Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol

The game does a great job of keeping players engaged via a nonstop torrent of goals and rewards. In the space of just a few minutes you can engage in a wide variety of activities, from making flowers dance by playing music to peddling a bike around the park to clipping and selling flowers to the local florist. None of these brief activities knock the ball out of the park in terms of sheer fun, but there is enough diversity that the game never gets dull. More importantly, the promise of recompense in the form of helpful Chibi-Robo gear, virtual playthings for your park, and collectible stickers, makes these activities take on a grander significance. What may initially seem little more than a collection of mildly distracting challenges suddenly becomes a game full of larger goals that can be very hard to put down.

On the downside, it's sometimes difficult to figure out what you ought to do next, especially near the beginning of the game. If you miss a key bit of instruction you may find yourself wandering about performing various tasks but wondering why the next important story event has yet to occur. Plus, the game's decidedly wacky Japanese visual style may be a turn off. The nearly headache-inducing bright and bold colors and distinctly odd sense of humor may be too foreign and unfamiliar for some players.