Despite having bought Chibi-Robo! for the GameCube at launch, which is to say 9 years ago, I only got around to playing it last Summer. If I had known the little house-cleaning robot would climb his way into my heart, I would have played this gem much, much sooner. Failing to make a splash, the cute cleaning machine never made it big and the subsequent sequels and spin-offs never managed to replicate what made the original great.
In another attempt to keep the IP alive, Skip and Vanpool take it for a spin-off yet again with Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash for 3DS. Chibi (Cheebo to his friends) tackles 2D platforming, but how high can he jump?

Well, not very high actually, the robotic housekeeper isn’t very agile, so he relies on his power plug to reach high places or defend himself. It’s actually a nice idea and one that fits Cheebo very well, he makes up for his lack of athletic prowess by throwing his Chibi-Plug to grab platforms, zip up, swing like Tarzan or whip like Indiana Jones. Think Bionic Commando, but cuter.The problem is, the game rarely makes good use of this mechanic, after introducing its uses early on, there’s barely any evolution in its implementation, we mostly see tame variations of the same few scenarios as we advance and genuinely creative moments are infrequent.There’s certainly some fun to be had, some levels are pretty entertaining and it’s satisfying to zip around, whip like there’s no tomorrow and bounce the plug off walls to reach that tough spot. The problem is that the game rarely goes for much more than “reasonably entertaining”.

If the level design is nothing to write home about structurally, artistically the same can be said. While travelling the world to save us from some aliens, Chibi visits some pretty generic levels- forests, beaches, the usual- that do absolutely nothing to stand out. Instead of pulling a Gulliver (or a Minish Cap if you need a videogame reference) and putting tiny Cheebo jumping on gigantic tree branches, blades of grass or whatever real world elements that would show how small our character is, the levels are little more than generic jumping blocks with a background. A wasted opportunity really.

As expected, there are plenty of collectibles, too much if you ask me. Hidden throughout the levels are actual Japanese snacks (Chibi does an adorable dance when he grabs one), big coins, Chibi-Tots (Chibi-Robo… babies?) and trash to generate the energy Cheebo runs on, not to mention regular coins and Zip Lash power ups. Oh and there are stamps for not taking damage, not dying and not using items! It’s always good to have a reason to revisit levels and explore them deeper, but going overboard doesn’t really help and it’s not like most collectibles are hidden in particularly interesting places.

The coolest thing about going to a level the second time, other than searching for junk food, is chasing an alien that can give us costumes (like a Mario or Link one) and possibly, part of a 5 digit code. You have to share this number with other players online, so the community can piece it together and help everyone unlock these costumes. A neat little idea.

Speaking of revisiting levels, Zip Lash has the most mind boggling level selection I’ve ever seen. Get this: when you finish a level, you have to spin a wheel to know how many places in the world map you move, if you end up on a level you already finished, you need to play it again. Granted, it’s not as bad as it sounds, you can buy panels with the numbers you want for the wheel (and money shouldn’t be a problem), hitting the right spot is super easy and there are ways to get more spins, but really, what is the point of all this? At best you go where you want and just wasted some time, at worst you have to repeat a level. This is probably an incentive to replay the levels and get the plethora of hidden items in the levels, but it’s not a very enticing offer.

Some say that in entertainment, being average the worst thing possible. Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash manages to be a bit more than average, it’s solid and it can be entertaining for a few hours, but considering Skip’s and Vanpool’s portfolio, they should and could have dared to do better.

Was this the final adventure for the tiny robot? I don’t know, but hey, if the amiibo sells well, maybe Nintendo will take this “Toys to Life” thing further and make an actual, working Chibi-Robo to clean my room while I lay on the bed crying for not getting a worthy sequel to the original.