Hands On: Chibi-Robo

November 4th, 2006, 23:28 Posted By: wraggster

One of the most charming GameCube titles is set to make a revival on the DS. Nintendo World was home to a playable demo of Chibi-Robo Park Patrol for the DS.

The demo starts off with Chibi in his little house. The house is set up basically the same as in the GameCube version, with an outlet for recharging the tiny robot's batteries and a depository for the "happies" that you collect by making other living creatures happy.

This time around, or in the Nintendo World demo at least, Chibi's house is in a park rather than in a house. My first job, according to the Nintendo rep who was guiding me (in English... what is it with Nintendo's Japanese reps and their English proficiency?) was to go around making the flowers in the area happy. This was simple enough. To make the flowers happy, you have to first water them using a water pump. You then have to play some music for them using Chibi's radio. The flowers dance along with Chibi for a few seconds, then release the cherished happies.

The stylus changes the feel of the game somewhat. While you control Chibi directly with the D-pad, you use the stylus to select items via icons on the left side of the bottom screen, and interact with the items in various ways. To pump water, you slide the pump up and down. To play music, you spin a turntable. The flowers react differently depending on the speed of the resulting music, so it's important that you not play the music too quickly.

After recharging Chibi, I decided to explore a bit further. The park has, in the distance, a road with moving traffic, and, further away, a gas station. I was able to get to the road, and it looked like I could cross to the gas station, although I was worried that being hit by a car would lead to Chibi's death and a return to the back of the line for me. Instead of crossing, I doubled back and crossed a river into a forest. Crossing a river isn't the best idea for Chibi, who doesn't get along well with water, but I was able to make it across with plenty of energy left.

There, I came upon: vehicles! The demo had a bicycle and buggy, both featuring completely unique control schemes. The bicycle is steered with left and right on the D-pad. You pedal by rotating an on-screen pedal with the stylus, and can change speed accordingly.

The buggy has the opposite control scheme. In order to use the buggy, you have to first plug Chibi into its outlet. Chibi's energy then drains as you move. To accelerate and break, you press up and down. The L button gives you a speedy boost. Steering is done via the stylus, by rotating a steering wheel.

Controlling the vehicles is just as fun as controlling Chibi himself. Chibi Robo also looks great on the DS, even with full 3D visuals. All this will hopefully lead to an adventure to rival the GameCube original.

Via IGN

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