This is a good article. Click here for more information.
Page semi-protected

Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash
A 3D render of a small robot running along the ground while throwing a power cord in front of itself that ricochets between the image's border and the game's logo
Game icon featuring Chibi-Robo
Developer(s)Skip Ltd.
Vanpool
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Director(s)Jun Tsuda
Keita Eto
Producer(s)Kensuke Tanabe
Taro Kudo
Hiroshi Suzuki
Programmer(s)Hironori Ahiko
Artist(s)Akira Katsuta
Composer(s)Hirofumi Taniguchi
Kiyoshi Hazemoto
Soshiro Hokkai
SeriesChibi-Robo!
Platform(s)Nintendo 3DS
Release
  • JP: October 8, 2015
  • NA: October 9, 2015
  • EU: November 6, 2015
  • AU: November 7, 2015
Genre(s)Sidescrolling platformer
Mode(s)Single player

Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash[a] is a Nintendo 3DS game co-developed by Skip Ltd. and Vanpool and published by Nintendo.[1] It was released in Japan and North America in October 2015, and in Europe and Australia in November. It is the fifth and most recent game in the Chibi-Robo! series, and the second Chibi-Robo! game on the 3DS after Chibi-Robo! Photo Finder (2014).

Unlike previous Chibi-Robo! games, Zip Lash is a 2D sidescroller game where the player takes control of the robot Chibi-Robo, tasked with defending the world's resources from aliens. The decision to shift genres was taken in the hopes of expanding the franchise's fanbase in the west, as previous Chibi-Robo! games had sold poorly in western regions compared to Japan and Asia.

Zip Lash was a commercial failure and received mixed reviews from critics with praise for the visuals, sound, and overall charm but criticism for its level design, controls, and gameplay mechanics, with many calling the game unoriginal and uninspired. The franchise has remained dormant since and developer Skip Ltd. has not developed any other games since the game's release.

Gameplay

Chibi-Robo in the first level of the first world in the game, Oceania, preparing to launch his whip-lash at an enemy in front of him, by swinging it in circles.

Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash deviates from the first three games in series, by being a sidescrolling platformer instead of being an adventure platformer. The player takes control of Chibi-Robo who needs to move to the end of the level to reach the goal UFOs to progress.[2]: 30  To help reach the goal, Chibi-Robo possesses a power cord, which has two functions; he can either use the Whip Lash, where he uses the cord as a whip and quickly swings it in front of him, being able to grab items, open doors, or attack enemies,[3] as well as being able to hover; he can also do a Zip Lash, in which he charges up and then releases it at a great length, used for puzzle solving and reaching high-up places.[4] In every level, the player can collect two red and blue orbs that extend the cord's length; the red and blue orbs extend the Whip Lash and Zip Lash respectively. The length of the orbs reset once the player completes the level. Some levels use vehicles to cross large surfaces of land or water, such as balloons or a submarine.[2]: 41–42 [5]

During the level, Chibi-Robo's battery life depletes, which causes a game over if it reaches 0. The player must recharge with plug sockets scattered around the levels.[6] On some levels, there are two alternative types of sockets that grant Chibi-Robo elemental abilities. The red sockets allow Chibi-Robo to melt obstacles and enemies with fire. The blue sockets give him the ability to freeze other enemies and turn water into ice.[7][8] At the end of each level, the player is tasked with hitting one of three UFOs, colored bronze, silver, and gold. This determines how many chances the player gets at spinning the "Destination Wheel", a method of level progression. The player is required to spin a roulette wheel to see which stage one can go to next, which can lead to repeating the same stage more than once. The player can purchase new tiles with coins found in the level to replace some of the ones on the wheel so that the player can rig the wheel to be more or fully favorable. Once the player completes all six side-scrolling levels, the boss battle opens up,[9] and the wheel instead determines the difficulty of the boss.[10][2]: 44–45 

Chibi-Robo traverses through seven worlds represented as Oceania, North Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, North America, the South Pole, and Asia.[b] Each world contains seven levels in total, six of which are regular side-scrolling levels and the seventh is the boss battle.[11] In each side-scrolling level, there are three different types of collectables. Other collectibles can be found throughout the levels, one of which is snacks. The snacks resemble real-world, international brands, such as Chupa Chups, Pocky, and Mentos.[4] When Chibi-Robo meets another toy in one of the levels, the snacks can be traded cosmetics.[12] Throughout the level, Chibi can find trash and collect it, which can be converted into energy at the "Chibi House". Additionally, when completing a level, a blue alien can appear in a level already completed. If the player rescues the blue alien, it will reward the player with a costume, via a Miiverse code.[13]

The game is compatible with the Chibi-Robo Amiibo toy, which allows the player to unlock a toy capsule machine to collect in-game Collectible Figures. The Amiibo toy also grants the player "Super Chibi-Robo", a powered up version of Chibi-Robo that has an increased battery life and max power cord length.[14][15]

Plot

Chibi-Robo is cleaning the exterior of a space station when his companion Telly reminds him to take a break. During the break, Chibi-Robo watches television and discovers that a lot of the natural resources on Earth have vanished, disappearing because of invading aliens. The pair are suddenly disturbed by a cluster of aliens, known as the Gyorians, who are making their way towards Earth. As such, they both set out in the "Chibi House" to combat the alien invasion.[2]: 12  During the adventure, Chibi-Robo travels to all continents of the world to reclaim the stolen resources and defeat the alien robots that guard their specific continent.[16]

The two eventually head to Antarctica where the Aliens' Mothership is located. Chibi-Robo promptly destroys the Mothership, but an orb escapes the wreckage and heads towards a metropolitan city in Asia. The orb then transforms into a large monster named "The Mega-Mech Menace" and starts to wreak havoc. To combat the monster, Telly and Chibi construct a giant named "Giga Chibi-Robo"; the two giants battle each other until Chibi-Robo deactivates the monster and destroys it, prompting both Chibi and Telly to head back to the station.[17]

Development

"To be honest, this might be the last chance for us. I’ve continually thought about ways to build this into mainstream success, we’ve challenged ourselves in assorted ways along those lines, but I can’t say that we’ve found the answer yet".

Producer Kensuke Tanabe, 2015 The Verge interview[18]

Being the fifth game in the series, Zip Lash was developed by Skip Ltd., with help from Vanpool, Inc.[1] The game was officially announced during a Nintendo Direct Micro on June 1, 2015.[19] It was shown again at E3 2015,[20] where developers expressed the reason for a genre change was to hopefully "be a great place to expand that fanbase" mainly in the United States.[21] The developers said the reason for the use of real world brands was to give recognition to each region but in a size recognized by a tiny robot. For the American version, Nintendo of America and Europe asked most companies for permission with Nintendo's headquarters in Japan sorting out the rest.[22] In an interview with The Verge, Kensuke Tanabe, the series producer, stated that if the game does not get much recognition or sales, it may be the last game in the franchise.[18] The game launched the following October in Japan and North America, and in November for the rest of the world.[23]

Amiibo

At launch, the game could be bought in a bundle, containing the game cartridge and a Chibi-Robo Amiibo toy, used to unlock the toy capsule machine and Super Chibi-Robo. The toy originally was exclusively bundled with the game and was later packaged separately on Amazon.com.[24][25] In addition, 57 other Nintendo released Amiibo are compatible in the game.[26]

Reception

Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash received "mixed reviews", according to review aggregator Metacritic, with the website giving the game a 59/100 based upon 50 reviews.[27] Overall, most critics found the game to be underwhelming and forgettable.[32][3] Nintendo Life described the game as "fun but unexciting", noting that the game was a solid platformer but was quite unmemorable compared to other games in the genre.[11]

Throughout the reviews, critics' views on the game's controls were mixed. Some reviewers felt that the Zip Lash mechanic was a really good idea and meshed with most levels well.[12][31][7] Others felt that the controls were bad, citing them as unresponsive, slow and underutilized.[6][30] Mark Brown of Pocket Gamer wrote of how the controls of the whip, which utilized the d-pad, felt uncooperative and sluggish, comparing how it "lacked the finesse of other grappling hook games like Umihara Kawase and Bionic Commando".[29]

In addition, most critics found problems with multiple gameplay elements. Many critics derided the Destination Wheel, feeling that the idea was annoying and completely unneeded.[3][32] Destructoid elaborated on the argument, feeling that the idea of a complete waste of time and just pointless. They even went on to accuse the game of forced replayability and calling the concept of the "Boss Wheel" a complete joke.[9] With the vehicles, many had problems with their pacing and respawning. The vehicle sections were criticized for being incredibly slow and boring, whilst also having the problem of restarting the entire section all over due to a lack of checkpoints.[13][32] Game Informer's Jeff Cork felt that the vehicles had exaggerated momentum and really awkward controls, claiming that they dragged on for far too long.[4]

Another criticism reviews had with the game involved the levels. Many felt while the style was unique, the levels were very generic and bland, linking it to the game's forgetability.[6][30] Besides that, many felt that level's range in difficulty was very inconsistent,[29][5] with VentureBeat claiming the game had a ranging level quality.[31] Some reviews felt that game had underutilized the level's surroundings, claiming the game had "no real sense of scale" compared to Chibi-Robo's height.[4][7] However, Eurogamer did feel that the game's platforming elements were pleasant and challenging enough for playing.[28]

Whilst the game was mostly seen in a negative light, there were positives to the game. Critics described the game as having well-designed boss battles, citing them as visually appealing and fun to fight.[4][5] Most critics felt that game was worth it only for Chibi-Robo himself. Critics felt that the cute appeal of the robot is a big driving force for the game, and helped make most boring experiences slight more memorable.[3][13] Furthermore, critics claimed the game was worth getting solely for the amiibo figure, citing it as the best part of the whole game.[32][11]

Sales

In Japan, more than 14,000 copies of Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash were sold at launch, placing it in ninth place in the country's video game sales charts in its week of release.[33] Internationally, it failed to appear in the top 40 selling 3DS games in the United Kingdom, becoming overshadowed by older releases such as Mario Kart 7.[34] Because of this, Zip Lash is seen as a commercial failure.[33]

Legacy

Due to the game being a critical and commercial failure, Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash is theoretically considered the final game in the series,[35] with Skip Ltd. having not made any games since 2015.[36] In August 2020, it was widely speculated that the company had closed down, with evidence such as an HTTP 403 error when opening the company website, the CEO of the company removing the website from his Twitter profile, and new occupation of the company building potentially pointing towards this.[37]

Nintendo tweeted a picture of "Fiery Chibi-Robo" in January 2018, which is of Chibi-Robo using the fire ability.[38] This led to speculation that a Nintendo Direct was close and a new Chibi-Robo game was going to be announced.[39] A Nintendo Direct Mini was released the next day, without a new Chibi-Robo game, although the image of "Fiery Chibi-Robo" has become a meme in the Nintendo community as representation for excitement for a Nintendo Direct.[40]

Notes

  1. ^ Known in Japan as Nagenawa Akushon! Guruguru! Chibi-Robo! (なげなわアクション！ぐるぐる！ちびロボ！, Lasso Action! We are Going Around! Chibi Robo!)
  2. ^ Asia can only be unlocked with the Chibi-Robo Amiibo.
  3. ^ Score based on 50 reviews.[27]

References

  1. ^ a b Metts, Jonathan; Ronaghan, Neal (June 26, 2015). "Vanpool Teaming Up With Skip for Chibi-Robo: Zip Lash". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d Nintendo staff, ed. (2015). Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash! (instruction booklet). Nintendo of America. CTR-P-BXLP-EUR_en.
  3. ^ a b c d e Plagge, Kallie (May 1, 2017). "Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash Review". IGN. Archived from the original on January 31, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Cork, Jeff (October 8, 2015). "Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash Nintendo's Tiny Utility Player Keeps Plugging Away". Game Informer. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d Brown, Peter (October 9, 2015). "Chibi-Robo Zip Lash Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d Parish, Jeremy (October 8, 2015). "Chibi-Robo: Zip Lash 3DS Review: Lashadaisical". USgamer. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  7. ^ a b c d Schaller, Kevin (October 8, 2015). "Chibi-Robo: Zip Lash Review". Game Revolution. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  8. ^ "Chibi-Robo!™ Zip Lash Gameplay". Nintendo UK. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  9. ^ a b c Davis, Ben (October 8, 2015). "Review: Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash". Destructoid. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  10. ^ なげなわアクション！ぐるぐる！ちびロボ！：ちびロボが地球をぐるぐる!ニンテンドー3DS任 [Lariat Action! Round and Round! Little Robo!: Little Robo Goes Round and Round the Earth! Nintendo 3DS]. Nintendo (in Japanese). Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  11. ^ a b c d Wahlgren, Jon (October 8, 2015). "Chibi-Robo!: Zip Lash 2015". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  12. ^ a b c Watts, Steve (October 8, 2015). "Chibi-Robo: Zip Lash Review: Whip-Smart". Shacknews. Archived from the original on September 25, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  13. ^ a b c d Miller, Zachary (October 8, 2015). "Chibi-Robo: Zip Lash (3DS) Review". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  14. ^ Sampson, Aaron; Haywald, Justin (September 4, 2015). "Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash - Super Chibi Gameplay". GameSpot. Archived from the original on July 1, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  15. ^ "Lasso action! Round and round! Chibi-Robo! : Amiibo Chibi Robo! Nintendo 3DS". Nintendo Japan (in Japanese). Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  16. ^ Bianchi, Dario (November 4, 2015). "Recensione Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash". everyeye.it (in Italian). Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  17. ^ Skip Ltd. (October 9, 2015). Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash (Nintendo 3DS). Nintendo. Telly: For a tiny little robot, you sure took on some huge challenges here. You were a real hero, sir! What a relief it is, to know the world is a more peaceful place today. Now, let's get back up to the station.
  18. ^ a b Webster, Andrew (September 30, 2015). "Nintendo's cutest mascot has one last chance to be a star". The Verge. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  19. ^ Kuchera, Ben (June 1, 2015). "A new Chibi-Robo! game, complete with amiibo, is coming to the 3DS". Polygon. Archived from the original on June 30, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  20. ^ Farokhmanesh, Megan (June 22, 2015). "Chibi-Robo!: Zip Lash is a cute, cord-whipping adventure". Polygon. Archived from the original on December 14, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  21. ^ Metts, Jonathan; Ronaghan, Neal (June 22, 2015). "Why Chibi-Robo Became a Side-Scroller in Zip Lash". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  22. ^ Metts, Jonathan; Ronaghan, Neal (June 24, 2015). "How Utz Potato Chips and Pocky Wound Up in Chibi-Robo: Zip Lash". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  23. ^ Romano, Sal (June 1, 2015). "Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash coming west in October". Gematsu. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  24. ^ Frank, Allegra (November 19, 2015). "Pre-order the Chibi-Robo amiibo without the game starting today". Polygon. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  25. ^ Priestman, Chris (October 7, 2015). "Chibi-Robo amiibo will be sold in a special bundle with Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  26. ^ Lada, Jenni (September 4, 2015). "Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash Works With 57 amiibo". Siliconera. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  27. ^ a b c "Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash 3DS". Metacritic. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  28. ^ a b Fazio, Lorenzo (November 4, 2015). "Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash - recensione. Un altro cambio d'abito per la saga di Nintendo" [Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash - review: Another change of dress for the Nintendo saga.]. EuroGamer (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2020-12-24. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  29. ^ a b c Brown, Mark (November 5, 2015). "Chibi-Robo: Zip Lash". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  30. ^ a b c Robertson, Andy; Harkin, Patrick; Higham, Rupert; Dring, Chris (November 8, 2015). "Games reviews roundup: Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash; Corpse Party: Blood Drive; BlazBlue: Chronophantasma Extend and Paris Games Week". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  31. ^ a b c Kemps, Heidi (October 8, 2015). "Chibi-Robo Zip Lash is fun in small doses". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  32. ^ a b c d Totilo, Stephen (October 16, 2015). "Chibi-Robo Zip Lash: The Kotaku Review". Kotaku. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  33. ^ a b Thomas, Whitehead (October 14, 2015). "Chibi-Robo!: Zip Lash Fails to Clean Up in Japanese Charts". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  34. ^ Whitehead, Thomas (November 9, 2015). "Chibi-Robo!: Zip Lash Endures Awful UK Launch as Mario Kart 7 Bundle Deals Drive It Up the Charts". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  35. ^ Lane, Gavin (June 8, 2019). "Feature: Dormant Nintendo Franchises We'd Like To See Return On Switch". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  36. ^ McFerran, Damien (October 22, 2019). "What's Going On With Chibi-Robo Developer Skip?". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  37. ^ Doolan, Liam (2020-08-05). "Has The Chibi-Robo Studio Skip Pulled The Plug On Development?". Nintendo Life.
  38. ^ "Game Companies Respond To Nintendo Of America's "Troll" Tweet, And They're Awesome". ComicBook. January 10, 2018. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  39. ^ Phillips, Tom (January 11, 2018). "Nintendo fans spent all of last night waiting on a Direct announcement". EuroGamer. Archived from the original on 2020-12-24. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  40. ^ Gach, Kevin (January 11, 2018). "Well That Was A Weird Way To Do A Nintendo Direct". Kotaku. Archived from the original on December 24, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2020.

External links

Retrieved from ""