History VideoGame / ChibiRobo

** Same with the frog rings. Collecting them all and giving them to Jenny makes her claim that "the spell is broken" as she takes off her hat. Mrs. Sanderson is happily surprised she stops pretending to be a frog, but unfortunately, [[spoiler: she puts the hat back on as soon as you leave the kitchen, and now all the frog rings are re-located where you previously found them. All those efforts you put into finding them all? Mounts to nothing.]]

* CashGate: Zip-Lash's final boss requires Chibi to buy [[spoiler: Giga-Robo's parts]] to be able to face it.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: [[spoiler: When the Spydorz go on a huge rampage, Mr. Sanderson suddenly takes charge and proves himself to be remarkably competent and clever]].

* DavidVsGoliath: Chibi-Robo goes up against [[spoiler: The Spydor Queen]] towards the end.

** [[spoiler: Chibi]] gets a plot-required one after [[spoiler: plugging in to Giga-Robo.]] It's used to show [[spoiler: Giga-Robo's past.]]

* EarnYourHappyEnding: Chibi-Robo works his tiny metal butt off to make everyone in the house happy, and in doing so fixes everyone's problems. He even manages to fix the [[spoiler: country-wide energy crisis]] at the end of the game as well.

* ExtendedGameplay: There's quite a lot to do once you manage to [[spoiler: take down the Spydorz Queen]]. Getting all the stickers, getting the frog rings, and reactivating Giga-Robo are the primary objectives, and the credits roll once you complete the latter.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* LivingToys: A staple of the series is that most [=NPCs=] are these. The first game is the only entry that actually explains their presence. [[spoiler: After Giga-Robo kept the alien's spaceship from crashing, they offered him anything he wants, and Giga asked that all the toys in the Sanderson house be brought to life]]. Jury's out on everybody in the later games, though.

* MoodWhiplash: Of a kind that can cause decapitation from it's severity. [[spoiler: It's a lot more potent to anybody playing who ''knows'' what it's like to be in a family where you get A) ignored by a parent not due to ill will but because of circumstances (Jenny and her mother), B) have a family threatening to taken apart because of miscommunication (the father), or C)to care about somebody who tends to irresponsible and makes it difficult to keep making excuses for them, and then finding out they had a reason for it in the first place and didn't want to hurt you with it (the mother).]] And remember, that all happens after a playful romp with living toys and trying to make the family happy. And that's not all of the problems you face in the game. Possibly PlayedForLaughs after [[spoiler:Phil is found "dead" partway through his and Dinah's sidequest chain - Telly swoops in on the scene and goes literally blue in the face with horror, he suggests that he and Chibi stay with the Phillies and a hysterical Dinah until they settle down... and once everyone falls asleep, he reverts to normal, cheerfully informs Chibi that he's headed back to the Chibi-House, and literally spins away into the air.]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Both Mr. and Mrs. Sanderson go through this: [[spoiler: Mr. Sanderson realizes how much of a pain he has been to his wife when she locks herself in her room. While in said room, Mrs. Sanderson will sorrowfully admit to Chibi-Robo that she was also at fault for being so cold and strict with her husband and daughter, keeping herself locked up not just out of anger at her family but out of shame in herself]].

* NoNameGiven: Mr. and Mrs. Sanderson are known as just that, with no mentioned first names. [[spoiler: The Japan-published "Sophie's Blog" reveals that their names are George and Helen, respectively.]]

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Mrs. Sanderson gives a scathing one to everybody in the family through a letter because of the things that they do to grate on her nerves and [[spoiler: [[RageBreakingPoint finally having had enough of Mr. Sanderson's wasting money on toys]], before dropping [[WhamLine quite an atom bomb on Mr. Sanderson that opens his eyes: threat of divorce]]]].
-->'''Mr. Sanderson:''' ''(reading Mrs. Sanderson's letter) Dear, dysfunctional family, Tao tracks mud all over the house! Jenny thinks she's a frog! And the "man" of the house isn't man enough to find another job!'' ''[[RageBreakingPoint Well, I've had enough! I'm sorry, but you've pushed me to the edge.]]'' ''[[spoiler: [[WhamLine The only option I've got left is... divorce.]]]]''

* TragicRobot: In the first game, Giga-Robo. Though he was beloved by both the Sandersons and the household toys, the amount of energy needed to recharge him resulted in a nationwide energy crisis; in turn, the financially-struggling Sandersons had no choice but to leave Giga-Robo dormant in the basement. Once Chibi-Robo and Telly learn about Giga-Robo and how much everyone misses him, they decide to use their own money to help charge Giga-Robo's battery. [[spoiler: The ending of the game has a fully-charged Giga-Robo reuniting with his alien friends, who then give Giga-Robo the infinite energy he asked for his battery, preventing another energy crisis to boot.]]

** [[spoiler: Mort and Princess Pitts.]]
* UnnamedParent: Jenny's son Keith (we never know who his dad is). [[spoiler: At first, anyway]].

** Finding all of Jenny's frog rings is not a requirement, but if you find them all and give them to her she will take off her hat. [[spoiler: Not permanently, however.]]

* WeaksauceWeakness: Got a horde of [[spoiler: Spydorz]] you want to get rid of quickly? Pose while wearing the ghost suit. For whatever reason, it will cause all of them to ''explode''. Best part of all? Doing so won't impact the scrap they drop.

A [[WidgetSeries quirky, offbeat]] AdventureGame with the guts of a [[PlatformGame platformer]], ''Chibi-Robo!'' tells the story of the Sandersons, a seemingly average [[{{Suburbia}} suburban]] family. For her birthday, 8-year-old Jenny Sanderson receives a "Chibi-Robo", a tiny, 4-inch tall RobotMaid with a [[HyperspaceArsenal hyperspace head]], a [[RobotBuddy neurotic flying sidekick]], and the ability to turn just about anything into a [[DoAnythingRobot useful tool]]. By design, Chibi-Robo is supposed to perform simple household tasks: Cleaning up, entertaining children, cooking--the basics. But ''this'' particular Chibi-Robo doesn't have it so easy, as he becomes a kind of Armchair Psychiatrist to the Sandersons and all of their [[DysfunctionJunction severely messed up toys]].

Released in 2005 for the [=GameCube=], ''Chibi-Robo!'' is considered something of a cult hit. It was critically praised, but sold poorly--partially due to its [[WidgetSeries odd nature]] and partially due to the overall bad sales of the system it was on. Nintendo included it as one of their "New Play Control!" {{Updated Rerelease}}s for Wii, but only in Japan. Still, if you have a Wii (or still have a [=GameCube=] kicking around), check this out--it's quite fun, cute as a button, and [[HiddenDepths unexpectedly moving]].

* CompanyCrossReferences: Bandai-Namco co-produced this game. You can receive a Toys/{{Tamagotchi}} toy (another Bandai property) as an item for [[spoiler:completing Captain Plankbeard's sidequests]] and can interact with it.

* WhipItGood: The weapon of choice in the 3DS game.

* NoNameGiven: Mr. and Mrs. Sanderson are known as just that, with no mentioned first names.

[[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chibi180_7552.jpg]]

* {{Expy}}: Drake Redcrest's design was obviously [[Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman Gatchaman]]-based (his original name in the Japanese version was "Gocchiman"), and he seems to have a bit of [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory Buzz Lightyear]] in him, as well. Funnily enough, he seems to have both of [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory Buzz Lightyear's]] personalities in him: he's completely aware that he's a toy, yet acts like a real super hero anyway.

Released in 2005 for the [=GameCube=], ''Chibi-Robo!'' is considered something of a cult hit. It was critically praised, but sold poorly--partially due to its [[WidgetSeries odd nature]] and partially due to the overall bad sales of the system it was on. Nintendo included it as one of their "New Play Control!" {{Updated Rerelease}}s for Wii, but only in Japan. Still, if you have a Wii (or still have a [=GameCube=] kicking around), check this out--it's quite fun, [[TastesLikeDiabetes cute as a button,]] and [[HiddenDepths unexpectedly moving]].

* TheVoiceless: There have been several models of Chibi-Robo, and none of them have been equipped with the ability to speak.[[note]]There are a few dialogue trees in ''Photo Finder'' that Chibi-Robo goes through without help from Telly, however.[[/note]]

* CompanyCrossReferences: Bandai-Namco co-produced this game. You can receive a VideoGame/{{Tamagotchi}} toy (another Bandai property) as an item for [[spoiler:completing Captain Plankbeard's sidequests]] and can interact with it.

* ShoutOut: The game was co-produced by Bandai-Namco, so a Tamagotchi appears in the game.

** You are allowed to kill any chibi-tots you find in ''Zip Lash''.

* GuideDangIt: In the Mort and Princess sidestory, during the castle scaling, you have to somehow conclude that you need to use the Chibi Blaster on the upright clock hand. The only indication you get is that the hand wiggles, but up until this point you have been taught the only things you can shoot are enemies and stickers, which the clock hand is/has neither. Making this worse is that [[spoiler:unless you beat the game and have unlimited energy]], scaling the castle takes a ''huge'' amount of energy to do and thus you don't generally have a whole lot of time to stop and figure things out.

** VideoGameCaringPotential: Giving it back to Sophie is much nicer, though.
*** Also, finding all of Jenny's frog rings is not a requirement, but if you find them all and give them to her she will take off her hat. [[spoiler: Not permanently, however.]]

* VideoGameSettings: ''Zip Lash'' has these for [[PlatformGame obvious reasons]].
** GreenHillZone: Oceania.
** ShiftingSandLand: North Africa.
** PalmtreePanic: The Caribbean.
** TheLostWoods: Europe.
** EternalEngine: North America.
** HailFirePeaks: The South Pole, in particular the last stage.

* LuckBasedMission: Going from level to level in Zip-Lash requires usage of the Destination Wheel, a six sided wheel that choses which level in your current world you play. With how the wheel works, it's possible to play a world's level multiple times, and while you can use coins to tilt the odds in your favour if you want to avoid this, you may need go grind to get past the CashGate blocking the TrueFinalBoss.

* InNameOnly: Pretty much the only thing ''Zip Lash'' has in common with the other games in the series is that it features Chibi-Robo as the protagonist and has a handful of other characters make a cameo. Even aside from being a sidescroller instead of a 3D exploration game, the only mechanic shared between ''Zip Lash'' and its predecessors is that your health ticks down.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''VideoGame/MoonRemixRPGAdventure'', a Japan-only {{Deconstruction}} of the RPG genre. Many mechanics are carried over, like the day-night cycles, the use of "love points" as experience points for doing good deeds, and the use of {{Banjospeak}}. Both games share a director and a composer.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Sunshine and his "nectar" go without saying. Also, the first time Phil drops a seed, Dinah, while ranting, will say something to the tune of "Why am I blushing?! It's only a seed!" ...''Uhh''.
** Spraying Princess Pitts with water gets you this gem:
--> Princess Pitts: You got me wet, you naughty robot!
** Asking Kid Eggplant to turn you into an eggplant has him remarking how "the ladies love eggplant".

%%* MacroZone

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Both Mr. and Mrs. Sanderson go through this: [[spoiler: Mr. Sanderson realizes how much of a pain he has been to his wife when she locks herself in her room, whilst in said room Mrs. Sanderson sorrowfully admits to Chibi-Robo that she was also at fault for being so cold and strict with her husband and daughter]].

%%* SmoochOfVictory

* SpirituaSuccessor: To ''[[VideoGame/MoonRemixRPGAdventure]]'', a Japan-only {{Deconstruction}} of the RPG genre. Many mechanics are carried over, like the day-night cycles, the use of "love points" as experience points for doing good deeds, and the use of {{Banjospeak}}. Both games share a director and a composer.