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Retro|Spective 074: Chibi Robo

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    Retro|Spective 074: Chibi Robo

    Hidden away and hard at work to help out the family that unknowingly lives with him is the ever diligent and every charming...




    Mainline Entry 01 - Chibi Robo!
    Formats:
    Gamecube and Wii
    Ever persistently and quietly busying himself away amidst Nintendo's bigger franchises is the little silver robot, Chibi Robo. In the original Gamecube game the player worked as Chibi to carry out home tasks and to help out the Sanderson family. The game was originally planned as a point and click until Miyamoto stepped in and pushed it into its final direction as a platform action game. The game failed to make a big splash, some clunkiness and rough visuals meant it lacked the impact of other Nintendo releases but it quickly became a niche hit and its sales were just about strong enough for Nintendo to consider a future for the little guy.



    Mainline Entry 02 - Chibi Robo! Park Patrol
    Formats:
    Nintendo DS
    Not for the first or last time, Nintendo would look to its handhelds to continue a franchise that console gaming would be too large an investment. Two years after the original game Chibi returned with this follow up that followed the same template largely but moved the action out of the home and into a park and nearby town. Once again the niche audience approach carried the game, especially with most PAL markets not seeing a release of the game.



    Mainline Entry 03 - Chibi Robo! Happy Richie Osoji
    Formats:
    Nintendo DS
    A further two years later saw the release of the third entry that saw Chibi back in the home and many years having past, him now helping out the family of the daughter from the original game. The end of the franchise was becoming a risk by now as the audience was looking too limited and Nintendo limited the games release to just Japan with fans later delivering their own translation called Clean Sweep.



    Mainline Entry 04 - Chibi Robo! Photo Finder
    Formats:
    Nintendo 3DS
    It would be half a decade until Chibi would resurface in this estore entry that altered the game design to make use of the 3DFS augmented reality features. Some features and gameplay elements of the previous games still existed but the player chose to do them as Jobs rather than them being core to the game.



    Mainline Entry 05 - Chibi Robo! Zip Lash
    Formats:
    Nintendo 3DS
    The next year, four years ago from now, the fifth and currently final entry arrived and saw Chibi take a step back towards a slightly bigger release with this new entry that saw Chibi back in puzzle platforming action using his power cord as a hook shot and for puzzle uses. The game used this to introduce several new moves but reviews pulled the game up for not making the most of them. With the Switch now in place, will Chibi rise once more?



    Share your thoughts and memories of Chibi Robo!

    #2
    I personally thought the original Chibi-Robo was great! It had oodles of charm and a great sense of humour.
    Would clamber for a rerelease on switch.
    Sadly is was downhill from there - the little fella deserves better!!!

    Comment


      #3
      I picked this up on PAL release during the GameCube's twilight years (2006 - some good titles appeared around that time), and I recall really enjoying it, and finished it eventually.

      It was slow-paced, and had quite a solitary feeling to it as you explored the house and garden at night time, especially. You had to plan your excursions quite carefully too, similar to how you have to play the Pikmin games. I can imagine all of this might have put off a lot of players, but I really liked it. Never played any of the other games since then though, so I'm not sure how the others compare to the original.

      Comment


        #4
        I've literally only played the original, the move to handhelds proving the issue in me trying another. The original was a bit slow to get into, the pacing was so laid back and some of the sections were pretty plodding but as time passed you found yourself getting quite attached to Chibi and his mission to help the family out. It was quite a unique little experience and it's a shame the series never got a full blown chance to follow up

        Comment


          #5
          Clue for 075:

          Plumbing new material

          Comment


            #6
            I ended up picking this up again for the first time since 2006 - I remember at the time I'd just got a nice (for the time) HDTV and playing jaggy 480p games was getting less appealing. I was also (and still am) put off by the excessive amount of slow text, although the gibberish-speak is really charming.

            It's a shame more people don't know about this, because the dark story elements are weirdly comforting in a way. Like even in this cute world, these characters still have big problems. It's especially effective since the little robot puts you in the position of basically being an outsider looking into family strife. The characters are really charming too, the style reminds me of the Saturn days.

            I think its big flaw, other than the amount of text and the pace it forces you into, is the fact that the each in-game time period is so short. It hampers your ability to really explore.

            Edit: also... how on earth did this make its way not just to the US, but also to Europe? It seems like the kind of game that usually wouldn’t ever leave Japan.
            Last edited by Lyris; 05-08-2020, 05:59.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by Neon Ignition View Post
              Clue for 075:

              Plumbing new material
              Paper Mario?

              Comment


                #8
                Pipemania

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Lyris View Post
                  I ended up picking this up again for the first time since 2006 - I remember at the time I'd just got a nice (for the time) HDTV and playing jaggy 480p games was getting less appealing. I was also (and still am) put off by the excessive amount of slow text, although the gibberish-speak is really charming.

                  It's a shame more people don't know about this, because the dark story elements are weirdly comforting in a way. Like even in this cute world, these characters still have big problems. It's especially effective since the little robot puts you in the position of basically being an outsider looking into family strife. The characters are really charming too, the style reminds me of the Saturn days.

                  I think its big flaw, other than the amount of text and the pace it forces you into, is the fact that the each in-game time period is so short. It hampers your ability to really explore.

                  Edit: also... how on earth did this make its way not just to the US, but also to Europe? It seems like the kind of game that usually wouldn’t ever leave Japan.
                  Did the Wii remake make it outside of Japan? Having the wiimote become a crank and all sorts of bits like that were really nice too, although I didn't get far into the GC game.
                  Those DS games will always stand out as favourites of mine.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    It didn't.

                    Comment

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