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1[[quoteright:230:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Hammerfest_Tv_Tropes_4793.png]]
2[[caption-width-right:230:[[AWizardDidIt What happened to his carrot nose?]]]]
3
4->''"More than 200 levels!\
5Loads of enemies!\
6More than 70 quests!\
7More than 350 items to collect!\
8A [[BlindIdiotTranslation lof]] incredible secrets!"''
9-->-- '''Disclaimer from the [[http://www.hfest.net website]]'''
10
11Remember the time arcades were actually existent and all of the machines ended making you use up all of your allowance as you played those hardcore games they had to offer?
12
13''The Caverns of Hammerfest'' is a Flash game made by the French game developers of Motion-Twin in February 2006, and is the masterpiece homage to the good old platformers that made you yell Big No-s at the loss of your character's last life. Particularly inspired by gems like ''VideoGame/BubbleBobble'' and ''VideoGame/SnowBros'', the [[NintendoHard insane difficulty]] it has to offer is notable (while also being very fair), but its real charm are the countless collectible items and the nice graphics you come across in your quest.
14
15In it, you're a snowman named Igor brought to life when a sorcerer steals your carrot nose, who also happened to kidnap and enslave all the sentient fruits of the orchards of Hammerfest [[ForTheEvulz for no apparent reason]]. Now, Igor must venture to his subterranean hideout and go [[HarderThanHard through 100+ levels without dying]] ( did we mention there are [[CheckPointStarvation no save points?]]) in order to recover his honor and free his fruity friends from the clutches of Tuber the evil sorcerer.
16
17With the ability to throw bombs that freeze your enemies, to progress you have to clear the levels out of the bewitched fruits by sending them to the [[BottomlessPit bottom of the level]] with them. It's not as easy as it sounds, unfortunately, as you'll see in latter levels. To help you on your way, though, there are the aforementioned 300+ items, most of which have twisted effects of all sorts that go from dandelions that make you flutter to trophies that summon a three-eyed-god to make your enemies dizzy. [[SerialEscalation And these are among the weakest.]]
18
19%%The game could be found online. There is a downside, though: you can only play once per day (you can buy more games if you're impatient). This marketing strategy may seem like a problem at the start, when your runs don't go past level 10 and they managed to get you addicted already. However, a skilled player can spend more than 1 hour in a game session and that's usually the time required to go through all the game's levels to the final boss, if not 1 hour and a half, so eventually it stops being so much a bother.%%Written like a review, previously-provided link is dead and leads to a gambling website.
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21Originally the game only had the 103 levels between the game's start and the final boss, but then the developers introduced the concept of Parallel Dimensions: extra levels that you can access in specific points of the game's main course. They're usually referred as PD + the level in which you can enter the parallel dimension. The Parallel Dimension with the game's hardest levels, for example, is officially named Hell, but is also often called P.D. 54 as one can enter it in the 54th level of the main course.
22
23Note that [[NonindicativeName there aren't even many hammers in the game]]. It is rather named after the city of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammerfest Hammerfest]], one of the coldest and nothernmost cities of the world.
24
25After the end of service of Flash, Motion Twins gradually closed the webpages for all of its games, with Hammerfest's closing in November 2, 2023. Thankfully, if you want to play it, not all is lost. The fans have taken upon themselves to keep Hammerfest and other Motion Twins games playable on their own custom platform, [=EternalTwin=]. Hammerfest's [=EternalTwin=] version, dubbed Eternalfest, contains all of Hammerfest's original content and more. It can be accessed [[https://eternalfest.net/ here]]. You can even transfer your progress if you link your Motion Twins account to [=EternalTwin=].
26
27----
28!!This game provides examples of:
29
30%%* AnIcePerson:
31%%** Igor.
32%%** Sandy.
33* AmbiguousGender: Not gender per se, actually, but there have been a lot of discussion whether the red fruits are apples or tomatoes. Evidence in favor of them being apples is the fact that there is a Tomato item, which looks nothing like the enemy.
34* AndYourRewardIsClothes: The hardest quests often lead to disguises.
35%%* BadassAdorable: Igor.
36%%* BadassLongRobe: Tuber.
37* BeneathTheEarth: Save for stage one, all of the stages are there. You go deeper, and deeper, and deeper...
38* BigEater: Igor can collect dozens of food items in a single gameplay, and he [[BlackHoleBelly somehow doesn't gain a pound from all those candies]]. Played straight with the Ghost Candy item, which allows the player to eat the fruits.
39* BlindIdiotTranslation: As pointed out in this [[http://www.hfest.net/forum.html/thread/4727 thread]], there are many mistakes left over by the developers.
40* BreathWeapon: The three ring items, which temporarily allow you each to breath fire, balls of freezing ice, and... arrows.
41* BrutalBonusLevel: Hell, also known as the infamous P.D. 54.
42* CheckPointStarvation: You must go through 100+ levels without dying to beat the game, or else you'll have to start over from level zero. Good luck.
43* CirclingBirdies: Whenever you manage to stun a fruit, be it through items or a slow ice block, it gets circling stars in its head.
44* CollisionDamage: If you touch a fruit or one of the SpikesOfDoom, [[OneHitPointWonder you're done]].
45* CoopMultiplayer: With the equally cute [[PaletteSwap sandman]] [[PunnyName Sandy]].
46* DeadlyDodging: When there are strawberries in the levels, or swarms of watermelons (which float around while bouncing around the level), or both.
47* DeathThrows: This is how you die if hit by a fruit, spike, or any other hazard.
48* DefeatMeansFriendship: It's implied that every fruit you defeat is freed from its possession by Tuber. [[FridgeHorror However, we never see any of the defeated fruits again.]]
49* DegradedBoss: Starting from level 30, you find a boss stage every 10 levels. With the exception of the final boss at level 100, every boss stage is composed entirely of new fruits that you'll encounter frequently from then on.
50* DirectionallySolidPlatforms: You won't fall while standing on the platforms, but it's possible to get on any of them by jumping from below.
51* DistressedDamsel: Wanda. Though not explicitly stated nor identified in the game, according to WordOfGod she's the one who made Igor and can be found in [[spoiler:the final level, weeping among the other fruits rescued by Igor]].
52%%* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Poor lemon.]]
53* EarnYourHappyEnding: After enduring the whole of the game's length and difficulty, it's only well deserved that Igor reunites with his fruit friends!
54* ElaborateUndergroundBase: Though Tuber lives at the very bottom, the whole caverns are his hideout.
55* EveryTenThousandPoints: You get extra lives past 100,000 and 500,000 points. After these marks, new lives are only gained again every one million points.
56* EvilLaugh: In level 2, coming all the way from Tuber's lungs while he sits in the bottom of the caverns.
57* ExcusePlot: I want my carrot nose back, dammit!
58* FetchQuest: All of the quests involve collecting items, some of which are randomly dropped and others are found in only specific levels (or Parallel Dimensions) of the game.
59* FightingAShadow: At level 100, [[spoiler: the bat you fight there? He's Tuber.]]
60* FlipScreenScrolling: The levels are simply segments of the huge pit that is the game, and Igor will be killed if he tries to go beyond the level's bottom without having cleared the fruits of the area.
61* FlunkyBoss: [[spoiler:Tuber.]]
62* FriendlyFireproof: Partially averted. Though without the freezing effect, your bombs stun your partner in [[CoopMultiplayer 2P Mode]].
63* GoombaStomp: It is an ability that can be achieved for one stage if you get the Koopa Shell item.
64* GottaCatchThemAll: The items, collecting them is a huge part of the game's appeal.
65* GuideDangIt: Okay, if you want big scores, you '''must''' check walkthroughs about the orders in which you must kill the fruits in order to get the big crystal. It's nigh impossible to figure them out by yourself, mainly when there more than one of the same fruit.
66** There's [[http://www.cadomax.com/astuceshammerfest.php Cadomax]] for French-speaking players, and [[http://www.zaxarinka.com/hammerfest.html Zaxarinka]] for the English-speaking ones.
67* HarderThanHard: Hell is a Parallel Dimension infamous for having the hardest levels in the game, now try imagining it in the game's Nightmare Mode. Unfortunately, there are no unique rewards for being able to complete Hell in Nightmare Mode.
68* HarmlessFreezing: Turning the fruits into cubes of ice only makes them [[TurnsRed angrier]].
69* {{Hell}}: The name of the Parallel Dimension that can be found at level 54. Entirely optional, but contains the hardest levels in the game as well as some unique items deep into it, which only the most hardcore of players manage to get.
70* HeWhoFightsMonsters: [[spoiler:Igor after killing Tuber, as implied in the game's flair for the quest completed when one acquires Tuber's cloak.]]
71* HundredPercentCompletion: Though a sizable number of players managed to complete all the game's quests, no one ever unlocked all the collectable items - it may even be impossible, since an oversight by the game's developers makes one items inaccessible in the game's main mode.
72* IdleAnimation: Igor blows a bubble out of a bubblegum after a while or pulls a silly dance.
73* [[InstantIceJustAddCold Instant Ice, Just Add Snowball Bombs]]
74* InvincibleMinorMinion: The fireball that comes after the second [[StalkedByTheBell Hurry!]] to pursue Igor, [[ShoutOut just like the monster called Baron von Blubba]] does in ''VideoGame/BubbleBobble''.
75* JokeItem: The Chocolate Mousse. It looks like poop (it ''is'' implied to be poop in the French version) and is only worth 1 point. It also happens to be a coefficient 5 item, one of the rarest items in the game, with only a 1 in 700 chance of appearing in any level.
76* KillItWithFire: When under the effects of the Ring of Fire item.
77* KillItWithIce: How the gameplay works.
78* LockedDoor: Some doors will only open after you got the right key through a SideQuest. [[NewGamePlus One opens only after you completed the game]].
79%%* McGuffin: Igor's carrot.
80* MookMaker: [[spoiler:Tuber.]]
81* NewGamePlus: Once you beat the final boss, you complete a quest that allows you play the game with an upped difficulty in Nightmare Mode. Considering that playing the game always involves starting it over from the first level, the game's quests may also count as this in a general sense, since they give the player new power-ups and/or items to be usable in the next session of gameplay.
82* NintendoHard: Given that you have to go through 103 levels without dying and beat the final boss in one sitting, it can take between one and five months to hone enough your skills so that you're able to beat the main game. And that's not counting the amount it takes to master the (albeit entirely optional) Parallel Dimension of Hell, which often can take significantly longer.
83* NostalgiaLevel: P.D. 16 (Franchise/SuperMarioBros), P.D. 43 (VideoGame/BubbleBobble), P.D. 51 (VideoGame/RickDangerous) and P.D. 62 (Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog).
84* OneHitPointWonder: Igor cannot take any damage or he'll die. Luckily, he has good ol' fashioned VideoGameLives.
85* PathOfMostResistance: This is the point of the Parallel Dimensions, which often (but not always) have rewards or are [[ShortcutsMakeLongDelays shortcuts]].
86* PermanentlyMissableContent: The Starfish item, a red star that can only be found as an effect of items from the Zodiac Signs family of items. Problem is, once the player collects all Zodiac Signs, these items will never spawn again in any level of the game. If a player doesn't collect at least 10 Starfishes before completing the Zodiac Signs family, the Starfish item will become impossible to unlock.
87* PoisonMushroom: A bunch of items are there just to make things harder.
88* PortalNetwork: Hidden portals lead to bonus stages. There are also visible ones for quick displacments inside a stage.
89* PowerUpLetdown: Out of many, the biker helmet (which allows you to kick bombs further, which is more often a hindrance than an advantage) and the dandelion (which makes you fall slower, and often makes it harder to dodge the fruits).
90* OneBulletAtATime: Initially, Igor can only have one active bomb at a time, and must wait for the last one to explode before laying another. However, there are power-ups that can allow you to raise the bombs limit while they're active, as well as sidequests that raise the limit permanently when completed.
91* RandomlyDrops: Most of the items available in the game. The rarest class of items has only a 1 in 22000 chance of appearing in any specific level, so some can be very hard to get.
92* ScarfOfAsskicking: Igor sports one which changes of colour [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience according to the type of bomb he can currently drop]].
93* SchizoTech: While the game supposedly takes place in 404BC it doesn't stop from there being modern-day objects as items (and even robots) and teleporters.
94* ScoringPoints: Played straight this time. Scoring big not only nets you lives, there's a 5 level ranking based on the top players by score.
95* SecretLevel: The Parallel Dimensions.
96* SelectiveGravity: Subverted. Everything falls (with an exception being those [[AirborneMook watermelons]]).
97%%* SelfDestructMechanism: Bombinos.
98%%* SequentialBoss: [[spoiler:Tuber.]]
99%%* ShapeShifterShowdown: [[spoiler:Tuber.]]
100* ShoutOut:
101** ''VideoGame/BubbleBobble'': The TropeCodifier gets a Parallel Dimension (P.D. 43) with levels whose designs are [[NostalgiaLevel straight from it]]. Not only that, the Bubble Bobble series of games often had levels with the tiles arranging in the style of drawings or words, and Hammerfest has a few levels with tile-art too.
102*** Special notice to level 93 from Hammerfest, which pictures a Bubble Bobble enemy named Monsta. The level is full of watermelons, a Hammerfest enemy that behaves exactly like the Monstas from the original Bubble Bobble.
103*** The bubbles that wrap Igor, the umbrella items that make you skip levels and the big crystals that fall when you kill the fruits in a certain order also come from Bubble Bobble.
104** ''VideoGame/SnowBros'': Another EliminationPlatformer, from the times of Bubble Bobble, where the protagonist is a snowman.
105** [[Anime/HareGuu Hare Nochi Guu]]: Pokutes, Mandas, Chourou's chesthair and a doll of Guu are items. One quest is based on [[FetchQuest collecting them]].
106** ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': Collect all of the four mushrooms and you get Mario's signature hat. Also, P.D. 16, the Secret Coins and the Koopa shell item.
107** ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': Parallel Dimension 62, where you can collect Golden Rings that look like the ones from the Sonic games and features levels all styled after Green Hill Zone.
108** ''Manga/OnePiece'': Chopper and Luffy's hats are items.
109** ''VideoGame/HalfLife'': The Gordon's Key item is a crowbar identical to that of the first game.
110** ''VideoGame/RickDangerous'': P.D. 51, which not only is styled on the game's first level's evironment, it also has the Ankhel Jewel as a reward at the end. And the Rigor Dangerous key, needed to get into said P.D.
111** ''Manga/DoctorSlump'': In the French version, the poop/Chocolate Mousse item is called Arale's delicacy (literal translation). Arale, from the show, is known to have a fascination with feces.
112** [[Film/ShortCircuit Johnny 5]], ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'', ''Anime/Ulysses31'', ''Franchise/StarWars'', ''Franchise/{{Robocop}}'' and ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'': All get items on the robots-based family items.
113* {{Snowlems}}: Igor is one.
114* SocializationBonus: Some items can only be acquired in [[CoopMultiplayer 2P Mode]].
115* SongsInTheKeyOfPanic: The sped up music that plays after the first Hurry!, [[ShoutOut just like in Bubble Bobble]].
116* SpikesOfDoom: Made of wood.
117* TurnsRed:
118** For all of the fruits after they unfreeze. In Nightmare Mode, they already start like this.
119** The Hurry! warnings.
120* WarpZone: Primary way to get to the [[SecretLevel Parallel Dimensions]].
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