NES Review #4: Chubby Cherub

Chubby Cherub, published in October 1986 by Bandai, is a very fun game of the "cute" variety, in the spirit of Rainbow Islands, Balloon Fight, Clu Clu Land, Mappy Land, Adventure Island, etc. In the game you play a naked, pleasantly plump angel that goes through and eats floating treats in the sky. Once you get the hang of flying, the crazy concept, incredibly catchy music and the overwhelmingly bright, cute colors soon win you over to its nutty, childish charm. Imagine if the newspaper comic strip "love is..." became an NES game.



Bandai probably went into the trend of "fitness games" and power pad games after this as penance for glamorizing being chubby and eating cakes and candy with no ill consequences. Actually, you continue to be lighter than air no matter how many sugar-based treats you eat. You must avoid barking dogs, who when they bark, flying letter "B"'s come out of their mouths and in your direction. Don't get caught inbetween a telephone pole and an angry barking dog! The dogs seem to get more angry and vicious as you go along...when the game starts out you face up against a hyperactive puppy, and as the game progresses, you face a large pit bull with a spiked collar. However, your first line of defense is to shoot hearts at them. Makes sense I suppose. Instead of falling in love, they die. How apt, yet perverse. Before I dive into the freudian mythos behind Chubby Cherub, and its basis in Greek mythology, I should say that he is simply a cherub, not cupid. But he looks like he might know cupid. The second line of defense is to turn momentarily invisible (or blinkingly transparent, as the case may be.)



Not to be confused in any way with Kid Icarus, this lighthearted, sugary game is fun for all ages and represents NES fun at, if not its BEST, close to its best. Regardless of anything else, you've got to appreciate a game that has a screenshot of itself on the cartridge, and has an inexplicable Asian mascot (?) besides Chubby. He appears at the level screens and at the end of each level. Are we to assume Chubby is doing these perilous missions for him? And why? Does he work for him? Maybe it's explained in the instruction book, which I don't have. I strongly recommend Chubby Cherub. It helps if you are already have a proclivity towards the "cute" genre, but it's hard not to "love" this pre-PC, pre-'super-size me' hero and his whimsical, candy-filled adventures.