Chibi-Robo!

A charming must-play GameCube game from 2005.

TL;DR

Chibi-Robo! is a game originally published by Nintendo and developed by Skip, Ltd. for the GameCube system. As of writing, it will soon be available to play again on Nintendo Switch Online for Switch 2. And it's this reviewer's favorite game of all time.

Review

I was absolutely obsessed with this game as a child. I saw it in a Fry's Electronics, and stood there and played the demo while my parents were doing...something. I immediately put my chore/birthday money towards purchasing the game for myself to play. I still have the game disc!

I've recommended the game to multiple friends to play in this day and age, and they have also still enjoyed it. And with the launch of Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch Online (NSO) GameCube now about to have Chibi-Robo! in it's catalog, it is very much in my best interest to convince you to play it.

You are a 4 inch tall robot. Your job is to help with chores around the house and help make your family happy (more on that later). Along the way you clean the house, mend relationships, and make everyone happy, happy, happy!

Story

The story is what cemented it for me from a good game to a great one.

You are a 4 inch tall robot. You are brought into a family. A dysfunctional one, consisting of the following cast of characters. A man-child, deadbeat Dad who's wife makes him sleep on the couch. An overworked Mom who is tired of putting up with Dad's crap. Both Mom and Dad are unable to communicate with their daughter, Jenny, who refuses to speak in English (only in frog).

Spoilers!

There's also a dog, some eggs, and talking toys. You also eventually gain the ability to talk to frogs (and therefore talk to Jenny).

Big spoilers!!

There are also aliens. And time travel. And a big robot in the basement that you're also trying to fix.

Gameplay

The gameplay loop is relatively simple (it's a kid's game, after all), but has a bit of charm. You clean. You pick up trash. You make family members happy.

There are significant accessibility challenges that one never really considers until you're about 4 inches tall. How do you get up to a kitchen counter? How about up some stairs? How about DOWN some stairs? Over time, you're given ability to unlock the tools to make your away around the house.

Also over time, you gain costumes of different sorts to gain the ability to talk to different characters in the house. Very important as you may have no idea what they're saying otherwise. Interestingly, you probably don't actually need to unlock all of the costumes to finish the game, but isn't it better to actually know what's being said?

Now, you might say, chores? Those things I have to do to keep a clean living environment? Why would I want to play a video game that involves that? Ever play Viscera Cleanup Detail? There's just something immensely satisfying about cleaning up a house, getting rewarded for it, and making people happy. That's it.

Sound Design

The sound design is what makes this game awesome. There are so many little details with the sounds.

For example, just walking on the ground. In most (basically every) games, the sound you hear is the closest to that material. Realism, right? Not here! We're gonna have piano sounds inside the chibi house, violins strokes on carpet, a compressing clank for stairs, a marimba for tile, a different effect for every material. Cleaning the floor? That's a guitar sound.

The background music has no different approach to detail. Day time has one song, while nighttime has another. Pick up the plug (for faster walking speed) and the tempo and key shifts upward.

This video is a good showcase of a handful of sounds.

Visual Design

I think for even a GameCube-era game, there needed a few more polygons. As a kid, I never really noticed it (4:3 CRT TVs will do that to most games) but playing it again on my computer...yeah, you can see the polygons real good. Luckily there is a community of dedicated fans who have created simple mods to load into your emulator; for example, a widescreen hack and a texture resolution upgrade are available. These actually help way more than you might think.

Other Bits

I might be biased, but I spent a lot of time browsing the internet and exploring the Adobe Flash (RIP) based website for this game. It had clips of gameplay, lore explanations, and short animated skits which complemented the in game lore. I was probably more obsessed with this website than I should've been, but I thought it was a neat complement to the game.

Cult Status

Shockingly, Nintendo seems to have remembered that this game still exists, as occasional references will pop up in other games. For example, Super Smash Brothers Ultimate has a Chibi-Robo sticker with no mention of it anywhere else. People (like me) keep popping up in comments online and mentioning it. Apparently copies are going for quite a bit on eBay (maybe I can make some quick cash with my copy?), but the introduction of the NSO version will likely introduce a new wave of fans to the franchise.

Other Games

I never got to playing the other games. I know there were a handful of Nintendo DS games, but I never had a DS and so I never played them. They never seemed quite to live up to the grandeur that was the GC game though. Part of the reason, I presume, was the fact that a Nintendo DS was simply not as computationally performant as a GameCube.

What's Next

This part's a little weird. So, Skip, Ltd., the developer, no longer exists, at least, from what I can tell. The website is gone, and the address for their office in Japan seems to be completely unlabelled. Wikipedia seems to agree with me. Nintendo still owns the rights, as seen in their use in other games like Super Smash Bros. And we all collectively assumed that Nintendo forgot about the franchise, even after releasing an Amiibo of Chibi-Robo (which is the best Amiibo, seen in the feature image).

On the other hand, it seems like 90% of the artists, designers, and developers all left and founded their own studio called Tiny Wonder Studio, where they are now hard at work with their spiritual successor, koRobo , which I almost immediately Kickstarted once I found out about it.

Summary

I whole-heartedly encourage everyone to try this game. I truly think it's one of the most unique games of the GameCube era.

Additional Links / References

• Wikipedia