In search of new mutations
I eat without discriminations!
Except there is just one:
From the big beasts I’ll run,
Seeking the small beasts' locations.

That pretty much explains it all. In one of the strangest games ever created, it’s eat or be eaten. You must mutate your body in order to become the King of 100 Cubivores and ultimately challenge the Killer Cubivore himself in order to return Wilderness to the land. Oh yeah, don’t forget to take healthy Doo along the way.

Originally published by Nintendo in Japan as Animal Leader, Cubivore is the type of quirky game that usually never sees a U.S. release. Everything in this game, beside some vegetation, is cube-shaped. The sun is a cube, ripples in water are cubes, and all of the creatures are cubes with square legs, otherwise known as Meat Flaps. The strength of a creature is determined by how many Meat Flaps it has (1-6), as well as how darkly those flaps are colored.

You see, every creature in the game belongs to a color family, which is further differentiated by the color’s shade (Pale, PaleDark, Dark, etc.). If you have one Meat Flap, and eat a Meat Flap from a Redaped (a red shaded creature), your body will actually mutate to a new form. If you have three Flaps, you will need to eat three dark yellow flaps in order to become a 3-Legged Dark Yellowbrate. There are 150 forms in total, of which you need to mutate into 100 in order to challenge the Killer Cubivore.

Did I mention this game was strange?

You begin the game as a pig, with one Meat Flap. You explore each level, eating at will, and mutating as many times as possible. Combat is a simple yet always entertaining experience which involves locking onto enemies and lunging forward to bite them. You can also jump, run backwards, and block. You will often find yourself fighting many enemies at once, resulting in chaotic mayhem when you meet up with hordes of stronger foes.

Each color class has different strengths. For example, Yellowbrates are strong attackers, Redapeds are high jumpers, and Greyodons are all around strong performers. Once you manage to drain your opponents' strength, you can bite their meat flaps and rip them off, thus absorbing their color. If you accidentally eat the wrong color, don’t worry. You can take a Doo and leave it in a comically colored stinking pile. This is an important skill because obtaining some mutations involves obtaining a specific mix of colors.

Many levels house boss creatures, each having an exceptional Meat Flap called Raw-Meat. Beating the boss, and digesting this Raw-Meat, gives you new skills such as the ability to run, or lock-on while moving. More importantly, digesting Raw-Meat gives you the opportunity to mate with many female at once. When you enter the tunnel of love, your strength will attract an appropriate number of females. Mating with them will yield a number of offspring, each of which has one more Meat Flap than you. You select which form you like best, and the process of evolution continues.

Throughout your journeys you will also find ways to grow various useful body pieces. Horns raise your attack level, while a big tongue gives you the ability to “eat-'n-run” ripping Flaps off on the fly. You can grow a hump to increase you stomach capacity, as well as growing a nice big nasty scar on your face which raises your defense. It’s these elements that solidify Cubivore as an action RPG. You are constantly gaining experience and leveling up you character. It’s very rewarding when you grow into a fearsome beast with two fangs, huge horns, and several dark colored flaps.

In terms of graphical quality, players will either love it or hate it. As noted before, everything in the game is a simple cube. In today’s polygon count obsessed market, this is the ridiculous extreme of low-poly. In this reviewer’s opinion, it couldn’t be more appealing. The abstract presentation adds a wonderful, whimsical atmosphere to the game. The character designs are so bizarre and rigid looking, yet they move with impressive fluid animation. It’s amazing how many different methods of locomotion the creatures display. Most creatures are flat-shaded, with a wild assortment of colors, and stand as a testament to the power of simplicity. Textures used for environmental objects may not be the most detailed, but most are quite colorful and serve to further immerse the player into the bizarre world. There are some muddy textures here and there, and a little more environmental variety would have been appreciated, but overall it’s an impressive, cohesive package.

Keep in mind this game is getting a high graphical score not for its complexity or technical superiority, but because of its unique, addictive style and its willingness to adhere to it down to the last detail. Even the font the game uses is purposely jagged so as to be cube shaped. Cubivore has an inventive presentation which is executed to near perfection. If you aren’t willing to lose your pre-conceptions of what defines good graphics, look elsewhere. You will – purposely - find nothing that pushes the limits of the GameCube here.

Cubivore really is a joy to play, although it surely isn’t for everyone. Those who are looking for a unique game that’s willing to take chances and play by its own rules will certainly want to check it out. Its charm and wacky sense of humor are downright addictive. I mean, how many games have you squaring off against a boss named the “Parental Advisory Beast”? Games that dare to be this different, and still manage to be loads of fun, don’t come along very often. More importantly, especially for us gaming nerds, this may be the only chance you’ll ever get to mate with twenty females at the same time. Don’t miss it.

· · · PBMaX