Hyper Team Recon Guest Review By Celt Brenny

The following review for Hyper Team Recon, is a guest review by Celt Brenny. At Complete Xbox, we always welcome your views, and we love to share and promote them within the wider gaming community.

Hyper Team Recon is a 3D platformer from Top Hat Studios, following the journey of three alien slime characters: Ember, Penny, and Lite. You learn that their race, the Ayalls, is struggling for survival and must search for greener pastures. However, after an unplanned crash-landing on Earth, they are forced to work straight away, embarking on a quest to explore different locations and solve puzzles in true platforming style.

The first thing you notice from the storefront is the art direction. It blends “paper-inspired” visuals reminiscent of Paper Mario or The Plucky Squire with JRPG-style anime character models. The style is colourful and bright, reflecting one of the game’s running puns: meeting “hue-mans” (very clever).

The game is light-hearted. Although it isn’t voice-acted, it delivers plenty of humour through interactions with NPCs and the main characters’ banter. This comes across very early on and is important in setting the tone: a friendly, accessible game that avoids overcomplication. While some players may prefer deeper, more serious conversations to help them connect with the cast, others will appreciate the straightforward, approachable style.

The biggest perk of being alien slime characters is, of course, the ability to morph into other characters and enemies. Morphing is the central mechanic and is used for platforming, puzzle-solving, and, most importantly, combat. By transforming, you can overcome obstacles, discover alternate paths, and uncover shiny collectibles—perfect for people like myself.

Speaking of shiny things, the in-game currency is called foil. Each chapter rewards you with a badge for reaching 20,000 foil, with two more badges available for finding five hidden collectibles per level, plus a “Yay, you didn’t die!” badge. These achievements add replay ability for those who prefer to clear levels first and revisit them later. Foil also serves as currency to unlock scrapbook entries and a range of costumes, available either as full matching sets or individual items—another fun incentive to collect as much as possible.

While I enjoyed my time with Hyper Team Recon, there are a few drawbacks worth mentioning. Cutscenes can feel repetitive, which becomes tedious when replaying levels for collectibles. The lack of a checkpoint system is punishing, as you cannot backtrack if you miss a section. In some levels, depth perception proved a little tricky, though this wasn’t a major issue—just something I noticed on occasion.