes a goofy freshness and a joyful attention to detail in how the two halves of the game interact. Henry Hatsworth is highly innovative, well-polished, and definitely one to look forward to.