Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest

"Darwin's theory taken a step further..."

Whenever there's a discussion about rare Gamecube games, Cubivore is bound to be mentioned. So when I saw this on the used rack at Gamestop, I picked it up without hesitation. I bought Cubivore more for the sake of adding a rare game to my collection, but I didn't fully appreciate it until I sat down and actually played. While this game may be viewed as a valuable trophy for a Nintendo collector's stack of games, Cubivore also has solid gameplay and an endearing concept.

Have you ever watched those documentaries on the Serengeti or learned about Darwin's theory of adaptation? Cubivore takes the elements of the wilderness and survival tactics and blends turns it into the tale of a small, unimportant Cubivore. The land was once filled with colorful animals and Wilderness. The animals must keep their color in order to pass valuable traits onto their offspring. The more Wilderness present in the area, the more powerful the traits. There are some animals that took too much Wilderness, resulting in an overall animal population decline. These greedy beasts took the very Wilderness away. The beasts concentrated the very essence Wilderness into biological adaptations called Raw-Meat. Your job is to regain the Wilderness by defeating the evil beasts, obtaining their Raw-Meat, and becoming King of all Cubivores.

Essentially, your goal is to get to the top of the food chain by eliminating rival Cubivores and evolving into different forms. Eliminating a wild Cubivore consists of a brutal, yet basic form of attack. You must whittle down the energy of a rival by tackling it, and then tear off a limb, thus leaving your enemy incapacitated. Digesting the limbs of your victims will cause you to ''evolve'' or change form. Once you're gained enough energy and ability, you can take on the evil beast that rules over the area.

However, you can't just eat everything in sight if you want to fully evolve. Your form varies depending on the color of the limb you digest. Each color has it's own you unique ability that allows for your stats to increase. If you want your Cubivore to be good at dodging, only eat red limbs. If you want to have long-ranged attacks, you should go for blue limbs. While the idea of pouncing on your enemy and ripping off a limb sounds brutal and simple, there is much more strategy involved in creating the ideal form to suit your gaming preferences.

Also, there are a few stat increases strewn throughout the levels. While the color of your prey determines your basic abilities, there are other ways for your Cubivore to improve overall. The stat increase concept was applied creatively here. For example, if you develop your Horn stats, your attack power will increase. If your get a Scar, your defense power improves. If you grow a tongue, eating your enemy becomes much easier. While increasing your stats may not be necessary, it adds a fun and intriguing aspect to the game.

Another of Cubivore's main goals to propagate its attributes to the next generation of the species. Once you defeat a beast, you obtain its Raw-Meat, thus returning Wilderness to the area. However, the Raw-Meat serves another function. The ability to mate with other Cubivores comes with the chunk of Raw-Meat firmly embedded within you. You enter a heart-shaped tunnel to see if you can appeal to a female Cubivore. The more mutations you have undergone, the more appealing you appear to potential mates. With more potential mates come better options when selecting the traits for your offspring. Choose wisely!

Cubivore boasts some unique graphics to match its gameplay. Everything in this game is either cubed or square-shaped. The sun, the moon, the ripples in the water, everything. For those of you that like to see games that feature great graphics, steer clear of Cubivore. Since everything is in squares, the landscape will look horrendously bland for the average gamer. The graphics would have easily passed for the early days of the Nintendo 64, but a Gamecube owner may take one look at this game and shudder. But gamers should respect the attention that was placed in keeping the graphics true to the concept of the game. Besides, you'll be too busy trying not to get eaten than to complain about the graphics.
The same goes for the sound. The music is almost non-existent in the world of Cubivore. There are only a few light taps of a piano keyboard that keeps the background from being completely silent. The animal grunts add to the overall setting and create a much more natural feeling to the game.

Cubivore is regarded by many to be a rare game to be sought out for collectors. But will you appreciate the game for what it is, and not it's rarity? If you can find Cubivore, don't just get it for its rarity, get it also for the unique concept and enjoyable gameplay that makes this game great.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/04/04