At first glance, The Munchables
from Namco-Bandai looks like your average kid’s Wii game. The cover is bright
and colorful, with cartoony characters drawn in a paper cut-out style. The
central characters are even shown eating vegetables, which is the wholesome sort
of activity you’d expect to find in a game aimed at the grade-school crowd. If
you give it a try, though, you’ll quickly discover that it’s really a bizarre,
quirky Japanese game in the grand Katamari tradition.
The Munchables takes place on a
planet called Star Ving (groan), where cute creatures, like our heroes Chomper
and Munchy, live out their days eating as much as they want. Thanks to magical
objects called the Legendary Orbs, the planet has a never-ending supply of food,
and it’s a good thing, because Chomper and Munchy have got enormous appetites.
As the game begins, a fleet of Space Pirates descend to steal Legendary Orbs.
The pirates are a race known as Tabemon, of which there are many different
varieties – unfortunately for them, every variety resembles a different type of
fruit or vegetable, and with the Legendary Orbs no longer producing an endless
feast Chomper and Munchy are famished.
The heroes are staving, and the
enemies look like food. Can you see where this is going?
After choosing one of the
heroes (Chomper’s stronger but Munchy’s faster), the player makes their way
through each stage, eating all the evil (yet delicious!) pirates in their way.
Eating’s as simple as pressing A, so chomping your way through a crowd is fast
and easy. There’s something to be said for the simple pleasure of approaching a
group of your enemies, only to devour them en masse.
Some pirates are bigger than
others, though, and you can’t eat anything that’s bigger than you. Every eaten Tabemon adds to your stomach counter, which in turn levels up your size, so if
you scarf enough little guys, eventually you’ll be able to eat the bigger ones.
Your other option is to attack, which breaks apart a large pirate into many
smaller pirates, suitable for munching. The pirates don’t just let you
eat them, either. Some of the enemies will attack you, either physically or by
throwing things at you. If you get hit, you immediately shrink to your original
tiny size – when this happens you better shake the controller to restore your
size, because if you take a hit while small you’ll have to restart the stage.
The number over big enemies’ heads
indicates what level you have to reach before you’ll be able to eat them.
The game’s central concept, of
growing your character by consuming progressively larger objects, obviously
takes some cues from Namco’s own Katamari series. Yet while the games are
somewhat similar, Munchables feels different enough to not feel like a rip-off.
For one thing, the game’s got a heavy platforming element – you’ll often have to
jump a series of platforms or navigate tricky narrow passages. In some ways,
it’s influenced as much by Super Mario Galaxy as Katamari. Like SMG, Munchables’
stages are often made up of discrete 3D areas, little set-piece challenges that
must be conquered in a specific order to get to the end.
It’s all simple enough, but
that’s a big part of the game’s charm. The game has a cute, quirky aesthetic
that’s hard to resist. The veggie pirates are all adorable, which makes it even
more fun to devour them mercilessly. The Munchables uses a construction-paper
animated style during cinematics, giving them a really unique look. The 3D
in-game graphics look really good, which is a refreshing change from the
lackluster visuals you see in so many Wii games. Characters and enemies stretch
and bounce constantly, and the eating animations are satisfyingly quick and
powerful. The music’s got the same kind of bouncy, kinetic charm, and while the
soundtrack isn’t Katamari-level brilliant, the tunes are pretty catchy and very
rarely irritating.
There are a lot of terrible
games aimed at kids glutting up the Wii market, and it would be a real shame if
this got lost among them. The Munchables might not be the deepest or most
challenging game out there, but it’s a delightful adventure that’s a whole lot
of fun.
Gameplay: 8.2
Traversing the game’s levels, eating
bigger and bigger enemies until you’re gigantic is more than a little
reminiscent of Katamari Damacy, but that’s hardly a bad thing. Giving the
formula a platforming slant gives The Munchables its own unique identity.
Graphics: 8.1
An adorable art style and vibrant
use of color makes the game really pop visually. The in-game 3D is impressively
fluid, with characters constantly bulging, warping, or stretching. Even the
environment feels alive and cheerful, with tons of life and movement.
Sound: 7.6
The music in the game is upbeat,
cheerful, and energetic. It isn’t necessarily very memorable, but it’s
entertaining enough while you’re playing the game.
Difficulty: Easy
While it’s easy to get hit, you
quickly revert to normal so it’s tough to actually get killed. It does get a
little tougher later on, but most of the challenge is optional – like re-playing
stages to get the best possible score, or to hunt down the unlockables.
Multiplayer: 7.5
Munchables’ multiplayer is another
thing that takes inspiration from SMG: player 2 can aim and shoot at the screen
to stun and confuse enemies. It’s great for letting gamers of different skill
levels play together.
Concept: 7.7
The story’s pretty wacky and unique,
though not really well-developed or particularly involved. The gameplay conceit
– two parts Katamari and one part Super Mario Galaxy – is solid fun, if not the
most original.
Overall: 8.0
Like Klonoa or Zack and Wiki, The
Munchables proves that “kid-friendly Wii game” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not
worth your time. Fans of Katamari or just off-kilter action games take note:
this game is surprisingly awesome.
