Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest

"Words are an inadequate medium with which to describe this game"

With the early demise of the Nintendo 64, and the 64DD many of its better games, such as Animal Leader, Animal Forest, and Doshin the Giant, were transplanted to the Gamecube. Animal Leader, one of the weirdest games I've ever seen, didn't make it out on the N64, but now it's on the Gamecube.

I must say, Nintendo must have a lot of balls to release a game THIS WEIRD...

When I first saw this game at E3, I thought, whoa, now THAT sure is weird... One of the first things you'll notice if you compare the Gamecube and Nintendo 64 versions is that there is NO graphical upgrade whatsoever (or at least it's to small for me to notice). In fact, the character models look like something which were taken out of a first-generation Playstation game. As EVERYTHING in the game, right down to the little ripples in the water or the sun in the sky, is cube shaped (very appropriate for a system named the ''Game Cube''). However, I believe (or would at least LIKE TO believe) that this was quite intentional, and it is Nintendo's own unique graphical style (just like Jet Grind Radio started the cel-shading craze). Although I wouldn't count on it being copied by anyone anytime soon.

The only good thing I have to say about the graphics is that they run at a constant 60fps, with no draw in, or fogging to speak of. Furthermore, the animations of the animals seems quite fluid and distinct (i.e., you can tell that something is a bird or snake simply by looking at the way they move).

Unfortunately, since the graphics are SO weird, it basically guarantees that this game will NEVER make it out in the U.S.,(since the U.S.'s video game industry is very much based upon graphics and visual allure to sell most of their games).

And it's not just the graphics which are weird, the whole premise of the game is radically different. Basically you take control of a little animal, and you go through various worlds fighting, killing, and eating other animals. As you eat the other animals, you will gain abilities and evolve into new forms, usually becoming stronger. You start out as a cube for a head with one little flap sticking out which you can use to hop with. However, at the end of each level, you get to fight a boss, and if you can steal one of his pieces, you can add a new piece to yourself, so now you'll have 2 or 3 or 4 flaps sticking out of that cube head of yours. You can also gain other things, such as a tooth, a scar (looks very cool, I must say), stripes, and ears. At the end of each level, you'll have a chance to ''breed'' with whatever females you have following you. If you do better, then you'll gain more females in your little harem (I've gotten over 20 females, actually), which is always a good thing.

After breeding season, your older character dies, and you get to take control of your new, stronger descendents. The game then continues like this, until you've become the new ruler of the animal kingdom by defeating all the other animals which are stronger than you.

A crucial part of the game is keeping your ''hentai'' meter up. As you eat different parts of different animals, you're color will change. Being of a darker, solid color will always make you stronger than having a lighter color. You can even get rid of unwanted colors by taking a crap! Wow, how many games do you know of where they have a ''crap'' button?

The combat is quite satisfying, and quite vicious, actually. You bite, rip, and tear pieces of flesh off of other animals, all complete with cube-shaped spurts of blood. After you get some teeth, you can even pounce at animals, and rip their flesh off of them in mid-air, and watch their remains go flying off as blood gushes out and collects in a cube-shaped puddle. Very nice.

Personally, I love this game, and I think most people will enjoy if they just give it enough time and play it with an open mind (which is something most people aren't willing to do with most anything). I can't really think of anything that is WRONG with this game, I just would have liked a little better audio and maybe a little multi-player would have been nice too. Hey, if Nintendo ever gets around to launching their online network, wouldn't it be cool to have a giant virtual world of this game online, with hundreds of people all playing at once in the same arena?

If you're looking for a game that's really different, innovative, or new, then this is sure the game you should be getting. Or if you're just trying to find some good software to let you survive the annual software drought brought by Nintendo, then you might just like this game. Some knowledge of the Japanese language will definitely be helpful, although not necessary to play the game (since there are plenty of good FAQs about this game out there).

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/02/02, Updated 07/19/02