N-Philes

Chibi Robo

Posted February 15th 2006 by Ben Wood.

Shigeru Miyamoto uttered these famous words, words that could easily apply to the zero-to-hero development of Chibi Robo. This game began as a point-and-click adventure where a tine robot would protect a house from a couple of burglars. Bandai's original offering lacked style, control, and an overall outlook. A lukewarm reception put the game that was going nowhere onto the dreaded shelf of no return.

Then Nintendo came along.

The parents of modern gaming took Chibi Robo and changed everything about it, except for the name and the cute little bucket o' steel character. No longer a lonely inventor's pet project, Chibi Robo finds his way into the Sanderson's home as an unwelcome birthday present. At first, the two-inch robot's primary objective is simple: to become the ultimate Chibi Robo robot in the world by picking up garbage lying around the house, thus making the family happy. Taking direct control of Chibi, you explore the house with this goal in mind; new tools become available to help achieve this goal, such as a toothbrush to scrub stubborn stains and an arm blaster to find hidden secrets. The robot also collects a variety of outfits that help the game progress: a frog suit will help him to understand the daughter while a ghost suit will haunt just about everyone.

Most sandbox-style games are set in vast worlds with multiple cities and other varied locations to explore. Being cooped up in a house, cleaning, doesn't sound like much fun at all, but it is. Look around your room and you may see a television, some plants, and a few pieces of furniture. Look closer and maybe you'll find a dangling wire, a stack of books, a pile of dirty clothes, and a dresser whose drawers scale to the ceiling: a massive terrain that would take a two-inch person days to explore. And that's precisely why Chibi Robo is as compelling as it is. Over time, as seen in Super Mario Sunshine, cleaning takes a backseat to rich problem solving, platforming, and the occasional minigame.

Chibi Robo feels a bit like a Zelda game without a main quest; it's incredibly non-linear with so many side quests that gamers can choose whether and when to do them. Each time Cheebo (as Mrs. Sanderson calls the diminutive droid) does something positive for someone in the house – be it throwing away candy rappers, feeding the fish, delivering love letters, or winning a race – he gains happiness points. These points are used to calculate his relative ranking compared to other Chibi Robos in the world. It's really rewarding to see your position jump from one millionth to being in the top 500, top 100, and ultimately number one.

Of course, there are some elements that work against the wondrous robot. Everything Cheebo does, from walking around to falling from high areas, drains his battery. At first, you'll find yourself scrambling for an electrical outlet to recharge all the time, but as you move up the ranks, the battery gets upgraded. After a while, it becomes less and less of an issue. Like in Pikmin, there's a clock that limits how much you can accomplish at once. The day and night cycle does play an important role in the game; some things you can only do in the day, while other quests can only be accomplished under the moon's watch. Players can actually choose how long each day/night lasts. Fifteen minutes is more than enough daylight for the avid adventurer, while five-minute days will help pass the time later in the adventure. Spydorz, little mechanical spiders, are the only real enemies that attack Chibi Robo... but when defeated, they provide him with scrap material to create ladders and bridges – items critical to reaching new areas within the house.

Between cooking burgers and putting refuse in the proper receptacle, Cheebo, like any good domestic aid robot, gets involved in the personal life of the family. Mr. Sanderson is a 12-year-old boy in a grown man's body, his wife is depressed and worried about everything, and little Jenny thinks that she is a frog. The main story itself isn't spectacular. While the biggest plot twist in the main story involves Mrs. S threatening divorce, it's the rest of the supporting cast and their wacky stories that truly draws the players in. Some of the toys you'll encounter include: an action hero trying to define "justice" for himself, a chew toy that longs to be more than a dog's plaything, an egg army general who boils his men until they crack, a plush bear who needs his nectar fix, an emo mummy who can't find happiness, a LEGO-esque dinosaur who thinks she's a riot, and even a pirate who seeks one last adventure. Each of their problems has complex solutions, and its up to Chibi Robo to help them out – or not.

Adding to the all-important environment that makes the title what it is, Chibi Robo is a colorful game; neon pinks and vibrant blues populate the mid-20th century home. Aside from the decor, the characters themselves are pretty over the top, so expect them to deliver some funny bits of dialogue. You might also expect very bubbly and shallow situations in such an atmosphere, but that's where the games depth truly shines. By interacting with all the game's characters, players are presented with many of themes common to videogames, like good versus evil, truth, love, and heroism. However, Chibi Robo also touches on social issues relevant in today's society: divorce, pollution, energy crisis, death, suicide, addiction, poverty, and loneliness. These serious themes, while never scandalous, do play nicely into the game, keeping you both entertained and interested.

Chibi Robo's blurry textures and lower poly models won't win the game any graphical awards when compared to other games released so late into this console cycle, but the game's meticulous attention to detail stands out. Every little thing, from Jenny's drawings displayed throughout the house to the dish sponge and water droplets near the kitchen sink, makes it feel as if people actually do live in this house (except there is no bathroom anywhere to be found. Where's a robot to do his business?). The game's musical themes are forgettable, but they work well with all the different sounds and melodies that Chibi creates when he digs, scrubs, and walks on the various textures and surfaces found in and around your typical home. You would expect electronic sounds in a game about a robot, but most of the sound effects are created with human voices and instruments. Raffi would be proud.

The one glaring weakness to the game is its presentation. You can't skip any of the scenes or dialog. This is partly to help bring out the emotion of the characters in the game, but with that aim they should have gone with full voice work. Zany voices would probably compliment the cast very well; instead we have gibberish sounds, complete with text. Because it's all text, the characters should have endless humorous phrases to utter, but the dialog gets repetitive, and only changes when something related to their side quests is achieved. And in an era where games can render complete cities to explore, significant loading time between rooms in the house is unacceptable – Cheebo should be able to see into the kitchen from the living room and make the transition without a hitch.

It's funny, Chibi Robo seemed like a perfect opportunity for Nintendo to flood the game with references to its other properties, and even to advertise both the DS and Revolution. But aside from a man dressed like an eggplant, old forgotten robot buddy, and maybe an fps arm canon mode, there isn't a single reference in sight. Of course, this helps to give Chibi Robo a world and a feel of its own, so maybe this was one place that a rampant retro-reference-fest was best left out. As a nod to Bandai, however, those who explore deep enough might find a once-popular electronic toy from their childhood.

Heartstopper - Chibi is bursting with energy, don't let him slip past you.

The focus in Chibi Robo is exploration; ironically this quirky game, what with its simplistic enemies and boss battle (that's right, non=plural), could very well appeal to the non-gamer that Nintendo is out to convert. Chibi Robo's solid gameplay and cast of unique and diverse characters would entertain any gamer, if he or she can get beyond the game's low-end graphics and slow start. Even though this game is packed with things to see and experience, Chibi's adventure is almost as short as he is. But with 2006 looking bleak for the GameCube, Chibi Robo shines as an adventure game not to be missed.

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