Real Talk By: KJ

Take the awesome spinoff levels from Super Mario 3D World, and expand on the idea. This is the concept for Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. It’s a simple story. Toad and Toadette stumble upon a Golden Star, as our friends move closer towards it, a giant bird swoops down taking the item, and our heroine as well. Toad goes through the levels to get her, while collecting a massive amount of treasure along the way.

3D World players may recall the controls. Shift the gamepad (or move the right analog stick) to get a better look on the action. This becomes an important thing to use, as goodies are harder to find without it. The screen provides even more usage than that. Spin your finger/stylus on the gamepad display to turn wheels, shifting stage layouts. Also tapping the screen can help you get hard to reach power ups. The biggest perk with the Wii U controller is the feature to stun enemies. Since Toad in this game can’t jump, defeating foes can be a little tougher than expected. It’s great to have this method to lock-out enemies, and get away from their reach.

Graphics resemble 3D World, so they are great. Colors that pop, and more detail to environments than expected. If this was a downloadable title on PS4 or Xbox One, you wouldn’t even question it.

Some areas can be completed in a matter of minutes. This is a good title for players just trying to get in a quick gaming session. A stage will end once you collect the gold star. However, this is just part of the grand scheme. All levels from Treasure Tracker have 3 Diamonds inside them. Yes players could beat a level, but not fully complete it without all the goods. This adds a layer of replay value indeed. That’s not all miners! Stages will have bonus objectives too. For example: “Cleared course using only one shot”. Another task demanded the player to beat a more challenging stage without getting hit even once. So more mileage can be found in treasure hunting, and beating bonus tasks.

Special Stages for coin pickups dubbed “Coins Galore” (cue the popular Super Mario Bros 3 bonus stage music and here we go). Toadette and Toad each have their own unique bonus areas. Timed areas let players grab as much stuff as they can before time runs out. Taking the collected Diamonds not only unlocks stages in all three chapters of the game, but as a major bonus, select stages from Super Mario 3D world open up too. Of course they have been slightly changed to accommodate the captain toad gameplay.

The most fun I had in this game was in its boss battles. Dealing with a Dragon spitting lava, as you’re trying to collect all the Diamonds (while running to the end) is exhilarating. The problem is that there isn’t enough of these encounters. 70 plus levels and all, but moments like these are too rare. Nintendo did such a good job with them, so naturally i wanted more.

Unlocking the next level is always a good feeling, because you wonder what the development team did this time. Not one level disappoints in entertainment value. There simply isn’t enough challenging stages. Doing everything possible to hit objectives, and collection goals, this is a little tough. Being honest, Many will coast through the bulk of Toad & Toadettes adventure. I was concerned initially that this would feel like just a quick-cash grab expansion. Nintendo has added enough original content in CT to be considered a standalone game. Great looking, controls smoothly. The friendly pricing of $39.99 makes Captain Toad a game worth checking out. A lot of cool Ideas were implemented, and they have each been properly executed.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker Gets

4 Out of 5

 

What’s Legit?

+Standout Visuals

+Entertaining Levels

+Smart Usage of The Gamepad

What’s Perpetrating?

-Needed More Challenging Stages

-Not Enough Boss Fights

 

#CaptainToad @PlayLegit