Chibi Robo: Park Patrol Preview

Chibi Robo is one of many overlooked gems that appeared on Nintendo GameCube, but even without the splash that most Nintendo franchises have, its cult following was enough to entice Skip Ltd. to work on a sequel: Chibi Robo: Park Patrol for Nintendo DS.

Chibi Robo: Park Patrol will take a bit of a left turn in regards of what was presented in the GameCube version, but it will still deliver clever game design with lighthearted charm that only Mr. Robo can provide. While visiting the Chibi Robo land, you’ll run around with a plug (as in the original GameCube game) attached to your back, and you will have to recharge if you want to keep playing. Chibi might be a hero, but don’t expect him to do normal “hero” things – after all, he’s only but a few inches high. In the demo, you start your adventure at Chibi’s place, where you are charging your batteries in order to start a new adventure.

But Chibi isn’t just confined to the house this time, he’ll be able to run around the park (No kidding? It is called “Park Patrol” after all). Here, he will have to search for missing toys, fight monsters and even bring flowers back to life by dancing around them (after watering them, that is). As wacky as it sounds, it’s real, we’re not making this stuff up. In addition to fighting monsters (or as good as it gets), you can also ride vehicles to reach your goal faster, like a like Robo-bike. The level that’s been presented so far is quite big, so you will need transportation. There’s even a huge ocean (Okay, maybe it is more like a river, but bear in mind we’re writing in Mr. Robo’s perspective) that you will have to cross in order to continue with the level.

Go Chibi!

Touch screen control is there, but it’s not mandatory. Meaning you can use the D-pad + button combination if you want. However, if you use the touch screen, you’ll be able to directly interact with Chibi by sliding, spinning, and doing everything you used to in the GameCube version.

Chibi Robo: Park Patrol looks fantastic, and it is very close to the GameCube iteration of the game. The 3D engine is fully rendered, chock-full of details and it runs smoothly enough (considering it is an early version of the game). The developers at Skip has managed to create a very solid engine, and we applaud them because aside from a couple of developers (Square Enix comes to mind), you don’t really get to see this kind of 3D graphics on DS that often.

Chibi Robo: Park Patrol still doesn’t have a release date set, but if the rest of the game is as solid as what Skip has shown so far, then we’re in for a heck of a ride.