The Munchables Wii Review
There have been a substantial amount of brilliantly odd games over the years, which leaves one wondering of just what kind of oddness is going on upstairs in the mushy region of the bodies of their creators. The Munchables is one such game: you control a creature with a hearty appetite and the more it eats, the bigger it gets. Just in case you’re wondering, yes it’s Japanese, quintessentially Japanese.
The Munchables largely consists of eating things, which makes it like one half Pacman, gulping down lots of things will also result in your chosen gluttonous creature growing in size, which also makes Katamari a fair comparison. But it’s got more than enough in the way of its own identity, too.
It’s steeped in charm, with a lovely bright, bold visual style and a likeable sense of humour, which often involves your creature struggling to resist the temptation of eating things it shouldn’t, and there’s also the fact that your enemies consist of fruits, vegetables and chocolate (these Munchable things have a fairly balanced diet, follow their example kids) with legs, faces and hands. To beat them you eat them, which certainly makes a change from shooting or hitting them.
Largely, levels in The Munchables have you munching on the assortment of tasty enemies, doing so will level up your Munchable in an RPG like fashion, allowing you to chew on larger bad guys and gain access to previously inaccessible areas, which gives one a nice sense of progression with all this eating business. Eating more than one enemy in quick succession will reward you bonus meals, which in turn will allow you to level up quicker.
To begin with, levels are relatively straightforward, but as you make headway through the game, they grow in complexity, offering some degree of challenge that the enemies, more often than not, don’t provide.
The Munchables is also a very short and easy game (bite sized if you will) clocking in at only around five hours, but hidden around each stage are acorns to find, finding all of them will unlock an accessory for your Munchable, of which may be nothing more than cosmetic, but are nonetheless a fun little addition, which allows for some degree of customization, even if it’s only a small degree. There‘s also a time attack mode and mirror mode, both good ways of getting a good few extra hours from the game, but they by no means completely make up for the slightness and ease of the main game.
It’s this brevity that is The Munchables only major failing, as elsewhere it’s a very enjoyable, charming and quirky game. Namco Bandai’s restraint with the motion sensing of the Wii remote is admirable, setting their sights on crafting a good old fashioned game rather than a worse one with forced motion controls. The Munchables may be a snack, but it’s certainly tasty whilst it lasts.
I’ll take my leave now. I’m rather hungry, you see.
Did you like this article?
