I find the idea of "tank controls" to be strangely captivating for some reason, although not quite in the sense of characterizing it literally as seen here or in other games which have actual tanks. On my second run I was instead paying more attention to the environment, which has a descriptive color language up to a certain point; most blue objects are passable objects, orange is real obstacles, and purple is objects that have a mix of both, but this pattern isn't fully consistent and is really more of an imagination on my part, and one that might have made the game a bit too easy. On that note, a harder difficulty where I don't chart where I was could've been an interesting addition without much extra work.
The game is about as minimalist as a Land motivation can get, which is actually refreshing for something which is often so maximalist. Although the game is short and its visual cohesion is lacking for my taste, the design concept and execution are solid enough to weather the storm. Shout out to the music and sound design for their effort carrying the "tanky" execution.
Chibi-Robo! is one of those games that somehow cemented in my memory within the month or so that our family rented it through GameFly (BlockBuster for video games), and now years later it and its older cousins are some of my favorite of all time for their joyfully surreal aesthetic similar to Katamari Damacy. Cleaning as a prelusory goal for video games is an underrated concept; games like House Flipper and PowerWash Simulator have substantial cult followings, so perhaps the resurgence of "janitor platformers" is only a matter of time.