Chubbins (Wii U) Review

Playing Chubbins is a surreal experience. From the perverse implications of the title of the game, to the difficulty options given to the player (Soft or Hard) and the nonsensical imagery compounded by the weirdly laid-back, piddling background music, Chubbins' haphazard imagination is it's selling point. Chubbins is also a hard game. Much of its difficulty comes from how much of an eye-strain it can be to stare at such bland geometry while constantly bouncing. Playing on "Soft" mode, there will be checkpoints scattered throughout the level, and moving platforms have a ghost-like track indicating their trajectory. Playing on "Hard", Chubbins gets no checkpoints or visible tracks; death makes players start the area from the beginning. There are a few power-ups that let colour-corresponding spikes be crossed over, but generally don't make the game more interesting.

Bounce height or direction is determined by the properties of the platforms he bounces on, as indicated by the arrows ticking on each box. Maintaining momentum while bouncing is admittedly gratifying, but when a player have to wait or stop to take a moment to time a manoeuvre around a bouncing badger with a hat, the game becomes a test of patience. There are some decent platform hell moments to be enjoyed in Chubbins that evoke memories of Donkey Kong Country, and it's low points could have probably been rectified if Chubbins had a more engaging soundtrack, instead of what can be best described as flaccid elevator music.

Visually, Chubbins is perplexing. Chubbins is a rotund white-rabbit with soulless, lifeless eyes - the devil's eyes, like a doll's. The world he lives in is built of sparsely textured, abstract geometric backgrounds that clash with the designs of the morbidly obese critters. The designs of the characters really could have been coloured balls and it would not affect the game at all. The most interesting moments are the boss fights, where the most basic of mechanics imaginable are put to imaginative use that can make the game feel like a bullet hell shooter when having to bounce around one-hit death fireballs.

Who is this game made for exactly? Chubbins is too hard for children, but it is unlikely that many serious gamers would ever give this game a chance upon first glance. If the Dahku crew put more effort into their game to look less generic and injected some life into it, people might have given Chubbins more attention. There is a reasonable amount of content for the price point ($4.99) and the challenge will certainly lengthen the trials within, however, there are more worthwhile purchases that can be made in the e-Shop. It's worth noting there was an instance where the game experienced an ear-bleeding sound glitch where the game was rebooted and all progress was lost.