Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash arrives on the Nintendo 3DS with a bold change of direction for the series. Where earlier games leaned on exploration and simple tasks, this one drops players into a side-scrolling platformer built around a whip-like cord and a rolling dash. The move is meant to draw in new players, and it mostly succeeds, even if the result doesn’t fully live up to the ambition behind it.
Trailer, via Nintendo of America.
The Cord and Its Tricks
The core trick is simple to explain but satisfying once you master it. Chibi-Robo’s plug can attach to orange surfaces on walls and ceilings, letting him swing across gaps and grapple to high places. Hold the cord in mid-air and he hovers for a moment, giving players a window to aim for distant spots. The second trick is Zip Lash, a charged shot that ricochets off walls, useful for puzzle-solving and reaching spots the whip alone can’t reach.
Both tricks feed into a single resource: watts, the game’s power supply. Run low and the screen goes dark, forcing a restart. That threat keeps every level tense, since you’re always hunting plug sockets to top up. It’s a clever way to keep the player moving without ever feeling cheap.
“Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash is a 2015 platform game developed by Skip Ltd. and Vanpool and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS.”
Seven Worlds, One Ring
The game splits its seven worlds — Oceania, North Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, North America, the South Pole, and Asia — into a ring of levels shown on a 2D map. Players move between them via the Chibi-House, the game’s hub world, which lets you buy upgrades and spend your coins. Each world holds six levels plus a boss, though Asia stands apart with its own setup.
The ring structure means you’re rarely lost, since the map shows exactly where you’ve been and where you’re headed. It’s a neat trick, and it keeps the game feeling open without losing its thread.
The Boss Fight and Its Wheel
Once you clear all six levels, the boss opens up. The difficulty depends on the Destination Wheel, a roulette-style system that picks your next target. You can spend coins to add new tiles to the wheel, rigging it to favor easier fights. It’s a clever way to let players chase a harder challenge if they want it, while still giving the timid a path forward.
The bosses themselves are where the game stumbles. They’re large, imposing figures, and the fights ask for quick reactions and precise timing. Some feel generous, others harsh. None of them stick in the memory the way the best platformer bosses do.
Collectibles and the Real-World Brands
Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash piles on collectibles the way earlier games in the series did, but this time they’re more than just busywork. Big Coins and Chibi-Tots fill the levels, and the snacks — small figures based on real-world brands — give the game a distinct identity. They’re also tied to the game’s progression: collecting enough of them opens up new content in the Chibi-House.
It’s a clever way to reward attention, and it gives the game a sense of scale that earlier entries lacked. The snacks are easy to miss, but finding them feels worthwhile when you see what they unlock.
The Story Behind the Change
The shift to a platformer wasn’t made lightly. Developers told reporters they wanted to expand the franchise’s audience in the US, and they chose Chibi-Robo himself as the lead character because he fit the new style. The snack collectibles were added to give scale to Chibi-Robo and make him more recognizable to players.
There was also worry that this might be the last installment of the series. Sales expectations loomed over the project, and the developers feared the franchise could end if the game didn’t perform. That pressure shows in the final product: a game that reaches for something bigger but never quite gets there.
Where It Falls Short
The problem isn’t the cord itself. It’s the levels around it. Some stages repeat the same trick over and over, and the game doesn’t always find fresh ways to use the tools it gives you. The boss fights are the weakest link, demanding precision without giving you much room to learn the patterns.
The game also leans heavily on repetition. Later worlds ask you to master the same moves you learned in the first few hours, and the game doesn’t always do a good job of showing you how to apply them in new ways. That’s a shame, because the tools are genuinely clever.
A Solid, Uneven Entry
Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash is a game of contrasts. Its best ideas — the cord, the collectible snacks, the Destination Wheel — are executed with real care. Its worst ideas — the boss fights, the repeated levels, the nagging sense that the game is stretching thin material — drag it down. The result is a game that’s better than it has any right to be, but not great.
It’s a solid entry in a series that has always been more charming than it is challenging. If you’re a fan of the earlier games, you’ll likely enjoy the new formula. If you’re new to Chibi-Robo, this is a good place to start — though you might want to check out the older games afterward, since they handle the series’ strengths more gracefully.
Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash is a game that knows what it wants to be but struggles to fully become it. The cord is a joy to use, the world is packed with personality, and the snacks are a delightful touch. But the levels don’t always earn their length, and the bosses punish more than they reward. It’s a game worth playing for its ideas, even if those ideas don’t always land.
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