He’s back. Chibi-Robo, the helpful little robot from early GameCube days, has been polished off, upgraded and is now appearing a new 3DS augmented reality game.
Old Chibi-Robo
Those who remember the Chibi-Robo from 2005 will be delighted, as he was a great favourite with a certain type of player. And it is keeping with Nintendo’s habit of upgrading characters, rather than killing them off. Players’ fondness for certain Nintendo characters is part of the strength of the brand and they have not let fans down with the relaunch. The original game, for those who are too young to remember, was a platform-adventure game, in which players were in control of the tiny robot, whose sole aim was to help human beings with housework. It doesn’t sound convincing, but it was surprisingly addictive. The objective was to become a top ranking Super Chibi-Robo by collecting Happy Points, which were accumulated every time Chibi-Robo did a good deed for the Sandersons – the virtual family in whose house he roamed. The robot had to find and collect various items, take out the rubbish, clean up and help the toys and the Sandersons with everyday problems. The game appealed to players who enjoyed relaxing, storyline driven game play. Those who preferred high speed, high-octane games avoided it, but this did not stop spin off games such as Chibi-Robo: Patrol Park being released in 2007 for Nintendo and Okaeri! Chibi-Robo! Happy Richie Osoji!, for the Japanese market in 2009.
New Chibi-Robo
If you have a Japan region 3DS, you can get the new Chibi-Robo game immediately. Others will have to wait. Named ‘Photography with Chibi-Robo’, it is a world away from the original Game Cube version. Set in the future and using a 3DS stereoscopic camera, the little robot now has to take photographs of real life collectables and take them to the Nostaobject museum. You must match what you have with dark silhouettes to get points. There must be a 60% match before Chibi-Robot zings out of the object and gains points. The museum is run by Mr Kancho, who loves objects from the past and wants people to enjoy a nostalgic museum trip. Chibi-Robo and his friends Tonpi and Chibi-Chibi, to find the objects to fill up the museum. Other familiar characters return too, such as Space Hunter Drake Redcrest and new characters for the mini-game version. You may be thinking of selling your 3DS online and there are compelling reasons to do so, but we think that the new look Chibi-Robo will delay your decision for a few weeks yet.
Reception
Since this game is so new to the market, the jury is out. Nobody even knew that this game was in development, which means the surprise and novelty value is high, which will probably boost sales initially. Those who do not remember Chibi-Robo will enjoy a bit of retro-fun with a modern twist and those who are nostalgic for their old robot friend will want to see how he has moved on. Nintendo’s knack of catching both sides of the market with their character relaunches should pay off again. There is no doubt that the retro Nintendo market is set to expand and many will start their collection with Chibi-Robo Photography.