GAMES FROM THE FROG'S BOX #3: MIBIBLI'S QUEST

For this installment of Games from the Frog's Box, we have Mibibli's Quest, a surreal, tough-as-nails platformer from Ryan Melmoth. The best way I can describe this game is "Mega Man, but on several mind-altering substances and Microsoft Paint."
There's... something resembling a plot, involving Mibibli having to save the world while beating up his archenemy, Crocodibli, though it is firmly secondary to the real star of the show: the incredibly creative and bizarre level gimmicks and bosses you'll blast your way through.

GAMEPLAY:
The controls in this are interesting, to say the least. Your jump is kind of weak, but Mibibli has FAR more horizontal speed than most platforming protagonists. The game makes sure to put this to use with a LOT of death-defying jumps that seem too wide for normal circumstances.

Your standard bullets drop off when they get too far to the edge of the screen, but there are instances where you can exploit this to hit things below you- or it's just flat-out required.
As you progress, you'll get a variety of other weapons and abilites, like a double jump and invincible dash- the input of the latter being slightly annoying to pull off until you get the hang of it, or TWO flavors of charge shots.
I'll be honest- I didn't really use most of the alternate weapons. The standard bullets are just too good.
There is a cross power-up that lets you levitate and turn invincible, but you can only use once per stage. Great in a pinch.
Basically, Mibibli's controls are the epitome of "this is weird, but once you get used to it it feels GOOD."

GRAPHICS:
These graphics are what i would best describe as "charmingly rough". Everything has this rough, deliberately unpolished feel, but it's a VERY consistent artstyle, which occasionally brings some very striking visuals. Mibibli is confident in its delivery, and it's wonderful. I'll highlight specific instances when I rave about the levels.

HUMOR:
This is a VERY funny game, in more ways than one. There's always some weird NPC to find that spouts amusing nonsense, or some weird boss that looks completely insane... I was laughing as much as I was dying all the time to the hard levels.

MUSIC:
The entire soundtrack is just banging chiptune after banging chiptune, but shoutouts to "Art Zone", "Boss Fight", "Digitaland", "Rave", "Friday".
My praise comes in common for all of them- they're REALLY grungy, with excellent use of noise channels to emphasize their unusual compositions, yet still incredibly catchy all the same.

ART ZONE: THE OPENING LEVEL

This is the level that sets the tone for the rest of the game. Blocks seemingly-randomly scattered around, yet thoughtfully placed to make you use your strange movement to its fullest. Tossing a lot of gimmicks at you, like the paint rollers or pencils that spawn enemies endlessly- but they're not used to their fullest, serving as mere setpieces to amuse you as you continue on your merry way.

More threatening, however, are these enemies that turn you into photographs if they catch you, forcing you to mash your way out before they smack you with collision damage.

As are these laser enemies, which blast so powerfully, the music gets cut off. Great stuff.

At the end, is the biggest challenge, you ARCHENEMY, CROCODIBLI...

Who keeps refilling his health regularly like a coward, while forcing you to dodge bullet hell and VVVVVV gravitron moves. He just won't die- and as it turns out, that was the point.

Turns out, it was a trick this whole time. Don't worry, you'll get your rematch later- but this is the kind of humor and aesthetic this game has. Always moving, always fresh, always subverting your expectations.

 

You end up in YUM TOWN, a place populated by sad and surreal citizens that have absolutely nothing useful to say. Then, you find a bible and the game glitches out, you get out of there... and have the most epic elevator ride in the universe.

All that... was the FIRST LEVEL OF THE GAME.
Welcome to Mibibli's Quest. 

You'll enter hub areas that have several stages, and you need to complete most or all of them to progress to the next one.

Talking about the rest of the levels would vastly give away all of this game's wonderful secrets and bizarreness, so if you want to play it, do so. Otherwise... SPOILERS AHOY.

SPOILER SECTION STARTS HERE

Click to show

Some of the levels are either too short to have anything interesting to say about them, or I just didn't find them as compelling as the rest. (That's not a negative, they're still GOOD levels for the most part, just less wild than the highest highs this game has to offer.) So, I'll shoutout my favorite levels in this game.
Which is HALF the levels in this game, roughly. Half of the over 20 levels in this game are good enough for me to gush over. So that's a very good sign indeed, I would say.

CAVE (yes, all the levels are named simple things like this)
As this blob implies, the glass blocks are a major hazard in this level. Shooting them will indeed make them hurt you, shooting them again will destroy them.

Of course, that's not going to matter when you get this big fuck-off smiling vehicle. It's completely invincible- the only hitbox is Mibibli on top. Which, granted, those little flies may sneak in hits that way, so it's a good idea to jump out to deal with those. Still, you can just merrily trundle your way along for the most part.

This midboss- later fought in a duo- is a slight pain because of your shots' drop-off at the edges, so try to hit them when they're in the center of the screen. One of many instances where the game is QUITE aware of this design choice, and will use it malevolently.

The boss, ANGRYROCKIBLI, (yes, all enemies/bosses have "Ibli" at the end of their name) is fairly easy, but can trip you up if you're not careful. His projectiles have the nasty habit of freezing you in place- long enough for you to get hit, usually. so don't do that. 

RAVE (The Level That Made Me Love This Game)

This is my favorite level by far in the first hub, if only because of its crazy gimmick. There are these blue signs all around, and you have to hit the button- directional or fire- that they represent, or get zapped. Usually they're guarding doors which require a certain amount of inputs- right or wrong- to make work. The trick is, you only have the time when the symbol is overlapping with Mibibli to do so.

 

But the level uses this in quite diabolical ways, up to and including FIRING THE SYMBOLS AT YOU.

Or enemies that explode into them. Or forcing you to dodge bullets, while running INTO said symbols to unlock a door.

Or using the freezing effect of the symbols to time a drop past spikes.

Even using it during the boss fight, where the symbols are used as projectiles! 
Needless to say, this level gets a LOT of mileage out of its gimmick.  It's tough to get used to, but this is the kind of wild creativity this game thrives on.

DIGITALAND (Barely Above The Wrist Game)

Guys, i think we lost the bits.
This level has one of the best music tracks in the game, a rocking bop with grungy noise drums everywhere. It's got a great way of worming its way into your head. More important than that though, is the gimmick.

The white platforms invert when you get close- solids become nonsolids, and vice versa. This gets used quite deviously in rooms like this, with the two types on the same line. Better keep track of what you're standing on!

Oh, and these invincible turrets that move back and forth. They get used in some REALLY devious spots later, but for now they're not so bad.

But that's not it, either. Timers that kill you if they run out, and blocks that flash in and out of existence, so you can't see where you're standing! You gotta react fast, and move faster, or you're dead. They can get REALLY strict, too.

The boss is rough until you learn its trick. It'll push you to the edge of the screen, right, but it stops right before you hit the spikes on the side of the room. Proper timing will make short work of him- but he does this CONSTANTLY, so you gotta be on your toes.
Overall, a very nicely paced level that doesn't overstay its welcome.

CRYSTAL CARS (Don't Ask About Their Mileage)

Well, you could progress the stage normally, or do this Space Invaders-esque minigame. Do that, and you'll access a bonus stage- but I'll cover that later.

 These rotating electric bolts are quite a thing to deal with, since their range gets bigger and smaller as they go. Thankfully, they're decently slow- but when there's a lot of them at once, it can get pretty hairy.

 
The cars are not just for show, either- making an interestingly difficult hazard to deal with as they move back and forth, forcing you to maneuver around the small gaps that form.

Like in this underwater section here. The narrow passage with the electric hazards is particularly devious. This level's short, but it's got some devious setpieces.

The boss is probably the most elaborate in the game so far. He keeps switching his weak spot- the open eye- to one of the 3 positions, all while firing enormous bullets that split upon contact with a wall. The closed eye blocks your shots, so you have to constantly be running around the room to properly hit him.
Very good boss, overall. 

EGGS (Not Easter)

 

I hope you like Contra. The eggs here burst into very fast, VERY annoying enemies that run around and shoot at you, and naturally the game places them in VERY annoying spots. Even color-coded with three different types!

One highlight is this room. It's a tough puzzle you need to get past- make this jump here after blowing up the bomb blocks, jump on the egg... then finally use that cross powerup in the next room to access the third bonus stage.

Quite a thing, this. This stage is full of pseudo-puzzle platforming like this, and it's tough- but perfectly doable.

Another highlight room is how the first midboss is rather easy, barring having to fight it on rising platforms... but then the rematch comes, and you have to deal with an uneven formation of them, with SPIKES. A great way to put a new twist on the fight.

 

The boss, however, is a real pain in the neck- though I applaud the creativity. He does just sit there, and his health ticks down over time- but the projectiles instantly kill you, and they come in yellow devil-esque waves. So, get good at dodging- oh, and take advantage of your projectiles' drop-off to deal some extra damage.
Eggs is difficult level to be sure, but the malice has tremendous personality and creativity. Sadly, the next level I'm highlighting isn't anywhere near as charming...

NIGHTMARE

 This level is aptly named, it's a real kick in the teeth. The gimmick is these purple fields that force you in a specific direction when touched, and flip back and forth. It's slightly jank until you figure out how it works, and there's multiple points where slightly improper timing will screw you over.

Especially when the other gimmick shows up, with these cannons that move to your vertical position and constantly fire lasers at you! In general, this level has some really devious traps, especially in conjunction with the instant kill spike launchers... and it doesn't even stop there! 

Like this room, where you have to perfectly time a jump through FOUR arrow fields, over a pit of spikes. hesitate or mistime, and it's all over.

The boss is even more frustrating- it just sits there, but it has four bullets constantly bouncing around the screen, with two moving back and forth, while a wall occasionally comes down to stop you from landing proper hits on the damn thing. It's genius design, but good lord, this level lives up to its name!
Still not the most frustrating level in the game, though. That one comes later.

HUMANIBLI C

Throughout the first two hubs, there are three secret Humanibli levels- I'm covering the third one because it's both the hardest and most creative.

The gimmick of this stage is one of my favorites in the game- when you hit the jump button, you levitate towards the ceiling, unavoidably, until you hit something. Naturally, you'll have to time this with moving platforms- which is a VERY unique puzzle for a platforming game.

Not content with this simple thing, however, this segment rears its ugly head. Dodge the spikes that continually respawn and shoot up when you're above them, or die. Especially since you can't jump normally, this is a DIABOLICAL setpiece- but very clever. Even more so when you HAVE to levitate to ascend, while making sure the spikes are timed properly to not shank you.

Humanibli himself is a step up from the some of the other bosses- he jumps around, tosses projectiles that wrap around the screen, and bounces off the walls like Sigma in MMX1. In all three fights, his attack pattern is the same, but his arena changes- and that can force some emergent differences. But what's really interesting about him is what happens when you kill him.
The first time, you take his suit.
The second time, you take his undergarments.
The third time... you take his SKIN.

 

 Metal as fuck, this.

CROCODIBLI'S CROCASTLE

Gotta say, mibibli's archenemy has great interior design. love the scale patterned tiles.
Anyway, this level is a step up in difficulty. 

As in, it's so difficult that Crocodibli fucking grabs you and kills you before you can even fight him. He even uses his ultimate attack, the LONG TEXT SCROLL THAT BREAKS THE FOURTH WALL! Truly devastating. (Don't worry, you come back to life by beating him in Definitely-Not-Street-Fighter.)
Of course, you do get to come back and rematch him later... and that's when the real level begins.

 

Spike walls that autoscroll, those pink horn things that constantly fly around to harass you- that can't be killed, by the way. Oh, and a smorgasbord of other gimmicks to get in your way, too! Definitely the hardest level in the 2nd hub, but certainly climactic enough.

At the end, you reach Crocodibli, meditating in the middle of the air... hit him, and you get taken to the MIRROR DIMENSION.

Where your controls are reversed, the music is reversed... everything. Oh boy. Now you have to go through the level AGAIN like this- thankfully the autoscrolls are disabled, but that's not gonna help when there are new hazards in their place, like the flowers... still, though, this is one of the longest levels in the game, and the halfway twist is brilliant.

You even have to fight Crocodibli twice- once when you're still reversed, and AGAIN in the standard way with random explosions all over the field. Tedious? Possibly. But it feels good to beat the hell out of him for real... except he still doesn't DIE.
No, instead he challenges you to use a time machine to travel to seven days before his death, which you pass by beating seven more random levels.
This is a level of main villain pettiness that should be celebrated.

TUESDAY

 
Oh boy, here we go. This is a tough one, with its enemies that reduce your health continually... which are basically a health tax, since they're immune to the homing projectiles. If you take too much damage in any other segment, they WILL kill you before you can even get close to them.

Especially THIS one room, which basically requires you to use the cross powerup to get through- i can't think of any other good way to get past it. Not only that, but there's also...

GIANT SPIKES.

 

By this point you have the invincible dash, and it is NECESSARY... though, in rooms like THIS, with the scrolling spike walls and all sorts of shit in your way, it won't really help you. Really, not having a boss in this level is a mercy. It is BRUTAL.
Still not the most frustrating level in the game, though. That would be...

WEDNESDAY
I applaud the respect of the developer for not making Monday the hardest level, but Wednesday is far worse than you'd expect Hump Day to be.

In the FIRST ROOM you're chased by jellyfish, blasting your way through glass blocks, trying to outrun the death meter from toxic water, and then there's conveyor belts afterwards! It only gets better (worse) from there.

These speaker midbosses are a royal pain to deal with, as well. The music notes they spawn move deceptively fast, and block your shots- while the speaker spends half of its existence being out of your reach!

So naturaly, you have to fight it again on conveyor belts. Then another annoying midboss (also on conveyor belts).

AND THEN TWO MORE OF THE SPEAKERS. Three times. In a row. With the checkpoint being before all this. With how frail Mibibli is, this part is an absolute slog that punishes you severely for any misstep.
Wednesday is my least favorite level in the entire game, because copy-pasting the same (FRUSTRATING) midboss five times in one level is not fun.

FRIDAY (Thank God)
Welcome to the best level in the game.

 

This is the hardest level the game has to offer, but what a good challenge it is. unlike Tuesday and Wednesday, this one plays it mostly fair.
I haven't been mentioning the graphics much so far, but i have to spotlight this level in particular- the way everything is upside down, the hanging mibiblis everywhere, the bloodfalls flowing upwards... it's very striking.

 

 

Now don't let the presentation fool you- this level is a ball-buster. The bloodfalls send you upwards, and you'll need to use them to make some VERY precise jumps. You can shoot the red flames to send them upwards and out of your way- something that wasn't QUITE clear at first.
I think what separates this level from the likes of the more frustrating stages is that you can generally take your time, and plot out your course before committing- compare Tuesday and Wednesday, which require split-second reactions or death.
 

 

 

Midway through the level, you'll find an evil clone of yourself that you have to survive the onslaught of for a few moments- not too difficult at first, but when you have to start dealing with it in drops of spikes, that's another thing entirely. Combined with all the graves in the level being of... Mibibli himself, it's painting quite an eerie picture. 
 

 

One made worse, by the fact that you have to shoot down the hanged copies of yourself, and the HEADS COME OFF AND FLY AFTER YOU, along with their nooses forming slot-deflecting projectiles. And they scroll constantly wto wherever you are on screen- made worse by the fact that certain areas DELIBERATELY put them in your way, forcing you to get rid of them or get stuck.
A genius hazard, to be sure. But that's NOTHING compared to the level's boss!

 

Darkibli is a simple thing- he copies your movements and shooting exactly. Only problem is, his shots are bigger, and he has more health. So how do you kill him?
Well, there's a few ways. The slugs work great for this, since they fire behind you- but, I found the best way is to shoot, then use the Void Buster to catch him on the way back, since using it doesn't count as a shot.
A genius puzzle fight, this. One of the best bosses in the entire game.

ART ZONE REVISITED (With FRICKIN' LASER BEAMS!)

 

In Saturday, if you get all the secret items (including Humanibli's parts) you can access this pentagram.
Jump in the pit, and you get sent back to ART ZONE...

But with a giant laser beam weapon that you can use to obliterate Crocodibli like the bastard reptile he is.

MIBI-MIBI-MIBI: THE FINAL BOSS

Now, the standard ending involves you getting utterly wrecked by an eldritch horror, after being disappointed that there's no final boss. Even if you access the secret levels, the ending doesn't really change... but there IS a way to get your revenge.

By inputting a long string of arrows at the title screen (given by two NPCs), you can finally get revenge on that horror that tore Mibibli apart at the end of the game. It is the longest and most elaborate boss in the game by far, with THREE phases, in a game where all other bosses only have one.

The first phase isn't really a problem since he just sits there and spews mildly difficult bullet hell. The only really troublesome part is the one where he'she's throwing out attacks that you have to use the bloodfall to dodge, but that's not much.
 Only problem is, you have to do all three phases in a row, and you don't have any powerups other than the standard bullets. Not even a cross (not that it's helpful in boss fights.) The only mercy the game offers is that previous phases you've beaten have their health halved.

 

And the second phase is no pushover despite him being much smaller. Especially this attack, where you have to memorize the sequence of sword slashes telegraphed and dodge accordingly.

 

Or this, where he turns the entire screen gray and counterattacks, instantly killing you if you attack him then. Still, there's more!

The third phase is less precise, but definitely the hardest- if only because it has the most ridiculous bullet hell in the entire game. It's hard to even get near him sometimes, as he spawns minions endlessly, blasts danmaku curtains everywhere, or uses the rock boss's paralyzing bullets. However... Mibi-Mibi-Mibi is a MASSIVE target, so as long as you can get an opening, it's certainly doable.
And your reward for beating this bastard is this glorious cutscene.

It doesn't get better than this, folks. As good of an ending as a non-serious game like this could've asked for.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
This game is wonderfully strange, surreal, and whacky, to be sure. But underneath is a rock-solid action platformer with creativity to spare.
Of course there's moments of frustration and jank occasionally, but those are outshone by the wild gimmicks, hilarious sense of humor, and genuine fun gameplay baked into Mibibli's DNA. Play this!

(Shoutouts to Supermetalsonic360's playthrough, for helping me screengrab stuff I didn't manage to capture in my reference playthrough.)

Game Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/453990/Mibiblis_Quest/

Soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyGavG0GkLY