Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash

Unlike the first three games in the series, Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash is a side-scrolling platformer rather than an adventure platformer. The player takes control of the robot Chibi-Robo with the goal of reaching the end of the level, which is signified by an unidentified flying object (UFO). Chibi-Robo has a multi-functional power cord, one of whose main functions is the Whip Lash; when using the cord he swings the plug which can be used to grab surfaces and items or to attack enemies.

By attaching the plug to orange surfaces on walls and ceilings, Chibi can swing or grapple with his cord to reach inaccessible places. The Whip Lash can also be performed in the air; holding the action can cause the player to briefly hover. The cord's other main function is Zip Lash, in which Chibi-Robo charges up and releases the cord at a distance and ricochets of wall; Zip Lash is used for puzzle solving and reaching high-up, inaccessible locations.

Chibi-Robo is cleaning the exterior of a space station when his companion Telly reminds him to take a break. During the break, Chibi-Robo watches television and discovers many of the Earth's natural resources have vanished because of invading aliens. The pair are suddenly disturbed by a cluster of aliens, who are known as Gyorians and are traveling toward Earth. Chibi-Robo and Telly set off in the "Chibi House" to combat the alien invasion. During the adventure, Chibi-Robo travels to locations across the Earth to reclaim the stolen natural resources and defeat the alien robots that guard their locations.

Chibi-Robo and Telly travel to Antarctica, where the aliens' mothership is located. Chibi-Robo destroys the mothership but a large, glowing ball escapes from the wreckage and heads toward a metropolitan city in Asia. The ball then changes into a large monster named "The Mega-Mech Menace" and starts to wreak havoc. To combat the monster, Telly and Chibi construct a giant named "Giga Chibi-Robo"; the two giants fight each other until Chibi-Robo deactivates the monster and destroys it, prompting both Chibi and Telly to return to the station.

Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash, the fifth game in the Chibi-Robo series, was developed by Skip Ltd. with help from Vanpool, Inc. Series producers Kensuke Tanabe and Hiroshi Suzuki, and series newcomer Taro Kudo produced Zip Lash, and Risa Tabata was an assistant producer and chief director in the game.

Keita Eto representing Skip Ltd. and Jun Tsuda, representing Vanpool directed the game. Tsuda had worked with Tanabe on Paper Mario: Sticker Star, Dillon's Rolling Western and its sequel. The game's lead designers include Yuki Watanabe and Shingo Kabaya, artist Akira Katsuta, and programmer Hironori Ahiko.

According to review aggregator website Metacritic, Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash received "mixed reviews"; Metacritic rated it 59/100 based on 50 reviews. On OpenCritic, 12% of critics recommended the game based on 42 reviews. Most critics found the game to be underwhelming and forgettable. Nintendo Life described the game as "fun but unexciting", noting it was a solid platformer but was quite unmemorable compared to other games of the same genre.

Throughout the reviews, critics' views on the game's controls were mixed. Some reviewers said the Zip Lash mechanic is a good idea and worked well with most levels. Others said the controls are poor, unresponsive, slow, and underused. Mark Brown of Pocket Gamer wrote the controls of the whip, which uses the d-pad, feel uncooperative and sluggish, saying it "lacked the finesse of other grappling hook games like Umihara Kawase and Bionic Commando".