Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol (DS)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 4.0 stars Excellent
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 8.0 (4.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Lark Anderson
• Reviewed on: 10/04/2007
• Updated on: 03/08/2008
• Released on: 10/02/2007
• Originally published on GameSpot: Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol (DS) Review

The world is a grim place: All across the planet, parks are being transformed into barren wastelands by pollution, and flowers have been driven nearly extinct. Only you stand in the way of a complete global catastrophe, as the happiness of the entire planet is in your hands. Or something. Though this may sound like a bad episode of Captain Planet and the Planeteers, it's actually the plot behind Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol. Once again, you step into the diminutive shoes of the four-inch-tall Chibi-Robo as you fend off the forces of the sinister Miasmo and his sidekick Sergeant Smogglor, all while trying to restore a desolate park and solve the problems of a group of toys. This delightful, bizarre adventure simplifies and builds on the gameplay of the GameCube original while making innovative use of the touch screen and presenting an often-hilarious story rife with colorful, insane characters.

The fictional company Citrusoft Robotics (finally, a benevolent corporation), creator of the original Chibi-Robo, has built a new and improved model of their tiny robot to combat the rampant pollution in the world. Dubbed the Blooming Chibi-Robo, you have been donated by your creators to a small, abandoned park to undo the damage pollution has done and attract new visitors, all with the ultimate goal of generating happiness. You initially find yourself inside the Chibi-House, your base of operations, where you meet Chet, the colorful and tragically housebound (due to a design flaw) robot that assists you. He explains your mission--to find what few flower buds remain and coax them into growing and producing seeds--and will offer questionably helpful hints all throughout the game, often apologizing profusely at the drop of a hat. He also has the useful ability to convert the happy points that you earn--a numerical indication of the amount of happiness you've generated--into electricity, the most vitally important resource you will require throughout your journey.

You see, Chibi is a battery-powered robot, and as such, you must constantly keep an eye on his power level and return him to the Chibi-House when he's in need of a recharge. But because the Chibi-House is a fully self-contained system, there's only so much power available in reserve, so you must work hard to earn happy points in a number of ways, the most common of which is the growing of flowers. Buds that are planted in fertile soil can be watered with your infinitely full squirt gun until maturity, after which a little bit of song and dance, provided with the assistance of your boom box, is enough to get them to reproduce; this creates joy, which you convert to watts in order to power yourself. Watts also serve as the currency used to purchase new Chibi-Gear such as larger batteries, faster modes of transportation, and cartridges that let you construct new games and more in the park. Be warned, though: Flowers are fickle and will grow only on fertile soil, something in short supply considering that most of the park has withered to sand. So what's a Chibi-Robo to do? Call on the help of his friends, of course!

Throughout the course of the game, you will encounter a cast of strange and eccentric living toys who fall prey to the mysterious Sergeant Smogglor and his Zapow attack. Drained of their power, the toys are counting on you to help them out by plugging into them for a quick charge, after which they offer their services to help you with park projects like tilling sand and converting it to soil, building games or park utilities, or repairing broken items. Each of the diverse characters, from the French-accented marionette Francois to the snowboarding penguin duo Pop and Fizz, has its own backstory and motivations that are revealed to you as you work with them and ultimately resolve their problems. The villains themselves are humorous and fleshed out as well, and the unique interactions you have with them and the others are among the most well-done bits of the entire game.

When not exploring or trying to grow flowers, you'll never have a shortage of things to do for happy points. Every one of the games you can construct can be played; trash can be found and thrown away; simple fetch quests can be performed for your friends; and flowers can be gathered and donated to the local florist. On top of that, new dances can be learned from Kid Kombo, the simian mascot of Monkey Burger, and park add-on cartridges can be found hidden in cardboard boxes around town. Don't let your guard down too much, though, as Miasmo's minions are ever vigilant in their quest to undo your good deeds and ruin your flower gardens--but all in all they're nothing that a little bit of water and elbow grease can't handle.

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  "You are saving a park from smogglers. You raise flowers. Smogglers make them black."

  by chibi robo on April 23, 2008

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