Captain Toad Treasure Tracker - Review

Super Mario 3D World was a fantastic game, it had amazing level design, some real challenge and more, but perhaps one of the most inspired elements was that of the Captain Toad levels, small puzzles that you could explore, but without the ability to jump, they were unlike anything Mario fans had ever played.

Captain Toad Treasure Tracker takes that same game design and expands it up to ever more levels and puzzles than ever, but still manages to retain the charm that was on show in the original title. For those not in the know, Captain Toad has set off to collect power stars, alongside Toadette who has the misfortune of getting carried away by a giant bird, upon collecting their first star. While the story is very simple, Toad does provide a level of charm in it that is hard to not find endearing.

Story though, is not the main focus of the game, with the puzzles being the real star here. Each of the micro worlds has their own unique series of challenges and collectables, with the difficulty increasing at each turn. The first few levels are really simple to solve, with the path to the gems and star being easy to spot, but once you progress further, some of them can become quiet devious. In each world there are 3 gems to collect and finally a power star, though collecting the gems is not a requirement to complete the level, but once you do get the star, you will get a report of how you did. Were all three gems collected, did you complete the secret objective, these simple elements are enough to draw you back into the world.

Once you have collected the 3 gems and completed the secret objective, you are given a par time to try and beat, this time challenge also offers up a small challenge, but one that players should not take lightly, as each level requires a little rethink from the previous playthrough. But of course, collecting the items and getting to the end is not quite straight forward, first of all, but Toad and Toadette cannot jump, the weight of the backpack they carry stops that from happening, but also the worlds are not just flat, they are fully 3-Dimensional spaces that require you to move around to help solve them.

Rotating the levels is critical to completing them, for if you don’t you won’t be able to see all that the world has to offer. Some levels hide gems and coins behind walls, which if you don’t rotate you will not see, whereas others require you to move behind, under and above items and around enemies and keeping the same view from the start of the level will result in you failing the level. Overall the gameplay on show here is very simple, but simple does not equal easy, the mechanic of rotating the stages is easy enough to understand, but mastering is another thing.

The game also has the distinction of looking amazing, Toad and Toadette both provide varied expressions, each to suit the situation they are in. The enemies in the game are mostly the standard Mario fare, but with a few new additions, you should feel at home in taking them on. The sound that the game has is also pretty spectacular, new melodies mixed with classics provided me with a sense of nostalgia while still experiencing new things.

If you happen to have some save data from the previously mentioned Super Mario 3D World, then you can unlock some of those levels and play through them as Captain Toad, a nice little touch. Perhaps the only downside to the game is that it is way too short, the first play through, without all the collectables only took me a few hours, of course this will vary for others, but the overall length does lead to the idea that it was meant to be DLC or an eShop release, before it went full retail.

But with that minor gripe aside, if you pick up this game for yourself, I am sure you will have a great time, with fun challenges and lots of charm Captain Toad is a great way to start the year.

The Score

8.0

Review code provided by Nintendo

The Pros

+Fantastic levels, that contain a nice array of puzzles to solve

+Captain Toad is charming and the rest of the game matches

The Cons

-The game is short and while replaying levels to get all the gems is fine, it doesn't take that much effort

-Feels more like a DLC pack for another game, than a full standalone release