Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol

Release Date: October 2, 2007

Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol Review


Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol shares a lot of similarities with Animal Crossing: it's a sandbox-style game where you have full customization over your park - you can raise and lower terrain, put in structures and toys, and create paths all over your strip of land. But this can only be accomplished if you harvest the game's resources so you can buy the elements for all of the customization options. But here's a disappointment: the game has all the ingredients of a Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection-supported game, and yet doesn't even support any sort of multiplayer whatsoever. The setup is there: the story explains that Chibi-Robos all over the world are working on their own parks. But the potential of this is never explored. How cool would it have been to show off your park to other Chibi-Robo players, or visit someone else's park?

The original GameCube game worked really well as a game because it focused on the exploration element - in that game it was all about climbing on tables, under couches, across furniture to discover new things. That sense of exploration is missing a bit in Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol because you really don't go anywhere - it's just your park and the shops across the street. And when you visit the shops, there's no vertical exploration - you can't climb in this game, so all the adventuring happens from ground level.

But just because it doesn't have the same elements as the GameCube game doesn't make Park Patrol a bad game - it's actually a whole lot of fun because there's so much to do and plenty of time to do it. And the reward system keeps the gameplay addictive - you'll really want to increase your flower population just to see what the next quota tier gives your little robot. And even though some of the touch screen control options get a little odd and clunky, it's still a lot of fun tooling around in the various vehicles you earn along the way - bouncing around in an RC car is surprisingly thrilling, made even moreso thanks to the ability to create your own paths and hills in your park.

That doesn't mean the game isn't without its issues. The pacing of the presentation is the absolute pits - you're forced to scroll through the same dialogue over and over and over again, which artificially inflates the playtime. The camera system can also get in the way sometimes, making it difficult to see where you are and where you're heading - it's fixed somewhat with an easy to use "reset camera" touch screen button, but the camera should have been tweaked a little better than it was in the final product. And then there are the bugs: the game's riddled with little glitches like flowers refusing to spit seeds after being taunted with a perfect dance, forcing players to waste precious energy to do that same dance a second time. And bad guys tend to disappear into raised land or under bridges, making it difficult to squish 'em like they're meant to be squished.

The Verdict

It's surprising that Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol is only going to be available at one retailer, because the game is actually quite good. Not great, but definitely a surprisingly decent experience. It follows up the GameCube original well with an original theme and gameplay elements of its own, and if it wasn't for the sluggish pacing and small glitches hindering the experience it would have easily rated in the 8.0 range. It's definitely worth checking out. Score one for Wal-Mart.

IGN Ratings for Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol (NDS)
Lots to do and see, but it's all strung together by an incredibly and unnecessarily wordy presentation. Dialog isn't skippable, and you have to sit through the same lines over and over. Buggy, too.
The game keeps with the same look and style as the GameCube title, which, admittedly was, you know, kinda bad. But what was quirky and ugly on the Cube actually fits the Nintendo DS limitations.
Fun music and intentionally garbled dialog. It's all pleasant to the ears, even if the soundtrack won't win any Grammys.
Full of fun and variety. Not many locations to explore, but at least you have tons of items to play with and a park to customize.
Lasting Appeal
This game would have kicked butt as an online experience, if only to share players' parks with the rest of the world. At least the adventure's extensive.
(out of 10, not an average)
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Game Details

Published by: Nintendo
Developed by: Skip Ltd.
Genre: Action
Release Date:
United States: October 2, 2007
Japan: July 5, 2007
MSRP: 34.99 USD
E for Everyone : Comic Mischief
Also Available On: