My son Reviews: Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker from @Nintendo–#videoGame

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Gaming: Reviewed

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker

Quick question: Ever heard of Wario’s Woods?

If you’re a die-hard Nintendo fan like me, you should have. Wario’s Woods is notable for many reasons, including the last Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) game released under Nintendo’s official license, the last Mario game released on the NES, Wario’s only appearance in an NES title, and the only NES title given an age rating by the ESRB (The game was also released on the SNES, but it’s the NES version that it gets it’s fame, or lack thereof, from.) However, there is another reason this game is notable: It is the only Mario instalment to have a Toad be its one and only protagonist. That is, until the release of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (hereby abbreviated “CT: TT”) for the Wii U, a full twenty years later.

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CT: TT is built upon The Adventures of Captain Toad, a series of special levels from Super Mario 3D World. These levels appeared about every 2 worlds, and were much more puzzle-orientated than the rest of the game. You played as the titular Captain Toad, a Toad explorer with a backpack so heavy, he can’t jump. As such, you must navigate your way through each level while figuring out all the puzzles and grabbing the five Green Stars scattered about. I was quite fond of these levels. They were clever, genuinely perplexing stages that never ceased to amaze me (although, the last level was quite irritating). Apparently, a lot of other players liked the concept of these interludes, to the point that many people wanted an entire game that builds upon this concept. As it turned out, Nintendo was listening to its fans for a Captain Toad game. But what we got wasn’t just a lackluster rehash, no. Now, there are new abilities, new enemies, and new music. Now, the levels aren’t all cubes, and the music doesn’t use one or two instruments. Heck, there are even BOSS FIGHTS. Needless to say, this is KILOMETERS above The Adventures of Captain Toad levels.

The story is not the game’s strong point but what did you expect from a Mario game, of all things? The story is as such: Captain Toad and Toadette find a gold star atop some ruins. In this brief prologue, you control the captain as Toadette leads the way. Upon reaching the star, however, a giant bird wearing a turban swoops down and snatches the star, knocking Captain Toad’s headlamp over his eyes. Toadette swiftly dodges the bird’s claw, and proceeds to grab onto the star in an attempt to reclaim it. However, the bird, (whose name is Wingo, by the way.) doesn’t let go. Wingo then takes off with the star, with Toadette hanging onto it for dear life, essentially kidnapping her in the process. Captain Toad manages to get his headlamp off his face in time to witness Wingo fly far away into the distance. Our quest is to save Toadette from the clutches of Wingo, collecting Power Stars along the way.

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The gameplay is straightforward and simple. CT: TT places a very big emphasis on its camera control, as many of the levels are very diorama-esque. Unfortunately, this is one of the game’s shortcomings. There are three different ways to rotate the camera: the right control stick, the D-pad, and tilting the Gamepad. While the first two work just fine, it’s the third that takes the term “fighting the camera” much too far. There will be times when you’re walking a narrow path and you constantly have to adjust and readjust the camera or the right control stick to just not fall off. This was also a feature of The Adventures of Captain Toad levels, but there it was just a little bothersome. Here, it’s one of, if not the biggest faults this game has.

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But that’s just one problem. CT: TT is chock full of references and excellent level design. There are little over 60 original levels; with there being 79 in total, and each one has its own unique charm. The music is fantastic. Some of my personal favorite tracks include “Spinwheel Library”, “The King of Pyropuff Peak”, and “Briny Bowl Swimming Hole”. It also is actually fairly hard. I found myself getting several game overs, which could or could not be the fault of the wonky camera controls, and there isn’t a way to obtain a massive amount of lives. Sure, there are the Coins Galore and Mummy-Me Maze bonus games that appear from time to time, but you’ll barely get more than a few lives from them apiece.

This game also has some hard, and I mean HARD bonus content. Along with the three Super Gems that you can collect in each level, there’s also a bonus objective that only reveals itself after you’ve completed a level. Some are easy, but the later ones are just ridiculous, particularly the “Found the hidden Golden Mushroom!” objectives. And after the Gems and the objectives, you unlock the Challenge Times for all the levels in the episode. And while getting all three seals on Episodes 1, 2, and 3 (obtained by completing all the levels, collecting all the Super Gems, and achieving the secret objectives) grants access to the insanity that is Mummy-Me Maze Forever, beating all the Challenge Times, which I might add is VERY difficult, gives you virtually nothing.

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Live gameplay for Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker

All in all, this game is fun and addicting. It takes an already decent concept and elevates it to its highest potential. It’s also very diverse, offering more action orientated levels to balance out the puzzles. As for the ending, it’s as good as gets for Mario platformers. (Yes, technically speaking this is a platformer, just one where you can’t jump.) The game is fantastic, if a bit pricey. You might want to wait for a price drop for this one, folks. But if you can’t wait to get your hands on a puzzle game, this one’s for you. I give Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker a 4/5.

*Addendum: On July 13, 2018, CT: TT was re-released for Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS. Additionally, purchasable DLC exclusive to the Switch re-release was made available on March 14, 2019. If these versions of the game interest you, I suggest informing yourself with more up-to-date reviews.

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Hayden Ibbott is a second-year Game Design Student at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario.  With an established love of gaming, he also has a strong interest in live theatre.  He often writes guest reviews of productions at The Grand Theatre and The Stratford Festival.  You can read his most recent reviews of the Stratford Festival on DownshiftingPRO.com

His attention to detail is what makes his reviews authentic and fun.

17 thoughts on “My son Reviews: Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker from @Nintendo–#videoGame”

  1. My husband loves video games, and he would be super interested in this review. Thank you so much for posting this!

  2. This looks so cool! My boy loves mario too but I never heard of this before so I will be on the look out for this game thank you for the awesome review!

  3. I am tempted to say sounds cute but I’m worried He will Yell at me. Cute? It’s far more than cute. My good lord this is a well done review young man. Listen: H man, if you are there. I want to get Ainsley and Payton a gaming system. Should I get a wii u or something else? What’s your opinion?

  4. I love all of the old school Mario games which make these newer games with great graphics look so strange! Haha. My son loves them, though, so it’s obviously a generation gap thing.

  5. Oh man, I haven’t had any time to play videogames in YEARS. When I did, I was all about the Mario games. Haha, so funny- the throwback to Wario. Our kids had no idea who that was initially, until my husband explained it and made us both feel really old 😛
    I love the look of this one although, as you mentioned, the camera issues would drive me mental. I suppose it’s better than 90s worlds….

  6. I LOVE the Mario franchise, Toad was always one of my favorite characters! This game seems so fun! I’ve a HUGE wii fan but I still haven’t gotten the Wii U (I want one so bad!) <3

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