Zubo (DS) Review
Ill admit that when Zubo arrived on my doorstep that I was understandably skeptical about the quality of the title. Thats the biggest problem with the Nintendo DSs library today, a large amount of low quality software makes any game with a basic looking art direction look just like that. However, when I actually spent some time with Zubo, I was surprised, actually no, very surprised to find that the game wasnt actually that bad and is by no means in the same league as the plethora of DS shovelware out there.
In Zubo, players can take control of either a male or female protagonist, and name them whatever they want. I went along with the male character whose default name was Alex. Simple enough. Anyway, after choosing the character, Alex is propelled into Zubalon, a colourful world inhabited by many zany creatures called Zubo.The Zubo are simple shaped people who have a penchant for entertaining, and some of them even resemble your favourite movie stars (Robocop and James Bond are some that come to mind). Upon entering Zubalon, Alex finds out that Big Head is using his evil Zombo hoard to take control of Zubalon. And so, Alex begins his quest. And throughout his quest, Alex will explore the vast and vibrant world of Zubalon.
All the on-screen items in Zubo are fully three dimensional and because of this the games overall visual quality does take a very noticeable hit. Fortunatley, the geometric natures of the Zubos physique helps the game pull off the visual style without looking too out of place. The graphics run at a pretty terrible frame rate too, but there is nothing here that affects overall gameplay. Presentation is of a very high quality regardless. The menus are clean too. Perhaps the best and most charming feature about Zubo is not only its art style, but the humourous way in which it is animated, with each Zubo having a personality to their animations making the game feel very polished. Zubo takes the form of a very bare bones role playing game. When players control Alex, they can carry up to three Zubo out of a possible combination of fifty five, who players will slowly recruit as the quest progresses.
Each has their own special abilities and a specific type. There are three types and they work in a rock-paper-scissors fashion in order to determine weaknesses and such. And although the game assures you that there is such a system in place, no matter what we did with our playthrough, there wasnt anything working like it shouldve. Anyway, more about the gameplay. The stylus is the only thing youll need to play Zubo, and is the only method of control for Alex. Similar to other games on the platform, pointing the stylus to any specific area will see Alex (or whoever you chose) move to that position, and his Zubo will follow him. The stylus can also be used to feed food to Zubo in order to heal their wounds after battle as well as to save the game or manage your party.
Its during battles with the enemies, however, that Zubo really shines. When in battle, the game takes a very close quarters view and allows players to choose a Zubo to perform their move during the turn, as well as which move in particular they will use. Upon using the move, the Zubo will play it out and players must complete a mini-game similar in fashion to Elite Beat Agents in order to ensure maximum damage is dealt.
In addition, performing these moves succesfully yields special points similar to MP in other RPGs, which allow the Zuba to perform more powerful attacks. Its an extremely simple system that requires little to no effort in managing equipment or stats and as a result it makes Zubo an extremely accessible and easy to play game. For a game that places a whole lot of emphasis on performing, Zubo has a fairly average soundtrack. When a game plays background tracks that stand out as repetitious, it really does become a pain on the old auditory canal. Fortunately, if you dont care about grinding up levels, the music does change from area to area but it is all largely similar sounding and as a result makes the game feel tedious at times. Zubo is definitely primarily designed for children, and thats possibly most evident through the length of the game. The game does not last for as long as you would expect from an RPG, but considering its target audience it doesnt really have to.
Fortunately, there are some secret Zubo that may keep completionists playing to unlock everything, as well as a very nice wireless multiplayer mode that, although we only got to play one game, was impressively structured.
Zubo is one of those games that I definitely cant recommend to everyone. On one hand, its a very charming rhythm based role playing game that has a generally childish artistic direction. On the other, its a short and tedious RPG that many may overlook. I mentioned in my Sonic Chronicles review that it was a very good entry-level RPG for children looking to get into the genre, however with my time with Zubo, I can safely say that Zubo is possibly the ultimate stepping stone into the genre that any developer has come up with. A short but sweet treat.
