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Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash

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If Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash sells poorly, they should make a proper Chibi-Robo game, say Nintendo fans

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You know, they say this all the time...

 

Yet somehow they always seem to get round to bringing back series that have suffered dwindling sales. Hell, this is the company that made a sequel to their worst selling game of all time (Sin & Punishment) because they thought that the control scheme alone was a good enough reason (and they were right!)

 

Hell Chibi Robo as a series should rightfully have been canned years ago if sales alone were the real determining factor. It has never been a big seller in any region, not even on the DS.

 

Even if Zip Lash flops, he'll be back again at some point. Maybe not for a long while, when Nintendo are in a healthier position, but he'll come back.

Edited by Dcubed

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The "Chibi Robo sold bad so you need to buy this to make it survive" argument is so cheap. How could the games ever have sold well? Most of them didn't even get localised in Europe! People can't really buy the games if they don't release them.

 

When you look at the official releases in Europe, the first version on the Gamecube launched in 2006, the next game we got was "Chibi-robo let's go photo", released in 2014. "Let's go photo" wasn't exactly a masterpiece. That's an 8 year gap and the DS games never came over from America and Japan! Most people probably don't even know yet who Chibi-Robo is or what made the first game so amazing!

 

To be honest I rather see the series die than see it become a generic platformer forever. No matter how "ok" that game turns out it's not the classic Chibi-Robo by far. Let's hope it really does result in another great 3D adventure for WiiU or NX, even though I don't see that happening at all.

Edited by M_rock

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Let's hope it really does result in another great 3D adventure for WiiU or NX, even though I don't see that happening at all.

 

Here's why we ain't getting a proper Chibi-Robo game...

 

In a Q&A interview with USgamer, Nintendo’s Risa Tabata explains the new direction. While Tabata acknowledges a 3D environment would allow players “to do more,” she ultimately reasons that it would have been too difficult overall, especially for small children.

 

“A 3D landscape would allow you to do more, but would also make controls and aiming more complex and the game harder overall,” said Tabata. “Chibi-Robo is a character who’s beloved by a lot of small children as well, so I wanted this game to be accessible to that audience too.”

 

You know, there are more people other than Children who like playing your games, Nintendo. I mean, the people who fell in love with the original game back in the day are adults now and we are the ones who are fans of the little guy. How about making a game for us?

 

I cancelled my order for this the other day due to the reviews the game has been getting. I don't usually watch GameXplain stuff but I gave their review a watch and the game seems quite bad. I wouldn't be surprised if we see this drop in price pretty quickly, just like Codename STEAM.

 

 

The vehicle sections mentioned in the review look and sound terrible. People on Gaf who have played the game also confirm these sections are shockingly bad.

 

I'll probably pick it up eventually but at the moment the there are other games that are more worthy of my attention.

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:confused: Because I think so or?

 

Because Nintendo seem more interested in appealing to the kiddie market ( as seen in the quote I posted ) rather than delivering a true sequel to the original game.

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Because Nintendo seem more interested in appealing to the kiddie market ( as seen in the quote I posted ) rather than delivering a true sequel to the original game.

 

Amen hahaha ;)

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Because Nintendo seem more interested in appealing to the kiddie market ( as seen in the quote I posted ) rather than delivering a true sequel to the original game.

To be fair, Activision are going after the kiddy market with Call of Duty, so it makes sense :p

 

I jest, of course. That's such a bullshit asinine reason.

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So, I ended up getting this in the end. Shopto were selling it for £23 and with me finishing Zelda I had a slot open and figured I would give this a shot.

 

I've played through the first world and some of the second and my feelings towards the game are a little mixed.

 

So far the game seems incredibly dull and plays very slowly for a 2D platformer. There seems to be very little challenge here, but then, I am only at the start of the game.

 

The level selection process has to be one of the strangest things I have seen in a game.

 

After you finish a level a roulette wheel appears. You then spin the wheel and the number you land on decides what level you play next. So say you finish stage 1 and want to play stage 2 you need to land on the number 1 otherwise you will skip ahead a stage. There are a couple of ways to get around this.

 

1. You can buy extra number slots with the money you collect in the levels. If you need a certain number for a level you want to play then simply buy more of that number to overwrite other numbers.

 

2. At the end of a level there are 3 UFOs that are bronze, silver and gold level. Hit the bronze one and you get an extra spin on the roulette wheel, hit the silver for 2 extra spins and hit the gold for 3.

 

The whole thing seems completely pointless. The amount of money you get in the levels is more than enough to cover the cost an extra couple of slots and you can easily hit at least the silver UFO for an extra couple of turns. Finally, once you defeat the boss of a world you can simply select any level you want. The whole thing just seems bizarre and completely unnecessary.

 

There are plenty of collectibles within the game but these don't really seem to do anything or even add to you overall completion percentage. From what i've read and seen, you simply get 100% for finishing the game.

 

There are badges to earn from each of the levels. These are awarded for not using items, collecting everything, not taking any damage and not using a checkpoint. Again, these don't seem to give you anything either.

 

A lot of the reviews complained about the vehicle stages and having played one I completely agree.

 

I had to guide Chibi, through the sky, using a set of balloons. The stage was stupidly slow and the control scheme they decided to use for it was just weird. It's not hard by any means but it made me scratch my head and think who the hell thought this was a good idea?

 

The music is great, though. Nice cheery, catchy tunes help to make the game a little more fun.

 

So, yeah, mixed bag. I got Lego Jurassic World for the Vita yesterday as well and have had far more fun playing that than Chibi, despite it using the same old tried and tested Lego formula. Says it all really. :D

Edited by Hero-of-Time

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At least we got a cool amiibo I guess.

 

It's still early days and my opinion may change the further I get in. As it stands though, I can see why reviews of this haven't been favourable.

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I'm just over halfway through the game now and it hasn't got any better, if anything it's probably got worse!

 

I've played a couple more vehicle sections and they all are terrible. Some of them require perfect runs. If you die or run out of energy then all the way back to the start you go. You then have to sit and watch the cutscene all over again, before starting the level from scratch. The developers clearly knew this was a problem because after the second time you die you get the option to skip the level for 500 coins. Yay! The coins actually have a use!

 

One of the vehicle sections is where you use a submarine. I read horror stories from US players who got the game before us and it turns out they are all true. The controls are very sluggish and slow and the levels very boring, even more so than the regular ones, which is an accomplishment in itself.

 

During the submarine stage you get locked in a room and you have to wait until enemy cannons fire a certain type of mine at you and then grab it and use it against a wall. No kidding, I sat for around 30 seconds, in the same spot, just waiting for the game to give me the right mine. Very annoying.

 

To add insult to injury, the game then makes it so you have to fight the 3rd world boss in the submarine! What a mess!

 

The game just doesn't flow as a 2D platformer should, especially one from Nintendo. In a year where the company has been critised for releasing spin-offs and games that aren't up to their usual standards, this does everything to reinforce these views.

 

I'm gonna keep pushing through it and get it finished. I'll have to go through the list of games I've finished this year but this is looking to be like the worst game I have played.

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Mine arrived this morning.

Sounds like I'll be putting it on the back burner!

 

Adorable amiibo though!

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I got my copy yesterday and have played through the first world, I'm actually really enjoying it so far! :)

Wasn't expecting much from this at all, and do agree with a lot of the issues @Hero\-of\-Time mentioned above. However, the charm of Chibi-Robo, the music (some of which is amazing :yay:) and the zany vibe that skip always feature in their games has been keeping a smile on my face. :hehe:

 

A lot of weird/quirky design choices in this one though for sure. Luckily my tolerance for that kind of stuff is pretty high, but yeah, this is definitely going to be a marmite game.

 

Really hope it does well enough so that we can get to see more of Chibi-Robo in the future though, such a great character. :love:

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Heh, so one of us here like it and one doesn't. This one should be pretty interesting to dive into when I get the chance :)

 

Got my copy along with the Amiibo. Bit of a shame that it wasn't made out of metal though, that would've been nice to see; especially since they started using different materials with the Yarn Yoshi Amiibos.

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Got mine yesterday, too. Haven't had much time to play yet (only done 1-1 and 1-2), but I really like it so far. Of course, I've yet to hit the dreaded vehicle stages, so who knows...

 

And yeah, the amiibo is definitely adorable. :love:

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I too got it, I think it's... OK. The stage roulette is a bizarre choice.

 

Reminds me a lot of BoxBoy for some reason.

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Really hope it does well enough so that we can get to see more of Chibi-Robo in the future though, such a great character. :love:

 

I doubt it will. The sales in Japan for the game were terrible and I can't see it doing very well over here or the US.

 

It's weird because they said they made it a 2D platformer to make it easier for kids to get into, which would lead to better sales. I would argue that this game can be harder at times than the original game on the GameCube.

 

Anyway, i've just finished the game.

 

You must have JavaScript enabled on your device to view Miiverse posts that have been embedded in a website. @Glen\-i. I had to replay levels, on a game that I don't really care for, to get these. Don't say I don't do anything for you. :D

 

 

You must have JavaScript enabled on your device to view Miiverse posts that have been embedded in a website. View post in Miiverse

 

You must have JavaScript enabled on your device to view Miiverse posts that have been embedded in a website. View post in Miiverse

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You must have JavaScript enabled on your device to view Miiverse posts that have been embedded in a website. View post in Miiverse

 

Yay! Any sign that they haven't given up on this is A-OK by me!

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Little fun fact: Vanpool (the developer that co-developed this game alongside Skip - they're actually ex Skip staff BTW) also developed the Tingle games on DS as well as the two Dillon's Rolling Western games; so that explains the costumes ;)

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