Cubivore
Encyclopedia
Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest, known in Japan
as is an action adventure
video game developed by Saru Brunei
and published by Nintendo
in Japan on February 21, and by Atlus
in North America
on November 10, for the Nintendo GameCube
video game console
. The player controls a cube-shaped beast called a Cubivore, which eats other such beasts in order to mutate and become stronger.
. This powerful tyrant
and his gang of cronies have gorged themselves on the essence of the land, known in the game as "Wilderness", so much that they have absorbed some of it into themselves. Meanwhile nature has begun to fade away, becoming drab and infertile, and the number of beasts has declined. The user-named protagonist has taken it upon himself to become King of All Cubivores, in order to challenge the Killer Cubivore and restore the Wilderness to the world.
elements in it. The purpose of Cubivore is to kill the Killer Cubivore and its cronies. To accomplish this your Cubivore must go through several mutation
s, through several lifetimes "laps" and generations of "offspring". Upon attaining 100 mutations, your Cubivore can become powerful enough to produce an offspring capable of fighting the Killer Cubivore. Thus, Cubivore is a game that is meant to somewhat represent natural selection
.
Combat is simple, but strategic and often fast-paced. When facing another Cubivore, your job is to attack it, weaken it, and finally kill it by tearing off its limbs. Cubivores are able to attack, jump, run, evade (i.e. walk backwards), and block. Much of the combat consists of trying to learn the enemy's attack patterns and hitting a weak point. Once the enemy has been subdued, it becomes a battle of wills when your Cubivore clamps down the opponent and attempts to tear off its limbs. Upon eating a limb your Cubivore heals itself a bit, absorbs the color of that limb, and mutates if possible. Finally some boss monsters have a special limb called "Raw Meat", which grants special abilities when consumed.
Intensity refers to the color type and combination. The more intense a color is the stronger the Cubivore. The levels of intensity in increasing order are Pale, "PaleDark", Dark, Clash, and Rage. PaleDark refers to any combination of Pale and Dark limbs of the same color. Clash refers to a specific combination of Rage panels. For example, Clash Yellow consists of any combination of Rage Yellow and Rage Red.
Less essential than mutations are limbs. Limbs are lost when torn off in combat, resulting in a mutation of whatever has tore off the appendage. A Cubivore with missing limbs can regain them by eating limbs from other Cubivores. Every generation of a Cubivore will have one more limb than its parent generation. Each limb can hold one color, one Raw Meat, and allows the Cubivore to attack stronger enemies. For example, a Cubivore with one limb can attack one with up to two limbs, while a Cubivore with two limbs can attack one with up to three limbs.
Much of the game's strategy comes from deciding how to mutate. Because much of the game's emphasis is on attaining as many mutations as possible, the player will want to try to discover how to obtain certain colors in certain levels, rather than simply eating everything. The player also has to worry about tearing the right limbs off enemies and not eating too many. The Cubivore is given an option to "take a Doo" and expunge unwanted color panels from his system if necessary or to use the "Diet Plan" technique to only eat one color panel off an enemy. There 30 possible mutations of each color type, for a total of 150. Once a player has attained all 150 mutations, they are taken to Shangri-la
, a place of eternal rest for Cubivores.
system. At certain points in the game, a Cubivore will face a boss it simply cannot beat, since it does not have enough limbs to attack it successfully. Thus, a Cubivore sees fit to enter a "Love Tunnel", whereupon it can mate with females and inhabit a new generation of Cubivore, now with an additional limb. As your Cubivore attains more mutations, he will find more females willing to mate with him, thus giving the option for more variety of offspring. Once the two have mated, the player is given the option of selecting from the pool of possible offspring (although many females may be willing to mate with the Cubivore, the number that give birth is random, unless the Cubivore has collected over 100 hearts for that cycle, at which point all females will give birth). Any offspring selected will be stored into the "EZ Mutate" catalog, allowing a player to switch to that mutation via the D-pad anytime when they have that amount of limbs. Any offspring chosen that is not already in the catalog of overall mutations, separate from the "EZ Mutate" catalog, will be added.
detailing a list of games to appear at Nintendo's 2000 Spaceworld conference. It was said to be designed by the creator of Jungle Park and the designer of Parappa the Rapper
. The game's nature was initially unclear, but due to its name, "Dobutsu Banchou," (translated roughly as "Animal Thugs" or "Animal Leader") it was thought to be a combat game. Spaceworld revealed little news about the game, though the purpose of the game was revealed to be something about "fighting your way to the top of the food chain." Although the game was in its earliest stages designed for the Nintendo 64DD
, the game was shifted over to cartridge format, possibly because the DD proved unnecessary and its lack of userbase might have hurt the game's chances of success.
A Cubivore appeared as a collectible trophy named 'Alpha' in 2001's Super Smash Bros. Melee
, with factoids in the description and the game of origin listed as 'future release'.
In 2002, IGN released an article stating that Animal Leader's development had shifted to the GameCube console. Along with Animal Leader were a few other titles announced, such as Dinosaur Planet, Eternal Darkness, and Animal Forest. Although not announced, there is speculation that it was also around this time that Doshin the Giant
, a God-simulation game released for the ill-fated N64DD, was being ported to the GameCube.
Animal Leader was finally released in Japan for the GameCube
on February 21, . The response from critics was mixed, and due to less than favorable sales, Nintendo later announced that it had no intentions to localize Animal Leader in other countries.
The game remained Japan-only until Atlus
, developers of the Shin Megami Tensei
series, announced in August 2002 that they would be picking up the game for localization. Atlus dubbed the new title "Cubivore", after the game's cube-shaped creatures.
of 71 on Metacritic
and Game Rankings
. Critics seemed to enjoy the game's creativity and unusual premise, as the game was a substantial departure from anything else on the market. The most common complaints were regarding repetitive gameplay and a frustrating camera setup. Reviewers had mixed reactions to the simple graphics. While the visuals were often compared to those of a Nintendo 64
title, some found this to be an endearing element of the game's overall style. Critics also found the game's sound effects and classical piano-based soundtrack to be somewhat charming, but noted that the music tended to become repetitive at times.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
as is an action adventure
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
video game developed by Saru Brunei
Saru Brunei
Saru Brunei is a video game development company that works in partnership with Nintendo. Saru Brunei is a part of Marigul Management, Inc. Saru Brunei is headed up by former Nintendo game designer Gento Matsumoto. Matsumoto was Shigeru Miyamoto's right-hand man for 15 years...
and published by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
in Japan on February 21, and by Atlus
Atlus
is a Japanese computer and video game developer, publisher, and distributor based in Tokyo, Japan, best known for developing the console role-playing game franchise Megami Tensei. The first Megami Tensei was a Nintendo Entertainment System video game published by Namco based on a trilogy of...
in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
on November 10, for the Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
. The player controls a cube-shaped beast called a Cubivore, which eats other such beasts in order to mutate and become stronger.
Plot
In the land of the Cubivores, the beast known as the Killer Cubivore reigns at the top of the animal food chainFood chain
A food web depicts feeding connections in an ecological community. Ecologists can broadly lump all life forms into one of two categories called trophic levels: 1) the autotrophs, and 2) the heterotrophs...
. This powerful tyrant
Tyrant
A tyrant was originally one who illegally seized and controlled a governmental power in a polis. Tyrants were a group of individuals who took over many Greek poleis during the uprising of the middle classes in the sixth and seventh centuries BC, ousting the aristocratic governments.Plato and...
and his gang of cronies have gorged themselves on the essence of the land, known in the game as "Wilderness", so much that they have absorbed some of it into themselves. Meanwhile nature has begun to fade away, becoming drab and infertile, and the number of beasts has declined. The user-named protagonist has taken it upon himself to become King of All Cubivores, in order to challenge the Killer Cubivore and restore the Wilderness to the world.
Gameplay
Cubivores gameplay is an action-adventure game with a few RPGRole-playing game (video games)
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
elements in it. The purpose of Cubivore is to kill the Killer Cubivore and its cronies. To accomplish this your Cubivore must go through several mutation
Mutation
In molecular biology and genetics, mutations are changes in a genomic sequence: the DNA sequence of a cell's genome or the DNA or RNA sequence of a virus. They can be defined as sudden and spontaneous changes in the cell. Mutations are caused by radiation, viruses, transposons and mutagenic...
s, through several lifetimes "laps" and generations of "offspring". Upon attaining 100 mutations, your Cubivore can become powerful enough to produce an offspring capable of fighting the Killer Cubivore. Thus, Cubivore is a game that is meant to somewhat represent natural selection
Natural selection
Natural selection is the nonrandom process by which biologic traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of differential reproduction of their bearers. It is a key mechanism of evolution....
.
Combat is simple, but strategic and often fast-paced. When facing another Cubivore, your job is to attack it, weaken it, and finally kill it by tearing off its limbs. Cubivores are able to attack, jump, run, evade (i.e. walk backwards), and block. Much of the combat consists of trying to learn the enemy's attack patterns and hitting a weak point. Once the enemy has been subdued, it becomes a battle of wills when your Cubivore clamps down the opponent and attempts to tear off its limbs. Upon eating a limb your Cubivore heals itself a bit, absorbs the color of that limb, and mutates if possible. Finally some boss monsters have a special limb called "Raw Meat", which grants special abilities when consumed.
Mutation
The core of Cubivore is its complex mutation system based on color, intensity, and limbs. There are five colors of Cubivore, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.- Yellowbrate: very slow, but has the best attack and defense and blocking capabilities; they tend to resemble horseHorseThe horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s, zebraZebraZebras are several species of African equids united by their distinctive black and white stripes. Their stripes come in different patterns unique to each individual. They are generally social animals that live in small harems to large herds...
s, hippopatomiHippopotamusThe hippopotamus , or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest...
and various hoofed animals. - Redapeds: have the best jumping ability and tend to resemble birdBirdBirds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s, however, their attack strength is lower than average. - Bluocytes: have the best attack range but slightly lower defense; they tend to resemble frogs, snakes and various reptiles.
- Purpials: can walk backwards and turn around very quickly, sometimes faster than their normal speed; they tend to resemble rabbitRabbitRabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
s, monkeyMonkeyA monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
s and other miscellaneous mammalMammalMammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s. - Greyodons: have the best running capability and only Yellobrates have higher attack power, and have balanced statistics; they tend to resemble dogDogThe domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
s, wolves and other canineDogThe domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
s.
Intensity refers to the color type and combination. The more intense a color is the stronger the Cubivore. The levels of intensity in increasing order are Pale, "PaleDark", Dark, Clash, and Rage. PaleDark refers to any combination of Pale and Dark limbs of the same color. Clash refers to a specific combination of Rage panels. For example, Clash Yellow consists of any combination of Rage Yellow and Rage Red.
Less essential than mutations are limbs. Limbs are lost when torn off in combat, resulting in a mutation of whatever has tore off the appendage. A Cubivore with missing limbs can regain them by eating limbs from other Cubivores. Every generation of a Cubivore will have one more limb than its parent generation. Each limb can hold one color, one Raw Meat, and allows the Cubivore to attack stronger enemies. For example, a Cubivore with one limb can attack one with up to two limbs, while a Cubivore with two limbs can attack one with up to three limbs.
Much of the game's strategy comes from deciding how to mutate. Because much of the game's emphasis is on attaining as many mutations as possible, the player will want to try to discover how to obtain certain colors in certain levels, rather than simply eating everything. The player also has to worry about tearing the right limbs off enemies and not eating too many. The Cubivore is given an option to "take a Doo" and expunge unwanted color panels from his system if necessary or to use the "Diet Plan" technique to only eat one color panel off an enemy. There 30 possible mutations of each color type, for a total of 150. Once a player has attained all 150 mutations, they are taken to Shangri-la
Shangri-La
Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton. Hilton describes Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains...
, a place of eternal rest for Cubivores.
Mating
Another large focus of Cubivore is on its matingMating
In biology, mating is the pairing of opposite-sex or hermaphroditic organisms for copulation. In social animals, it also includes the raising of their offspring. Copulation is the union of the sex organs of two sexually reproducing animals for insemination and subsequent internal fertilization...
system. At certain points in the game, a Cubivore will face a boss it simply cannot beat, since it does not have enough limbs to attack it successfully. Thus, a Cubivore sees fit to enter a "Love Tunnel", whereupon it can mate with females and inhabit a new generation of Cubivore, now with an additional limb. As your Cubivore attains more mutations, he will find more females willing to mate with him, thus giving the option for more variety of offspring. Once the two have mated, the player is given the option of selecting from the pool of possible offspring (although many females may be willing to mate with the Cubivore, the number that give birth is random, unless the Cubivore has collected over 100 hearts for that cycle, at which point all females will give birth). Any offspring selected will be stored into the "EZ Mutate" catalog, allowing a player to switch to that mutation via the D-pad anytime when they have that amount of limbs. Any offspring chosen that is not already in the catalog of overall mutations, separate from the "EZ Mutate" catalog, will be added.
Development
Reports indicate the game was first announced July 2000, in an issue of FamitsuFamitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
detailing a list of games to appear at Nintendo's 2000 Spaceworld conference. It was said to be designed by the creator of Jungle Park and the designer of Parappa the Rapper
PaRappa the Rapper
is a rhythm video game for the Sony PlayStation created by Masaya Matsuura and his NanaOn-Sha company....
. The game's nature was initially unclear, but due to its name, "Dobutsu Banchou," (translated roughly as "Animal Thugs" or "Animal Leader") it was thought to be a combat game. Spaceworld revealed little news about the game, though the purpose of the game was revealed to be something about "fighting your way to the top of the food chain." Although the game was in its earliest stages designed for the Nintendo 64DD
Nintendo 64DD
The is a peripheral for the Nintendo 64 game console. It plugged into the N64 through the EXTension Port on the Nintendo 64's underside, and allowed the N64 to use proprietary 64 MB magneto-optical discs for expanded data storage...
, the game was shifted over to cartridge format, possibly because the DD proved unnecessary and its lack of userbase might have hurt the game's chances of success.
A Cubivore appeared as a collectible trophy named 'Alpha' in 2001's Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Melee, known in Japan as , often abbreviated as SSBM or simply as Melee, is a crossover fighting game released for the Nintendo GameCube shortly after its launch in . It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 game Super Smash Bros., and the predecessor to the Wii game Super Smash...
, with factoids in the description and the game of origin listed as 'future release'.
In 2002, IGN released an article stating that Animal Leader's development had shifted to the GameCube console. Along with Animal Leader were a few other titles announced, such as Dinosaur Planet, Eternal Darkness, and Animal Forest. Although not announced, there is speculation that it was also around this time that Doshin the Giant
Doshin the Giant
is a Nintendo god simulation game for the Nintendo 64DD released in Japan on December 1, 1999. The original game was bundled with the 64DD console. An add-on was released five months later called Kyojin no Doshin Kaihō Sensen Chibikko Chikko Daishūgou, which took a very different perspective of...
, a God-simulation game released for the ill-fated N64DD, was being ported to the GameCube.
Animal Leader was finally released in Japan for the GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
on February 21, . The response from critics was mixed, and due to less than favorable sales, Nintendo later announced that it had no intentions to localize Animal Leader in other countries.
The game remained Japan-only until Atlus
Atlus
is a Japanese computer and video game developer, publisher, and distributor based in Tokyo, Japan, best known for developing the console role-playing game franchise Megami Tensei. The first Megami Tensei was a Nintendo Entertainment System video game published by Namco based on a trilogy of...
, developers of the Shin Megami Tensei
Shin Megami Tensei
is a console role-playing video game from Atlus that was originally released on October 30, 1992 and later on several platforms, although no installment was released outside of Japan. It was originally released on the Super Famicom and was later ported to the PC Engine Super CD-Rom and Mega-CD...
series, announced in August 2002 that they would be picking up the game for localization. Atlus dubbed the new title "Cubivore", after the game's cube-shaped creatures.
Reception
Cubivore received mixed reviews in both Japan and America, attaining aggregate ratingAggregate data
In statistics, aggregate data describes data combined from several measurements.In economics, aggregate data or data aggregates describes high-level data that is composed of a multitude or combination of other more individual data....
of 71 on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
and Game Rankings
Game Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
. Critics seemed to enjoy the game's creativity and unusual premise, as the game was a substantial departure from anything else on the market. The most common complaints were regarding repetitive gameplay and a frustrating camera setup. Reviewers had mixed reactions to the simple graphics. While the visuals were often compared to those of a Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
title, some found this to be an endearing element of the game's overall style. Critics also found the game's sound effects and classical piano-based soundtrack to be somewhat charming, but noted that the music tended to become repetitive at times.