For its first appearance on 3DS, Chibi-Robo radically changes its style. Exit the 3D adventure game in the eight walls of a house upside down, Nintendo decided that it had to do like many other of its house productions, namely to switch to the 2D platform. Why not. Like games stamped Mario, a Kirby Triple Deluxe or more recently Yoshi's New Island, the world of Chibi-Robo! : Zip Lash is divided into 6 worlds, each divided into 6 levels, and access to which is based on the incomprehensible and completely stupid (let's not be afraid of words) use of a wheel of fortune. Concretely, this means that once you have completed a level, you have to turn a wheel with several numbers on it. Falling on one of them will give you the number of squares which will determine how far you can go, much like in a game of goose. It is therefore not uncommon, or even frequent, to fall several times on the same level, forcing you to do it again imperatively before being able to access the wheel of fortune again. Basically, if you're the type to be cursed in games of chance, you can retype 3 or 4 times a level already done, before being able to advance in the adventure and access a new course. And yeah man! We really don't know what went through the minds of the developers, but it is certain that that day, they had either drunk too much or pulled too much on the joint. So of course, it is possible to buy other numbers to increase the chances of falling on the level so much desired, but without dec', you really have to be hit on the head to impose such a system on the player. We know how attached Nintendo is to the replay value of its games, but it is not by forcing the hand of the player that the latter will want to retype each level to find all the hidden items and secrets, easily spotted this said in passing. But the stupidity of this system does not stop there. The same goes for the game's 6 bosses, who also face the luck of this wheel of fortune. In short, a total aberration that goes hand in hand with the rest of the game, very disappointing overall.
SPICE BY CHIBI!
Because yes, during the 6/7 hours necessary to reach the end of the adventure, Chibi-Robo! : Zip Lash fails at any time to shine. Graphically first of all, apart from the nice animations of our little robot and the six bosses, imposing and really cool in their design (especially the Dracula and the Alleyway brick breaker), the title suffers from a flagrant lack of inventiveness. The textures are simplistic as possible, the colors pale and the decorations sorely lacking in life. This is all the more regrettable because by opting for a scenario as banal as that of traveling the Earth to save it from an alien invasion, Nintendo had all the cards in hand to offer us settings worthy of its usual productions. So yes, the change of scenery is there (we go from a small countryside full of greenery to the depths of the oceans, without forgetting the arid desert and the lava volcano), but the game lacks a style of its own, and especially madness to distinguish themselves from others. Wanting too much to opt for classicism, Chibi-Robo! : Zip Lash never manages to excite us. What saves the game from certain drowning is the level-design, which is far from being the most inventive possible let's be clear, but which never forgets to highlight the gameplay and in particular the different powers that our robot acquires over its epic.
Here again, Nintendo's choice of game design is highly questionable, especially since it is fashionable to specify that the movements of our little robot are slow, even pachydermic, thus generating a sluggish progression, with no possibility of chain movements or even cancel others. The game is so rigid in its mechanics that certain passages do not work.
If Mario breaks bricks with his fist (or his buttocks), Wario uses his shoulder, Kirby his transformations and Yoshi his tongue to do everything, Chibi-Robo can count on his power outlet that he carries around everywhere. Not only does it allow him to recharge as soon as he finds an electrical outlet, but above all it serves as a hook. Grapple which can also expand by picking up energy balls, but also become a very effective weapon against any enemy. When Chibi-Robo uses his grip as a whip, there are two distinct uses; And that's the rub. By pressing X, our mechanical hero gives a basic blow, of short range and which can be directed either frontally or diagonally. Which is obviously not practical when you know how many levels are full of pieces to break and it is sometimes necessary to do so either in a limited time or because several enemies are around. At this level, the game is singularly lacking in flexibility. A voluntary limitation on the part of developers who still wanted to impose their – biased – vision of the platform game. Because that's where the second use of the whip comes in. By holding the Y key, Chibi-Robo can charge up what is called the lightning lasso, capable of going in any direction and benefiting from a long distance range, useful for reaching platforms at first approach inaccessible. The only problem is that by using the lightning lasso, Chibi-Robo remains frozen in place, unable to move. Here again, Nintendo's choice of game design is highly questionable, especially since it is fashionable to specify that the movements of our little robot are slow, even pachydermic, thus generating a sluggish progression, with no possibility of chain movements or even cancel others. The game is so rigid in its mechanics that certain passages do not work. We think in particular of the phases of timed platforms where Chibi-Robo must use his lasso-helicopter to hover over electrified areas, while bouncing on the heads of enemies to reach the safe zone. Again, what a hassle and what a lack of flexibility, which proves how the game is the antithesis of Nintendo productions. So much so that one wonders how it could have been validated by the Miyamoto teams. Suffice to say that Nintendo's Quality Seal is heavily questioned.
OUCH, ROBOT
Despite all these pitfalls, Chibi-Robo! : Zip Lash tries to vary its progression and its gameplay by offering mini-games where our robot moves around with balloons on its head, does water-skiing or takes control of a submersible. Unfortunately, the game falls back very quickly in its faults, in particular with regard to the displacements in balloons. Instead of offering us simple and effective commands, the developers preferred to complicate our task. We make it short, but to move with his balloons, the player must play with the left and right directions to allow Chibi-Robo to lose or gain altitude. Here again, wanting to play the originality card too much, Nintendo has completely lost its way in its game design choices. Even on the sound side, it's quite laborious, with in particular ultra-short musical loops which make the music very quickly become repetitive. Suffice to say that after 10 minutes, you might get tired of always hearing the same melodies that have already been repeated thirty times. Delirium.
