But as soon as they have found their first golden goodie, Toadette is whisked off by a giant bird monster and Captain Toad has to set out to rescue her. Because apparently Nintendo really do only have one book when it comes to this kind of thing. Admittedly this is only the case for the very first portion of the game. You’ll rescue Toadette surprisingly early in the game, only for Toad to take her place as the bird’s captive and pushing Toadette into the playable role for a chapter. Obviously Captain Toad is brought back in later on but at no point is anything resembling a storyline really the focus of the game.
Captain Toad is all gameplay-focused, with very little fluff.
There’s only so much you can really say about
Captain Toad graphics-wise. It looks very nice and very
Mario. Nintendo perfected its flagship series’ art style a long time ago, and even though it’d be nice to see them stray from the worn track once in a while it really wouldn’t be warranted to rock the boat here.
Captain Toad’s bright, colourful and smooth aesthetics suit it perfectly. Every aspect of the game’s presentation is simple and upbeat, with the menus between levels taking a storybook-like appearance that works quite nicely, with you flipping between pages to choose the level you want to attempt. The music is similarly familiar
Mario fare, and just as pleasantly catchy as that usually implies.
As a first-party Nintendo-developed title you would hope that
Captain Toad would make good use of the oft-neglected Wii U gamepad and its big old touchscreen controls in order to justify the thing’s existence. And you would, thankfully, be right. Captain Toad regularly throws new touchscreen-based gimmicks into its levels to keep you using the pad, whether it’s tapping certain platforms to move them into different positions, turning wheels to operate devices or even as a first-person camera in the mine-cart riding levels.
I’d go as far as saying that Captain Toad plays perfectly well using nothing but the gamepad’s screen in fact, so if you want to use your TV to put on a movie or something while you play then there’s never been a better time to make use of that Wii U feature.
So could a fun little game that was created to fill a few levels go on to carry an entire game by itself without everyone involved looking silly? If you’re looking for a bit of carnage and bloodsport in your gaming then I’d like to think you don’t need telling that
Captain Toad isn’t for you. Just like I wouldn’t try out
Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training to get my fighting game fix. But if you are indeed in the mood for a family-friendly puzzle game then
Captain Toad does a lot of things very right.
Fittingly for a Nintendo game it has a very old-school feel to it, with all the good and bad that goes with that. On the plus side it is uncompromisingly good simple fun, a definite test of your problem-solving and gaming reflexes.
But there’s not much in the way of unlockable features or anything that would keep you replaying each level after you’ve found the hidden crystals and completed the bonus objective. There’s still a lot of game here, and most players probably won’t have the patience and dedication to 100%
complete the more difficult challenges that are available. But it can still feel a little bare bones. It definitely lacks the cinematic appeal that a lot of the bigger titles like to show off. Still, it may not be an absolute must-have but it’s certainly another high quality addition to the Wii U’s library.
Pros:
+ Addictive, increasingly challenging gameplay.
+ Makes good use of the Wii U’s unique features.
Cons:
- A little minimalist in regards to extra features.
SPOnG score: 8/10
