Out of all of the Humongous Entertainment franchises, Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise is the only game that exists alone with no sequel. Despite continuing to use Fatty Bear in promotional material, Humongous never felt the need to revive the character, and it isn't hard to see why.

The characters, setting, and gameplay here just don't have the unique spark of the other H.E. titles, and if that wasn't enough, the game has a weirdly haunting tone?

Set at night, a girl's dead-eyed teddy bear springs to life, enlarges (although his size seems to fluctuate room to room) and sets out to sneak around the house, raiding pantries in hopes of making his owner, Kayla, a birthday cake. The normally cute H.E. googie stylings take on the mood of a Caligari set while Fatty rummages around.

At one point, he inadvertently frees a birthday puppy from a ribboned box, tied up with no air holes and left alone on the kitchen floor. As a solution, he lures the dog back into the same box with a bone found in the fridge and leaves it as it was found. Finally, when morning comes, Kayla doesn't even open the box- her parents just let the dog into her room.

Why am I being so harsh on a game designed for toddlers? Because I know H.E. can do better! See my review for Putt-Putt Joins the Parade, released just 6 months earlier, for more.