Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (NS) – ready for adventure One of the hidden gems of the Wii U’s games line-up comes to both Switch and 3DS, and it’s just as magical as ever. When Captain Toad was first released on Wii U in 2015 it was lumbered with the bafflingly stupid release date of January 2. Since everyone involved in setting video game release dates seems to work in a permanent state of drunken stupor the game is also in danger of being ignored the second time around, because after months of no major Switch releases it’s coming out on exactly the same day as Octopath Traveler. We’d like to see both games do well, but Captain Toad because he’s just so darn charming. The genesis of Treasure Tracker was a recurring mini-game in Super Mario 3D World, one of the few major Wii U titles not to have been ported to the Switch yet. It worked a little different from this standalone game (you used to have to collect fives stars and there was a time limit) but the basics are essentially the same. The game is structured around a large number of small stages, most of which can be beaten in 10 or 15 minutes. The controls and concept are simple enough that it can appeal to literally anyone – from very young kids to surly teens and game-hating grandparents. That’s clearly no accident of design, and even though it all seems entirely effortless we can only imagine the amount of hard graft that went into getting it that way. Like most Nintendo characters Captain Toad is obsessed with collecting currency, but unfortunately he can’t jump or attack on his own. The levels are therefore primarily puzzle-based, as you help Toad (or Toadette – the two alternate rescuing each other from a giant bird) navigate the isometric style levels and sneak past enemies. Although we don’t think they’ve ever admitted to it publicly it always seemed obvious that the purpose of Captain Toad is to teach novice gamers how to use the right analogue stick to control the camera. A skill which many people often don’t realise is by far the most off-putting for non-gamers. As a result, much of the puzzle-solving in Captain Toad revolves (no pun intended) around moving the camera and looking at the stage from different angles, in order to figure out how to get around. Although technically you’re only trying to reach a single star there are also three diamonds to collect, which are used to unlock new sets of stages as you progress. Although even if they weren’t the compulsion to try and get them all is overpowering. Like all good puzzle games Captain Toad sounds fairly dull on paper but is absolutely mesmerising while you’re playing. It may seem rather shallow to say so but part of this is due to the graphics (and sound), which were gorgeous on the Wii U and still look impressive on the Switch. Surprisingly they also look amazing on the 3DS version, which we’ve also played and is one of the best-looking games on the system – especially as it’s one of the few recent titles to also have a proper 3D effect. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (NS) – that headlamp will come in handy here The game’s visual appeal is helped by the constantly changing background themes, from stock ruins to ghost houses, Wild West towns, jungles, caves, moving trains, more abstract Super Mario style levels, and Middle Eastern style architecture that recalls Toad’s origins in Doki Doki Panic. There’s also a number of first person mine cart levels where you get to fire turnips (also a reference to Doki Doki Panic/Super Mario Bros. 2) at enemies, as well as recurring boss battles with a dragon and the aforementioned giant bird. In many cases the actual puzzles are essentially optical illusions, as you try to figure out how to get around the stage. But you can also often move parts of the stage by pressing the touchscreen or using a wheel to rotate buildings, or sometimes the whole level, around you. This works fine if you’re playing the 3DS version, or if you’re using the Switch in portable mode, but becomes a bit clumsy if you’re playing it on a TV because you have to aim a cursor and press a button. There’s no way round the problem, since the game was originally designed with the assumption you’d be using a Wii U GamePad, but this is the one first party Switch title that is definitely better to play in portable mode. But if you don’t mind that this is just as cleverly and imaginatively designed as a regular Super Mario game, and despite the small size of most levels we’ve sat there enraged at our own stupidity when unable to collect that last diamond. That said though, the game is never really that difficult in terms of reaching the star. We kept expecting the challenge to ramp up at the end, or at least in the post-game content, but it never really does. It’s important to say that this doesn’t impact on the entertainment value, but it does raise questions about value for money. Getting all the diamonds, and completing the Achievement-like bonus goals on each stage, will take some doing but most people will probably see the majority of the game after a couple of days of non-intense playing. There’s 64 standard levels and 18 bonus ones (four of which are new and based on Super Mario Odyssey) which is fine, but not overly generous. The original game always gave the impression it had been knocked up quickly in order to fill out the Wii U’s thin release schedule, but whether that’s true or not the end result is classic Nintendo: charming, beautiful, and utterly compelling. And if the major complaint you have at the end of it is that you just want more that’s proof enough that it’s got something right.<doc-sep>Screenshot : Nintendo It’s a worn-out cliche these days to say that a game is “perfect for the Switch,” but that really does apply to Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, which will become the latest Wii U transplant to arrive on Nintendo’s new console this Friday. Advertisement I admit that I didn’t think that Captain Toad, originally released in 2014, was a strong candidate for a Switch port. It was a clever puzzle game based on the side quests from Super Mario 3D World in which the jumping-deficient Captain had to navigate rotating, cubic worlds to find treasure and escape with all his spores intact. The original game could be completed in a few hours’ time and didn’t make that much of a splash on release. This piece originally appeared 7/11/18. We bumped it today for the game’s release. A bigger obstacle on the road to Switchville was that the levels featured lots of tightly-woven integration with the GamePad, which was required for play. To my surprise, Nintendo redesigned or removed those elements in order to get Captain Toad off the Wii U. What Nintendo’s done here doesn’t change the fundamentals of the Captain Toad experience, but it does bring welcome changes and additions that make this the definitive edition. Bye-bye, blowing. The original game had platforms that could only be moved by blowing into the microphone of the Wii U. The Switch tablet has no microphone, and anyway how would you play this on the TV even if it did? Captain Toad handles this in the best way: By removing these blocks from the design of the levels and replacing them with other types of platform. Hallelujah. Screenshot : Nintendo Four new Mario Odyssey-inspired levels. Once you cleared the Wii U game’s three main episodes, Captain Toad gave you a bundle of “bonus” content, including four levels taken out of Super Mario 3D World. These were probably the weakest part of the game, since it could be pretty boring, waddling little jumpless Toad through these lengthy, wide levels that were originally designed for four players wearing cat suits. Here, they’ve been replaced with four levels inspired by (but not taken directly from) Super Mario Odyssey. These are actually pretty cool, with some smart puzzle designs that call back to classic Odyssey moments. This is the extent of the new content in this release. Once you cleared the Wii U game’s three main episodes, Captain Toad gave you a bundle of “bonus” content, including four levels taken out of Super Mario 3D World. These were probably the weakest part of the game, since it could be pretty boring, waddling little jumpless Toad through these lengthy, wide levels that were originally designed for four players wearing cat suits. Here, they’ve been replaced with four levels inspired by (but not taken directly from) Super Mario Odyssey. These are actually pretty cool, with some smart puzzle designs that call back to classic Odyssey moments. This is the extent of the new content in this release. Some helpful pointers. On Wii U, you were forced to play Captain Toad on the GamePad, with the TV mirroring the action. But on Switch, you can play the whole thing on the TV, thanks to new pointer controls. Wielding dual-handed Joy-Cons, you can point the right one at the TV and press the R trigger to interact with on-screen objects—tapping platforms to get them to move, or hovering over enemies to stop them in their tracks. It’s much easier to just use a Wii-style pointer to control this game on your TV versus having to awkwardly reach over and touch a tablet. (Of course, you can also play the game in handheld mode, where the touch screen controls work fine.) Advertisement Screenshot : Nintendo Two can play at this game. Captain Toad on Switch introduces a two-player mode in which one player controls Toad with a horizontal Joy-Con and the other player controls a cursor with a vertical one. The second player can take over some of the tasks: rotating the world with the right joystick, or using the cursor to reveal hidden coins or stop enemies from moving. The real power of the second player is the ability to throw turnips anywhere, any time. That gives two players a big advantage, since the second player can now smash bricks, kill enemies, and accomplish other actions that wouldn’t be possible in the single-player mode without pulling a turnip from the ground first. Full disclosure: I tried out this mode by myself just to confirm what each player can do, and inadvertently discovered that it’s actually not that difficult to just play the game by yourself in two-player mode, with one hand on each Joy-Con. Considering the advantages it offers, you might try it! Advertisement Other than that, Captain Toad on Switch is pretty much identical to the Wii U experience. (There’s also a version for 3DS coming out on Friday, but I wasn’t able to try that prior to release.) If you’ve never played Captain Toad before, be aware that it is a fairly short and simple few hours of gameplay, which the game pads out by making you play the same levels a few times over to get all of the optional collectibles and to solve a secret objective that you probably won’t hit your first time through. It is, nevertheless, a unique and fun gameplay concept with many clever ideas. If you already played the first one, there’s not that much new content here for you. If you’re a big enough Captain Toad die-hard that you’re considering double-dipping just to see the four new levels, just be aware that you’ve got to play through the whole game again just to see them, and not that much really changes besides not having to spit all over your GamePad anymore.<doc-sep>Captain Toad makes the jump to Switch – and while his adventures are still a charming joy to play, this is as simple a port as Nintendo has offered so far. While the Wii U had an undeniably shallow game library, it had some pretty great games going for it – and the latest to make the jump to Switch is arguably the cutest title on the machine, the utterly lovable Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. A Super Mario Bros. spin-off that stars the affable, cheery Toad off on adventures all of his own, Captain Toad is for my money basically the perfect Switch handheld mode game – though those who experienced Captain Toad’s and Toadette’s adventures on Wii U will find little new to entice them here. Watch on YouTube Each stage of Captain Toad sees the player dropped into a small puzzle-box like level. You can rotate the camera all around the level, viewing it from all angles, with different layers of the level visible like a cross-section. Toad isn’t an aggressive type (though he can drag vegetables up from underground and toss them as in Super Mario Bros 2 / Doki Doki Panic), so it’s ultimately up to you to navigate around enemies and obstacles to reach a power star. It’s that simple. Captain Toad is split into a couple of different chapters with some very light story elements to tie everything together. What’s most impressive and memorable about the game is how it slowly layers in more complex game systems, teaching you about a new thing you and Toad can do to manipulate the world before testing your knowledge and lateral thinking to put that new skill to use in a puzzle. As such these puzzle boxes never really get old as you plough through them: new mechanics are constantly being introduced, used until worn, then discarded in favor of something new. It’s a relaxed pace for a brain teaser, and is perfect for a commute or just a bit of relaxing handheld play. There aren’t as many levels as there should be, but each is brilliantly crafted, many offering up surprising little twists on the formula right as you’re getting used to the previous one. The stages are beautifully designed little puzzle boxes that begin quite simply but quickly become complex, multi-faceted things that’ll test everything from puzzle solving to platform timing (though it should be noted that Toad can’t jump). As well as the power star main objective Treasure Tracker earns its name by offering up additional objectives like Diamonds, Golden Mushrooms, coins and even little 8-Bit Toads that have to be found to mark each stage as 100% complete. The length of the game is undoubtedly an issue as in the previous release, but each of thee levels there is includes a decent amount to do, and on top of all that you can split control with a second player for some frustrating but fun co-operative play. One player controls the camera and the touch-sensitive elements while the other controls Captain Toad himself – leading to some communication challenges and ensuing hilarity with the right partner. That previously-mentioned touch mechanic is one of the few shortcomings of Captain Toad on Switch, since its on-screen replacement during docked play is poorly implemented at best and a distraction at worst. Level elements that are a breeze on a touch screen are suddenly a bit of a pain when docked, and high-pressure moments where you have to do something quickly such as turn a valve before an enemy hits you are actually more challenging when docked because of this. It’s less than ideal, leaving you wrestling with gyro functions to manage basic level functionality. It works, but it could and should’ve been better than this. This new ported release only features a few new levels set in locations from Super Mario Odyssey as significant new content addition over the Wii U version, making this a definite skip for anybody who played it on that platform. If you didn’t, however, it’s a wonderful little game that runs well in its new home – and even the down-ported 3DS version is a little miracle, running brilliantly on such an aged platform. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is an incredibly bare-bones port, but that doesn’t really matter in the end. We all know it was originally released on a naff platform next to nobody owned, and a game this fun and charming deserves a second chance. The Switch and 3DS versions are fine ports, and suitable for just that. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is out for Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS. Review copy provided by Nintendo.<doc-sep>A bunch of new games are now available on Nintendo Switch. It's an especially busy week for Nintendo's hybrid console; 26 games in all have released for the system this week, including two of this summer's biggest titles: Square Enix's retro-inspired RPG Octopath Traveler and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. As its name implies, Octopath Traveler features eight playable characters, each of whom has their own unique storyline to follow. Along with a beautiful "HD 2D" visual style that harkens back to classic 16-bit RPGs, the game's most distinctive feature is its battle system, which allows players to forgo turns to stack up attacks. You can learn more about the title in GameSpot's Octopath Traveler review. Octopath Traveler Gallery Captain Toad, meanwhile, is a port of the beloved Wii U puzzler. The game tasks players with guiding Captain Toad and Toadette around diorama-like levels to find hidden objects and collect stars. The Switch version also features a handful of new levels inspired by Mario's most recent 3D adventure, Super Mario Odyssey. You can find out how well the game holds up on Switch in our Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker review. Beyond those two titles, this week also saw the release of Shining Resonance Refrain, a turn-based RPG that was previously only available in Japan on PS3. Other notable releases this week include the beautiful point-and-click adventure game The Lion's Song; the explosive puzzle-platformer Bomb Chicken; the cult classic adventure game Another World; and the Neo Geo first-person action game The Super Spy. You can see the full list of this week's releases below. Nintendo Switch Eshop New Releases July 9 Another World Pato Box July 10 20XX Bomber Crew Hotel Transylvania 3: Monsters Overboard Hunting Simulator Muddledash Neverout Shining Resonance Refrain The Lion's Song July 12 ACA NeoGeo: The Super Spy Bomb Chicken Fill-a-Pix: Phil's Epic Adventure Galak-Z: Variant S Ghost 1.0 Holy Potatoes: A Weapon Shop? Johnny Turbo's Arcade: Express Raider Radio Hammer Station Star Story: The Horizon Escape Super Volley Blast July 13<doc-sep>
With the Switch, Nintendo has a platform that offers a second chance to games that were criminally overlooked when originally released on the company’s previous system, the poorly performing Wii U. One of the Wii U’s best efforts, the charming puzzle-action game Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker comes to Nintendo Switch (and Nintendo 3DS systems) this week, giving Nintendo fans an opportunity to atone for the sin of missing it the first time around. Not much has changed for the Switch version of Captain Toad. The game is still a smart, charming series of puzzles starring Toad and Toadette as they hunt for treasure with a disarming cheerfulness. Levels are made mostly of tiny dioramas, like tiny chunks carved out of larger, more traditional 3D Super Mario Bros. levels, that must be twisted, turned and explored to pluck out every secret. The goal in most levels is to walk (or quickly waddle) Captain Toad or Toadette toward a glittering gold star. It’s the optional objectives, like collecting every special gem or a cleverly tucked away golden mushroom, where Treasure Tracker’s true fun and challenge lies. While Treasure Tracker isn’t a particularly difficult game, many of the game’s hidden objects are diabolically buried in dense, brilliantly designed mazes. I’ve completed the game twice on Wii U, and even on my third playthrough of the game on Switch, occasionally found myself stumped by Nintendo’s level designers. Polygon Recommends is our way of endorsing our favorite games. When we award a game the Polygon Recommends badge, it’s because we believe the title is uniquely thought-provoking, entertaining, inventive or fun — and worth fitting into your schedule. If you want to see the very best of the best for your platform(s) of choice, check out Polygon Essentials . Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker has its roots in the Super Mario Bros. series. The character and the puzzling dioramas he explores first appeared as a smattering of levels in Super Mario 3D World for Wii U. Nintendo later spun off the concept into a full game with more than 70 levels that expand on Captain Toad’s inability to run and jump through Mario’s world. Toad, encumbered by a weighty backpack filled with adventure gear, can jog and pull turnips up from the ground, but he can’t jump or butt-stomp his enemies. Those movement and ability restrictions underpin the game’s understated puzzle design. As we noted in our 2014 review of the Wii U original... Captain Toad is less about action, and more about deliberation. You can’t see every part of a level from one angle — how you position the camera and where you look is always important. Enemies and obstacles have to be considered, and a “simple” slightly raised platform might be the whole crux of a stage’s challenge. While Captain Toad seems subdued by the measure of modern Nintendo releases like Mario and Zelda, at its core it’s pure Nintendo. The simple concept of wandering around slowly, without vertical navigation, is iterated on again and again. Themed levels with their own aesthetics are introduced over time, and each establishes its own gimmick. For the Switch version, Nintendo added a handful of new levels based on Super Mario Odyssey. There are just four, but they let players revisit Odyssey’s Sand, Metro, Cascade and Luncheon Kingdoms for new challenges. The Odyssey levels can only be accessed after completing the game’s first three episodes — essentially the entire campaign — but with the exception of the New Donk City level, they fail to match the efficient puzzle design pedigree of the original game’s content. The Switch version of Captain Toad also makes a bonus gameplay mode previously tied to an amiibo figure a standard feature: After completing each level, players can play hide and seek with a tiny, pixelated Toad. That lil’ 8-bit Toad will tuck himself behind a tree or on a wall somewhere in the level, and you’ll need to track him down. It’s a chance to quickly revisit each of the game’s levels, but the add-on always felt inessential. Nintendo has also improved the camera zoom options in the Switch release. Rather than just a zoomed-out and tightly zoomed-in camera perspective, Captain Toad for Switch also offers a middle ground. That mid-range zoom is extremely helpful when playing the game in handheld mode, where the game’s tightly packed levels can be tougher to visually dissect. Certain hardware-dependent gameplay features have been updated on Switch.