The Munchables Review

Bright colors and crazy landscapes are in full force during The Munchables. The game evokes a visual style very similar to the Monkey Ball series of games. The various vegetables you encounter all are given a very funny facelift and the main characters display a lot of emotion for being a ball with a face. Everything looks as if it’s pulled straight out a children’s storybook. The environments are made using items found everywhere. Platforms are made out of cardboard, where you can see the corrugated edges, colored craft papers are taped down giving color to everything. It’s a look that is being used more often, but is effective and gets you noticing the environment trying to find out what things are made of.

On the other hand, the audio is a bit of a mismatch. For some reason there is voice acting, done well, on the last two missions of the game, but for only half the time in those two missions. It’s good when it’s being used, but seems out of place. There should have been more voice work or none at all. As it is, it’s a bit distracting. The music is cleverly done, though. The tunes are bright, cheerful and somewhat catchy. They very much what would be expected out of a Saturday morning cartoon and fit well with everything else. Sirens go off when Chomper has been attacked, and the constant munching sounds remind you exactly what the point of the game is.

Players will take control of a character that can only be described as a modern day Pac-man. You begin on the planet Star Ving, where the insanely cute, and ever hungry race of beings known as the Munchables live. You have the choice of controlling either the male type character Chomper, or the female type character Munchy; both are armless, legless moving mouths. Starting up the game you find out that the Munchables’ homeland has been taken over by a race of evil vegetables known as the Tabemon. They are stealing objects known as Power Orbs, which are revered by the Munchables. A being known as the Great Elder implores you to take back the island by eating all of the invading Tabemon pirates.

From there you begin your quest. It is the job of Chomper, or Munchy to roam the islands various locales eating everything in sight. The Great Elder will tell Chomper what the goal for that area is and assign him a starting level. This level is used to determine what enemies can be eaten at any given time and Chomper’s level will be displayed above his head. As you eat the smaller pirates you encounter, by pressing the A button, Chomper’s level raises. If an enemy is too big to be eaten you will see above them what level is required before they can be eaten. Eating smaller Tabemon vegetables will fill up a stomach meter, and as it fills Chomper’s level will rise. Luckily, if Chomper has not yet reached the level that is needed you can attack enemies by pressing the B button on the Wii Remote to perform a charge attack. This will break that Tabemon into smaller version of itself, that may then be eaten. Occasionally an enemy will still be too big, but they can be broken up as many times as required. If too much time is taken before they’re eaten, though, they may join back together and the process will need to be repeated. The Pirate Leaders, as they are known, are the boss encounters found every few levels. The only difference between these fights and the other encounters in the game is that they have a weak spot that must be found in order to properly reduce their size.

There are many different types of areas to explore that range from the standard plains areas, to ruined temples, giant windmills and the ocean floor. There are eight different areas with 3 levels each. Chomper is controlled using the analog stick. You can access higher areas by flicking the Wii Remote to jump. You can lock onto enemies using the Z button. This comes in handy during underwater levels where it’s not always easy to tell where you are in relation to the Tabemon underwater. If there are a large number of enemies in one area you can hold the A button to charge up Chomper and he will dash towards them and swallow them all at one time. The Classic Controller is also supported for people who prefer that controller.


Once you have performed the task required for that area Chomper becomes stuffed and cannot eat any more. At that point the level ends and the Great Elder tallies up the number of Tabemon that have been eaten. These are converted into orbs that Chomper poops out. The more orbs gained, the better the score achieved; this also awards you a ranking from C to S.

As you go through the adventure there are acorns hidden around each level. These become important for players that enjoy unlockables. If all of the acorns in a level are found the Great Elder gives you a present in the form of some article of clothing that can be used to customize Chomper or Munchy. These can be anything like a pair of glasses, a mohawk, a Native American headdress or even a flower that sprouts from your head. Only one of these may be equipped at anyone time so the amount of customization allowed is limited somewhat.

There is not much variation in the game play other than the different types of vegetables that must be eaten. Every level consists, basically, of Chomper going around eating everything in sight until there is nothing left to eat. It should take around five to six hours to complete, with each level taking around 15 minutes. Not everything will be found during the first play through so some players will enjoy going back through the game a second time to find everything that was missed during the first run to save Star Ving. While the actions performed were very similar it never got old and was never boring. There is just something quite comical in seeing Chomper roam around eating everything he comes in contact with.

Once the main quest has been finished you’ll unlock a mirror mode, which is not exactly what it sounds like it should be. Mirror mode is more of a time attack where you will go through the game again trying to finish everything as quickly as possible.

There is a two player mode in The Munchables. It is very similar to the two player mode found in Super Mario Galaxy. The second player controls a cursor that can be used to shoot at the Tabemon onscreen. This will cause them to be broken apart, much like the dash attack that Chomper can perform. This gives younger players who aren’t quite ready to control the bulk of the action to help their older family members and give them the sense they helping to complete the game. It was actually quite a lot of fun to have someone along and it made some of the levels a little easier to finish since that player can concentrate on making the Tabemon small enough for the first player to concentrate on eating.

There is a lot of humor to be found while playing this game and the game play, while basically the same throughout the game, never really gets old. The dialogue, outside the end of the levels, is witty and will cause a few chuckles to be had.

The Munchables is very much like what Pac-Man would be today. The ability to have a friend help was a welcome addition as well. For $30.00 there’s not much reason to pass this title by. It’s a unique experience not yet to be had on Wii and will provide for many hours of gluttonous eating fun.


Final Score: 3/5

Review copy of the game provided by Namco Bandai.