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review: captain toad treasure tracker (sWITCH)

31/7/2018

10 Comments

 
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GUEST REVIEW by SUPER BAD ADVICE 

I hate Captain Toad. Not the game, you understand – that’s excellent (and more on that in a minute).

No, I hate the character, because he reminds me of the terrifying 1980s mushroom marketing board adverts from the telly, where a platoon of marching fungus guys would sing "Make room for the mushrooms!" while stomping ever closer.
 
For the disgustingly youthful amongst you, I should explain this was an effort to encourage people to put more allegedly delicious mushrooms on foods.

​You know: like on pizzas, in cakes, in big mouldering piles all over a roast dinner, and probably in cups of tea as well. Mercifully it wasn’t a suggestion you ‘make room’ by taking immunosuppressants to render yourself a thrush-addled leper, but then the mushroom ‘troops’ on the advert looked fairly militaristic so WHO KNOWS WHERE IT WOULD HAVE ENDED?
 
In light of that potential mycelium-based coup it’s probably just as well everyone ignored the request on the basis mushrooms just taste vaguely of dank cellars and potting compost, and are thus horrible: no one in their right mind really wants the ones that are already there, let alone wanting to make room for extra ones. What? Oh yeah, I’m supposed to talk about the game, aren’t I?
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DRUNK PURCHASE
​Like many a Switch title, Captain Toad started out life on the Wii U. But as only about 7 people accidentally bought the beleaguered console while drunk, then hid it in a hedge out of shame without getting any software for it, Nintendo have sensibly realised they can re-release the game and it’ll be new to more or less everyone. And that’s grand, because Captain Toad is a bit of alright.
 
A spin-off from the bonus levels found in Super Mario 3D world, Captain Toad sees you guiding the bulbous-headed dude around a bunch of mostly small, rotatable levels, collecting stars and coins and stuff as you go.

This revolve-o-tron mechanic is the key to the whole game, as all but the simplest stages have plenty of hidden tunnels, lifts, doors and the like to navigate that you’ll only discover on closer investigation of the whole stage, not just the view from the front.
 
It’s also essential to your progression because, despite how it looks, Captain Toad isn’t really a platformer as we’d usually know it.

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PUZZLE BOX
Why? Well unlike Mario, Toad has crippling sciatica (a heavy backpack) so can’t jump; circumventing this physical rubbishness means you have to find him a walking route to his goal – a bit like when you’re out with your Nan in her scooter and you have to go round and round the access slope to get out of Lidl, rather than forcing her to ‘off road’ down the steps like you did last time when she ended up dropping all her pickled onions and gin down a drain.

This means every level is a sort of little 3D puzzle box to solve. You’re not entirely helpless though, as an onscreen cursor is used to activate things around your fungal adventurer to aid him as he goes.

Or, in 2-player mode, a friend can irritate the hell out of you by taking control of this cursor and not listening to a bloody word you say about where they need to point it.
 
Because the game comes in these bitesize chunks it’s a perfect fit for the Switch – you can bang out a lot of levels at home, or drop in for a quick play on the move.

​For a bit of variety there are also on rails levels (in this case, literally on rails as you’re in a minecart) where you’re hurling turnips FPS-style, and bonus collectables where you have to search every level for a tiny ‘pixel toad’ character – and some of these are absurdly well hidden.
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MAKE ROOM FOR THE MUSHROOM
​You might think all this plodding about sounds fairly uninspiring, and it probably would be in the mitts of some developers.

However, as we all know Nintendo can’t help but rub their ‘magic musk’ all over their games, and Captain Toad is as aroma-sodden as you’d expect. It’s full of delightful little touches, hidden secrets and clever mechanics that’ll bring a smile to the face of even the most jaded gamer.
 
Sure, it’s not going to do anything for the occasional criticism that Nintendo just make games for kids, but then it’s worth recalling that the sort of person who says that is usually a joyless blancmange who probably smells a bit funny from spending too long indoors playing some intense, grim online shooter.

And there’s the delicious irony – they’re probably riddled with fungal infections like athlete’s foot, whereas Captain Toad is infectious simply because it’s clever, fun and charming. That, and the cartridge comes covered in mysterious spores. Oh mama! It’s the mushrooms again!

SCORE: Toads (loads) out of Mush (much)
10 Comments
Psy-Q
31/7/2018 10:05:25 am

Did you know that in the RSS feed and when copy/pasting your article titles, we can see how your keyboard has gone a bit mad? This article's title is "review: captain toad treasure tracker (sWITCH)"

sneaky WITCH perhaps?

Never trust CSS text transforms! Or look at this one: "REVIEW: INSIDE (sWITCH, xBOX oNE, ps4, Ios - Switch version tested)" By the power of the blind twin brothers Io and Io!

It's OK. I'll go take my pills now.

Reply
Ian link
31/7/2018 10:28:02 am

or friend, read four year old son. Though a session where he's meant to be playing ends up with him deferring to me anyway.

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Neptunium
31/7/2018 10:31:32 am

I wish Nintendo would rub their 'magic musk' all over me (whilst nude).

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Col. Asdasd
31/7/2018 11:01:48 am

When Toad is saving Toadette the levels are easy.

When Toadette is saving Toad, suddenly the levels are much harder.

IT'S SOCIAL COMMENTARY, DO YOU SEE? No it's not just a charming puzzle game you literal nazis, it's biting criticism of male privilege from the woke folks at Nintendo.

In all seriousness this is a great game. Very charming and light. A perfect 'palate cleanser', much like an actual raw, unwashed mushroom.

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Mark
31/7/2018 11:26:58 am

I was one of those drunk guys who bought it on the Wii u it’s a superb game a little short but excellent still
Don’t think I will be getting on the switch though as not much has been added , I would consider getting this again however if more is added by dlc but if you are playing it for the first time it’s quite a charming game should be around 20 quid tho

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Ross Dinnertime
31/7/2018 12:25:04 pm

I loved this game on wiiU but I've since gotten rid of both console and game(i donated as a prize at my local ear, nose & throat fundraiser last year), I'm definitely thinking of rebuying for my swatch, i found it quite a soothing experience and very proud of myself when i solved a level,my fiancee has recently become a weekend florist so I'm thinking come sunday evening a few hours on Cap Toat would definitely help her come down.

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colincidence link
31/7/2018 01:22:37 pm

I'm a bit mycophobic. I think it stems from a childhood surprise: I took the wrong PE kit bag home and it was... full of mold.
Mushrooms are unjustifiable.
The stems.
The heads.
The spores.
The UNDERSIDES OF THE HEADS.
Really
no
don't

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Meatballs-me-branch-me-do
31/7/2018 03:40:24 pm

I don’t like any Toads. They were first introduced to us as disappointing liars who directed us to other castles in our quest for snatch, and then were annoying kart racers, and then extremely smug, sarcastic twats in Paper Mario: Colour Splash.

My wife bought a WiiU (whilst sober no less) and we have scrupulously avoided this game.

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DEAN
31/7/2018 05:03:48 pm

This game is boring. Please see PIC 1.

I wanted to like it because it's Nintendo innit and it certainly has a halcyon days aroma (vacuum cleaner bags) but.... *yawn* shite.

DL the demo if it's still there and grab that Kirby one too - Kirby's great - bit simple, sure, but simple is as simple does and Kirby is simply better than Toad.

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Mr Santa
31/7/2018 08:33:18 pm

I echo what a load of other people have said. I bought it for the Wii U, and for what it is, it’s a really lovely game. Some clever level design. I’m not sure about how the cursor works on the Switch, on the Wii U’s touchscreen it made sense. As did the minecart first person stuff. Oh well.

I haven’t relinquished my Wii U as I’ve managed to softmod it and I’m using it to play three generations of Nintendo console. Not bothered about buying a Switch until they start making some original games instead of just shovelling old Wii U titles everyone ignored the first time round.

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