Chocobo World

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Chocobo World
A screenshot of the splash screen of the Windows version of Chocobo World.
Developer(s)	Square Co., Ltd.
Release date(s)	Released with Final Fantasy VIII
Genre(s)	Simulation game
Mode(s)	Single player
Platform(s)	PocketStation, Windows
Media	Stored on the Final Fantasy VIII CD
System requirements	7 memory card blocks (PocketStation)^[1] Windows 95, Pentium-class CPU, 32 MB RAM, 8X CD-ROM drive, DirectX 6.1 (for Final Fantasy VIII on PC)
Input	PocketStation game unit or keyboard (PC)

Chocobo World, known in Japan as Odekake Chocobo RPG (おでかけチョコボRPG, Odekake Chiyokobo RPG^?), is a handheld electronic game for the PocketStation personal game unit. Like all PocketStation games, it is stored on a PlayStation game disc and downloaded onto the PocketStation through the PlayStation console's memory card port. Chocobo World was designed to enhance Square's console role-playing game Final Fantasy VIII; items collected in Chocobo World, for example, can be brought back into the fictional world of Final Fantasy VIII. Although the North American and European releases of Final Fantasy VIII retained PocketStation functionality,^[2] the PocketStation was never released outside of Japan.^[3] North American and European audiences were eventually given the chance to play Chocobo World when Final Fantasy VIII was ported to the PC. Chocobo World is included in the installation package of the game as a stand-alone program that runs in the computer's background. Square also offered a free downloadable version of Chocobo World over their website,^[4] but the webpage is no longer accessible. Electronic Arts Japan (publisher of the PC version of Final Fantasy VIII in Japan) still provides a free Chocobo World download via their website.

In Chocobo World, the game player controls a Chicobo (a baby Chocobo) named Boko on his quest to save his friend Mog from the clutches of an evil demon. The game's presentation closely follows the "virtual pet" concept conceived by Bandai's Tamagotchi. Players care for Boko with a focus on raising his experience through battling monsters; raising him in Chocobo World makes him a powerful ally to summon in Final Fantasy VIII.

1 Story
2 Gameplay
3 Audio
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Story

Mog, a moogle, wants to go treasure hunting on Scary Mountain with his friends Cactuar, Moomba, and Boko. The others are too frightened, so Mog decides to go adventuring solo. Three days pass without Mog's return, worrying his friends, who embark on a quest to find him. Boko leads the group, while Cactuar volunteers to gather items and Moomba offers to find weapons.

[edit] Gameplay

Chocobo World is a simple game with graphics comprised of a limited number of black and white pixels. Although the game can be played by itself, it's primarily intended as a minigame to Final Fantasy VIII.^[1] First, the player must find Boko in the world of Final Fantasy VIII. This accomplished, the player is given another slot on the file save screen titled Chocobo World. This slot acts as an interface for communicating between the virtual worlds of Final Fantasy VIII and Chocobo World. From this screen, players can send Boko into Chocobo World to gain experience and collect items and can later bring him back into Final Fantasy VIII, in turn transferring the data from Chocobo World to Final Fantasy VIII.

[edit] Exploration

In Chocobo World, Boko perpetually wanders around a nondescript landscape in search of "events" to interact with, such as enemy battles, friendly encounters with Moomba and Cactuar, and "special" events. Depending on how the player sets the "Move" option, Boko may break from his path to navigate to the nearest event perpendicular to his direction of travel. Players can also turn off the "Event Wait" option, eliminating the need for player input to advance, although choosing this option prevents Boko from encountering special events. At any time, players can intervene and halt Boko's computer-controlled movement in favor of manually controlling him.

Events are shown on the map as black dots, while Boko's location is represented by a flickering black dot. When an event is cleared, it vanishes on the map, only to be replaced by another in a random location. When Boko gains a level of experience through battling enemies, the map resets and randomly redistributes events across the world.

[edit] Battle system

Boko faces a Blobra on the battle screen

Battles are the most common event the player encounters in Chocobo World. Upon confronting an enemy, the player is thrust into the battle screen. Once engaged in battle, the player's only option is to fight until either the enemy or Boko is defeated. Combatant health is represented by numerical "hit points" (HP) displayed on the far sides of the playing screen; whoever's count of hit points reaches zero first loses the battle. Combat relies on a variant of the Active Time Battle (ATB) system featured in Final Fantasy VIII. In battle, Boko and his opponent each have a time counter; the first combatant's counter to reach zero is allowed to attack, upon which both time counters reset and the process repeats itself. By alternately pressing the left and right buttons, players can speed up Boko's time counter, reducing the time required for him to attack. Upon winning a battle, Boko receives a magic stone which is randomly placed on a tic-tac-toe-style board. If three stones line up in a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal row, Boko gains a "level" of experience, which increases his hit point count in Chocobo World and his strength in Final Fantasy VIII. If the player finds Mog within Chocobo World, he will assist Boko in battle as a last resort, i.e., if Boko himself is defeated, Mog will attack the enemy (an attack analogous to the Limit Break in Final Fantasy games). If Mog's attack fails to defeat the enemy, he leaves his partner and Boko loses the battle. After losing any battle, Boko must rest to restore his hit points, but the player is allowed to continue the game without penalty for defeat.

In some events, Boko is approached by Moomba, who gives his friend a weapon. A weapon is simply a series of four numbers that determines Boko's attacking power. During battle, the computer randomly chooses one of the four digits on the weapon number to determine the damage Boko inflicts, or the number his attack subtracts from the enemy's hit point count. If, for example, the weapon is 8531, then Boko's damage dealt to the enemy will be randomly chosen from the digits "8," "5," "3," and "1."

When played on the PocketStation, players can pit their Chicobos against one another using the PocketStation's optical communication function.^[1] If you win the fight you are allowed to "imprint" the loser's ID on your own Chicobo and possibly improve your rank.^[5]

The infrared handshake protocol used has been analyzed and documented, so it's possible to initiate a Chocobo World PvP battle using (for example) a PalmPilot with an infrared port to simulate a second PocketStation.

Transferring items from Chocobo World to Final Fantasy VIII

[edit] Collecting items

Another event in Chocobo World involves Cactuar finding items for Boko. Cactuar appears on the event screen and gives Boko one of four items, labeled A, B, C, and D. Although these items are useless in Chocobo World, they can be "imported" to the world of Final Fantasy VIII to be accessed in the player's item inventory. Depending on your rank, the probability of Cactuar finding "D" rank items is greatest, but they are among the most common items in Final Fantasy VIII (e.g., basic status recovery items). Conversely, the probability of Cactuar finding "A" rank items is lowest, but they are very rare items.

[edit] Audio

(This section applies to the PC version of the game) The music of Chocobo World consists of six tracks taken from Final Fantasy VII's score. The tracks heard in the game include the Chocobo Theme "Odekake de Chocobo," the resting theme "Good Night, Until Tomorrow," a slightly altered battle theme, "Hurry, Faster!," and truncated versions of "Waltz de Chocobo," the victory theme, "Fanfare," and of "Dear to the Heart."

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b ^c (1999) in Square Electronic Arts: Final Fantasy VIII North American instruction manual (in English). Square Electronic Arts, 38-40. SLUS-00892GH.
^ IGN staff (July 15, 1999). FFVIII PocketStation Opens Up Chocobo World. www.ign.com. Retrieved on July 18, 2006.
^ sahas (January 21, 2006). The Sony PocketStation. www.skattertech.com. Retrieved on July 18, 2006.
^ Dan Calderman (2000). Chocobo World Playable on PC. www.rpgamer.com. Retrieved on July 18, 2006.
^ Steve Zeck (2000). Final Fantasy VIII PocketStation Game Technical FAQ by "saint" on GameFAQs. www.gamefaqs.com. Retrieved on January 31, 2007.