It seems the Wii nowadays is a console that holds very few surprises. Mini-game compilations and family friendly titles are rampant, and very few stray too far from formulated shovelware, to be honest. Upon first glance, Namco Bandai’s The Munchables would be easy to pass off as just another "Mii too" title. However, a closer look will point out just how wrong you’d be to pass it off as such. So what makes this not just another notch on the bedpost of cash-in Wii games? Let’s see.

Gameplay

The Munchables will draw obvious comparisons to its own Katamari franchise, despite the glaring differences in its premise. Like Katamari, The Munchables uses a cute visual style, off-the-wall sense of humour, and a simple but effective style of gameplay to really set itself apart from the countless shovelware titles we’ve seen time and time again.

Much like Katamari before it, The Munchables has an incredibly oddball story, which is as endearing as it is strange. The planet Star Ving has been invaded by a bunch of space pirate fruits and vegetables, (named Tabemon), who have taken the planets "chi", essentially. As a cute little Munchable, you’re tasked with eliminating the vegetation threat by the only means available to you; eating them. While that seems simple enough, there are the obilgatory puzzles to solve, and a small amount of platforming as well.

Initially, your Munchable starts off as a small, round being that is only able to eat low level Tabemon As you fill your stomach meter, your character will level up, allowing it to eat higher level enemies with ease. If you find yourself up against a higher level opponent and aren’t in an area that has many enemies to help you level up, you can utilize a rolling attack. This will break the space pirate down into multiple smaller level enemies that are much easier for your character to ingest. You can ingest long chains of enemies to give you a combo multiplier, which will help towards increasing the grade you’re given based on your progress through each level. The gameplay is quite simple, but there’s a certain level of addictiveness that can’t be denied here. Once you find your groove, you’ll find it hard to stop munching up as many enemies as you can find.

Throughout the levels you’ll also come across various platforming items that will help you access hard to reach areas. There are cannons that will launch you from one side of the level to the next, as well as fountains that will help you access higher areas that would normally be out of reach. Other areas that may not be accessible while you’re still a relatively low level will only be reachable once your character has eaten enough to level up and evolve. Swinging the Wii remote upwards will let your character jump, and while early on there isn’t much to jump to, later levels are littered with numerous jumps that will be difficult to make if you’re not leveled up properly. While the platforming elements are necessarily as deep as those found in a Mario game, or even De Blob, they do add enough to the game to keep it from being overly tedious.


Each level has a few simple goals, in order to give the game a little more purpose. Some involve devouring as many Tabemon as you can, while others will require you to help out fellow Star Ving residents, or defeating boss characters. The goals are again, quite simple affairs, and unfortunately there isn’t much variety to the proceedings. Completing levels and devouring acorns will reward your Munchable with some customization options, which is a welcome feature and will have completionists rabbidly scarfing down any edible item in each level. This also adds a bit to the replay value, as one play-through may not be enough to find everything in Star Ving.

The Munchables makes no bones about who they want to target here. This is a casual game, and while most will scoff at that fact, the game is an example of how to do casual gaming right. Still, the level of difficulty is most definitely on the lighter side, and it really would have benefitted Namco Bandai to allow for the option to have multiple difficulty levels. As it stands, this isn’t the most pressing issue as the game is easily recommendable to anyone with a love of all things kooky, but the underwhelming difficulty may put off those looking for more of a challenge.

Graphics & Sound

Star Ving is rendered in the most vibrant colours, and the character models are absolutely adorable. The cartoon-like visuals are fantastically done, and really give the game a sense of style that’s similar to titles like De Blob, which is by no means a bad thing. Each level is well-designed and all have distinguishing characteristics that really promotes the desire to want to spend as much time exploring the world as possible. Each level is given its own personality, which is incredibly refreshing.

The music within is also quite fitting with the titles off-the-wall sense of humour and story. Varying from circus-like numbers to fast-paced techno ditties, each level is given its own musical accompaniment, that again gives the levels their own personality. There isn’t really any voice-acting to speak of, though characters do speak in an Animal Crossing-esque type of dialect, which is workable, but it would have been nice to have a little spoken dialog here.

The main game, including all the collectables provide enough entertainment to be worth a look, especially considering the titles budget price. Once you’ve completed the game there are a few options for you to check out, though most of these are cosmetic and don’t really add much to the game. There’s a time attack mode, the option to check out a Beastiary of the different enemies you’ve eaten, a mode that allows you to dress up your Munchable, and one that lets you listen to music or watch movies from the game. There’s also an option for co-op play, in which one player zaps Tabemon while the other munches. Unfortunately, the game’s simple enough to not really make great use of the feature, but for the parents out there who want a great game to play with their young one, this is a nice touch.

Conclusion

Loaded with charm, wit, and simple-yet-addictive gameplay, The Munchables is easily recommendable to anyone looking for a game that’s slightly out of sync with the norm. Proof positive that casual doesn’t have to be a dirty word.