Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker Review

Overview:

Can Nintendo make the bonus games from 3D World into an own flull-fledged game? That question was raised a lot after their Digital Event at E3 2014. Many where skeptic if such a simple game concept would work, but just as many where euphoric. The Captain Toad Levels were a refreshing change of paint during 3D World and well received. Now Nintendo has shown us their answer. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a full game with amazing visuals and a variety of content. The gameplay mechanics weren't changed but enhanced. Just like the rest of the game. Everything feels a little grander in scope, while still retaining the diorama charm from where it all originated.

By the way. Captain Toad isn't the first game that stars our loveable mushroom heads in the leading role. This honor belongs to Warios Woods on the NES.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker... lets talk about it.

Story:

During a simple trip with his friend Captain Toadette our main hero has to witness his friend and the precious power star they tracked together get stolen away by the mischievous bird Wingo. Without hesitation he embarks on an epic journey to save his friend and get the star. As a Mario Spinoff title there is of course not much to the story, but like in nearly all Mario Games the levels are the true stars of the game that keep you motivated to play.

Gameplay:

The gamplay is the same as in the 3D-World Bonuslevels. Captain Toad has to traverse a small (most of the time) and cubical (most of the time) level in his search for the Power Star. Yes indeed. Instead of five Greenstars which are scattered all across the level our brave explorer now only has to reach the Power Star at the ''end'' of the level to complete it. And I say end very loosely because the Power Star can be everywhere. From completely hidden over right beyond your nose but out of reach to only appearing after completing a special task or puzzle.

But is this all you may ask? Luckily not or the game would be even shorter than it already is. Next to the Power Star each level also houses three hidden Supergems. And these are much harder to find. At least most of the time. These gems are used to unlock later levels of the game, but even if you play it very casually and not really look for them you should have no trouble in progressing. Just like it was with the Green Stars in Super Mario 3D World.

Apart from these two things there are a few other collectibles hidden inside the stages. Coins a scattered around and also can be plucked from various clumps of grass across the stage. One hundred of them give you an extra live, just like they always have and will always do. And every so often you may stumble across a hidden gold mushroom.. or probably won't because they are really well hidden.

So far it sounds like a pretty standard Mario game. You collect stars, coins, run and jump... But here is the deal. Because of his heavy backpack Captain Toad can't jump. Which is a pretty big hurdle in the Mario Universe. But our small hero nonetheless fights his way through the countless perils that await him on his path to glory (and Toadette). Luckily Captain Toad has some other abilities apart from not-jumping. He can run, so there's that, but more importantly, he can pluck. I mentioned the various clumps of grass that are scattered throughout the stages earlier. Under these the player not only will find coins, but also other helpful tools. The good old Turnips from Super Mario Bros. 2 return and are still as deadly as over 20 years ago. They just obliterate everything from Shy Guys to even Bullet Bills. And, apart from falling onto his enemies, are Toads only way of defending himself. Some clumps hold even better things than turnips. One may find a Super-Mushroom, which let's Toad grow back to his normal self after taking one hit. Or you could find the even rarer Super pickaxe. With this Toad turns into an unstoppable machine of destruction, which obliterates everything in its path. But only for a short time.

Weed control, however, isn't the only usage of plucking. There are many switches that only wait for our hero to pull them to see what happens. Toad can even pluck some enemies from the ground and throw them.

So running, plucking and, to some extent, falling are the only abilities Captain Toad has? Yes, but they are the only ones he needs. In addition the the mentioned pickaxe and Super-Mushroom there is also one more power up to use. The double cherry. This power up sadly appears way too rarely, because the puzzles with this had the potential to be real challenges.

The last things in Captain Toads inventory are his trusty turnip-cannon and the mine karts. In some levels you stumble across a swith which let's you jump into a cannon. Through shooting turnips you can then defeat enemies, collect coins and gems and expose new paths by destroying some of the level architecture. The clou is that the ego perspective you use to aim is only shown on your gamepad, while the TV-screen shows an overall view of the level. You aim with your C-Sticks or the gyro-sensor.
The minekart levels work the same and, luckily, are nothing like in the Donkey Kong games. Once you jumped into the kart it will automatically drive and you can fully concentrate on shooting things. These levels are pretty much rail shooters, but they break up the standard gameplay quite a bit. Sadly they also appear a little bit too rarely.

However, like I mentioned in the Story section, the real stars of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker are the games levels. This is where it truly shows that this is a Nintendo EAD developed title. It's incredible how much the developers packed into these worlds. Many seem pretty simple at first glance, but are full of hidden passageways, caves and secrets. Also there is a lot of visual variety and although the final objective is always the power star, the way of getting to it is often vastly different than in the previous levels. The only gripe I have with the levels is that they often can be solved in literally seconds, but only if you rush through them. Also the solution to solve the level is almost every time obvious at first glance. The gems and bonus objectives may add some difficulty and replayability, but the game still remains very easy. Sadly the difficulty curve is sometimes screwed up. You may encounter a level which takes a little longer, only to breeze through the next couple of stages without problems. Instead of a smooth line the difficulty curve often feels like a up and down rollercoaster.

But wait. Haven't I just mentioned bonus objectives? Yes and I'm only mentioning them now, because that's exactly how they work. After finishing a level only then you'll get displayed what the bonus objective has been. So in most cases you'll have to play this level right again. Some may find this frustrating, but I didn't mind. Apart from the occasional small blunder, all levels are so full of charm that I also enjoyed them on my second playthrough. Also I often found myself appreciating how well thought out these small levels were.

Even with a second playthrough of all levels to get the bonus objectives the game is relatively short. It took me around 10 hours to completely beat the game 100%. (Without the time trials, because the don't truly add anything, but I may give them a go later). For 40$ this is a little short, but I've definitely seen worse. However at a 30$ the price would have been perfect.

Presentation:

This game is charming. Have I said that already? It runs on the same engine as Super Mario 3D World so you know what to expect. Many assets from this game return and some new are added, but overall I'm happy to say that with Captain Toad the graphics got even more beautiful. They added small details like better shadows or water effects without sacrificing one FPS. So the game just runs as smoothly as it's predecessor. The art style still is beyond any doubt. The game still lacks any form of anti-aliasing, but you won't even notice if you don't exactly look for such things. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker looks absolutely stunning in motion.

Toad and Toadette are also cute enough to give any grown up man diabetes. During spooky levels they may shiver in fear and look around cautiously, while they happily fall asleep in the warm grass, while a setting sun shines on them. With such a great amount to detail it's a pleasure to help those two through all their peril.

Smooth graphics and charming animations. What else is needed for a great game? A soundtrack of course. Many tunes from 3D World return and are as good as one year ago. Together with some new tunes they create a wonderful soundtrack. Nothing completely new or breath taking like the orchestral music in Galaxy, but something that underlines this game perfectly.

Bonusround or the game after the game:

Spoiler Warning:

After you finished the game, rescued Toadette from Wingo and watched the credits, you unlock the Bonus-Episode. This contains some levels from 3D World to play through as Captain Toad. Of course they have been slightly reworked to fit the needs of our protagonist. You also may unlock these levels early if you have a Super Mario 3D World savefile on your system.
There are also some levels where you have to collect the other 3 members of the Toad brigade and guide them through the levels. And finally you have Mummy-Toad levels. Mummy-Toads work just like the shadow clones from Super Mario Galaxy 2. The follow the exact same path you take and damage you if you let them catch up.

However the Mummy-Toad and Toad-Brigade levels aren't completely new ones, but just taken from the normal game.

Also you unlock the Prologue of each of the three normal episodes for repeated playthrough.

And what's in store after you've done it all? You got all the power stars, super gems and bonus objectives in all three regular- and the bonus-Episode?
Well then you unlock the most sadistic level I've ever played. And I've beaten Champions Road five times. It sends you into a random generated maze with fifty floors. You'll be hunted by Mummy-Toads and every five floors the enemy layout changes. And it even comes with it's own bonus objective. It's just a cruel endurance test.

And for beating it you're rewarded with the obligatory Thank you message from Nintendo and a crown, which Toad and Toadette will wear from then on. You also unlock the coin-rush stages to farm some extra lives.

Conclusion:

Captain Toad is a charming little game that is filled to the brim with sweetness. It's colorful, rich in variety and charming. It is, however, also pretty easy, short and the whole game feels a little bit like it lacks ambition. Everything from the reused assets, music, game idea and the small worlds feels charming sure, but also lacking. They enhanced the simple game principle, but it feels a little bit like a standard job. I had lots of fun with Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. It's great variety of levels are fun to play through and if you enjoy such puzzle-like games or generally prefer a more relaxed approach, then it's surely the game for you. But it still feels like Nintendo played it safe with this one.

- Inconsistent Difficulty

- Short

- Recycled Bosses

- Lacking Ambition

+ Full of Charm and Detail

+ Loveable Characters

+ Rich Variety of Levels

+ Surprisingly engaging Gameplay

7/10

source of all pictures: Nintendo