| Chocobo | |
|---|---|
 There is no unified logo for the series; this logo was used inChocobo's Mystery Dungeon Every Buddy! | |
| Publishers | Square,Square Enix |
| Artist | Toshiyuki Itahana |
| First release | Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon December 23, 1997 |
| Latest release | Chocobo GP March 10, 2022 |
| Parent series | Final Fantasy |
TheChocobo series is part of theFinal Fantasy franchise owned bySquare Enix. Aspin-off series meant to have more child andcasual gamer appeal than the main games, it spans multiple genres, beginning withChocobo's Mysterious Dungeon in 1997. It features a recurring cast of characters designed by Toshiyuki Itahana and rendered in a morechibi style than traditionalFinal Fantasy games. They include Chocobo, theprotagonist and a member of the fictionalchocobo species of flightless birds; Mog, amoogle who is Chocobo's friend, Shirma, a white mage, and Croma, a black mage, among other recurring series characters. One of the most major genres within the series areMystery Dungeon games, while it has also branched off into tabletop games.[1] Its most recent entry isChocobo GP, akart racing game released in 2022 for theNintendo Switch.
| 1997 | Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon |
|---|---|
| 1998 | Chocobo's Dungeon 2 |
| 1999 | Chocobo Racing Chocobo Collection |
| 2000 | Chocobo on the Job |
| 2001 | |
| 2002 | Chocobo Land: A Game of Dice Chocobo Anywhere |
| 2003 | Chocobo Anywhere 2: Escape! Ghost Ship Choco-Mate |
| 2004 | Chocobo Anywhere 2.5: Infiltrate! Ancient Ruins Chocobo Anywhere 3: Defeat! The Great Rainbow-Colored Demon |
| 2005 | |
| 2006 | Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales Chocobo de Mobile |
| 2007 | Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon |
| 2008 | Chocobo Tales: The Witch, the Girl, and the Five Heroes Cid and Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon |
| 2009 | |
| 2010 | Chocobo Panic Chocobo's Crystal Tower |
| 2011 | |
| 2012 | Chocobo's Chocotto Farm |
| 2013–2018 | |
| 2019 | Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon Every Buddy! |
| 2020–2021 | |
| 2022 | Chocobo GP' Chocobo GP |
The first releasedChocobo game was the 1997Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon forPlayStation. It was followed on the console by a 1998 sequel,Chocobo's Dungeon 2, as well asChocobo Racing in 1999.Racing was bundled with two other games,Chocobo Stallion, a racing and breeding game, andDice de Chocobo, adigital board game, to comprise theChocobo Collection compilation, released the same year.[2][3]
Chocobo on the Job was released in 2000 forWonderSwan, whileChocobo Anywhere was released in 2002 for mobile.Chocobo Anywhere received several sequels throughout 2003 and 2004;Chocobo Anywhere 2: Escape! Ghost Ship,Chocobo Anywhere 2.5: Infiltrate! Ancient Ruins, andChocobo Anywhere 3: Defeat! The Great Rainbow-Colored Demon. Two other mobile games,Choco-Mate andChocobo de Mobile, were released in 2003 and 2006, respectively.[2]
Onhandheld consoles,Chocobo Land: A Game of Dice, an enhanced version ofDice de Chocobo, was released in 2002 forGame Boy Advance. It was followed up in 2006 byFinal Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales forNintendo DS.Chocobo Tales would go on to receive a Japan-only sequel in 2008,Chocobo Tales: The Witch, the Girl, and the Five Heroes.Cid and Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon was released on DS the same year. Onhome consoles,Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon was released on 2007 for theWii.[2]
2010 saw the release ofChocobo Panic foriOS andChocobo's Crystal Tower for mobile. Afarming sim,Chocobo's Chocotto Farm, was released in 2012, also for iOS.[2] The series then went on hiatus until 2019, whenChocobo's Mystery Dungeon Every Buddy!, a remake of the original Wii title, was released forNintendo Switch andPlayStation 4. This was followed by the 2022 release ofChocobo GP, a kart racing game, for iOS, Android and Switch.
Chocobo Racing 3D, akart racing game for3DS that would have been a sequel toChocobo Racing, was announced atE3 2010, but cancelled in 2013 due to its quality falling short of the company's standards.[4][5]
Varioustabletop games based on the franchise and illustrated by Itahana have been released. Acard game,Chocobo's Crystal Hunt, was released in 2016. Aboard game,Chocobo Party Up!, was released in 2019.[1]
Apicture book,Chocobo and the Airship, was released in 2021 in Japan and 2023 in the West. It follows Chocobo and the recurring characterCid as they attempt to build anairship and fight off monsters threatening their town.[6][7]
The character designer of theChocobo series, Toshiyuki Itahana, also worked on theFinal Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series,Final Fantasy IX, andFinal Fantasy Explorers. When he was initially designing the Chocobo character forChocobo's Mysterious Dungeon, he attempted to stylize it to be visible on a square grid. He tried to make its appearance more stylish, retaining monster-like elements such as a sharper beak, but believed such a design was unfitting for a "beloved protagonist" and made it more rounded and cute. The character of Mog was added due to Chocobo's inability to speak, in order to have a talking partner that could communicate Chocobo's thoughts to the player.[8]
In addition to the series itself, Chocobo received a cameo appearance in a mainline game,Final Fantasy XIV, under the alias of Alpha. He was chosen for the role due to having beatenOmega the most of anyFinal Fantasy character.[8]
TheChocobo series was initially received with surprise in the West due to Square's reputation for hardcore games. In 1999, IGN calledChocobo Racing a "commercial tangent" that more resembled a Nintendo game, describing Chocobo as a "strange, loveable bird-creature".[9]
In 2007, Frank Caron ofArs Technica criticized many of the games in the series, stating that they were "rather unappealing". He described theChocobo's Dungeon sub-series as "simplistic dungeon crawling of the lowest common denominator", while callingChocobo Racing a "completely derivative kart-racing clone". However, he praised Chocobo's design, stating that he was "so readily identifiable that I simply can't deny myself the natural desire to take part in his wily adventures" despite being a "seemingly ordinary bird". He also expressed excitement for the release ofChocobo Tales, saying that it had him "rapt" due to its art style and gameplay.[10] In 2009,IGN noted that by the time of thePlayStation, Square Enix was eager to exploit the popularity of theFinal Fantasy series in a way they never had before. Describing theChocobo series as "moderately enjoyable adventures" that "hopped across all genres", they nevertheless calledFinal Fantasy Tactics "the only PlayStation-era spin-off that really matters".[11] In 2012,Retro Gamer magazine called the "undoubted highlight" of the sub-seriesChocobo Tales despite its games of numerous genres.[12] In 2023,The A.V. Club stated that while theChocobo series arrived "sporadically" in America, it was "typically welcome" when it did, combining "kid-friendly aesthetics" with "beefy" gameplay in the case of itsMystery Dungeon entries.[13]
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