Currently Playing: Captain Toad Treasure Tracker
It's always satisfying when a hunch pays off. I thought I would enjoy Captain Toad Treasure Tracker, and I am. So much.
Ok, so there's barely a story. Captain Toad's girlfriend Toadette gets captured by a big evil bird. So he rescues her. Then Captain Toad gets captured by a big evil bird, and Toadette rescues him. It's laughably basic. Frankly, it verges on insulting. You want to take the creator by the shoulders and shake them a little, shouting "Care! Pretend to care! Even just a little!? Goddamit dude, come on!"
But, though the effort put into the story is woeful, the effort put into literally every other aspect of the game leaves it shining like a gem. This game is a delight. Visually, it's a real treat: colourful, innocent, joyful, filled with fun and whimsy. It is a game utterly without malice. You're a little mushroom dude trundling around a puzzle box, solving puzzles and throwing turnips at people you don't like. What's not to love?
Though the style might indicate a game for kids, the challenges are well balanced; neither a Kirby All Star Allies snoozefest of easiness nor an impossible puzzling nightmare that leaves you running for a walk-though every five minutes. The puzzles are right in the Goldilocks zone, short, sweet, and conquerable with a bit of experimentation and perseverance. This makes it a great game for public transport. You can have a go and make some progress, free to keep one eye open for your stop without sabotaging your game or your journey.
You can also choose how deeply you engage, whether you just want to complete each game by getting the end star, or do the additional challenges. Each level has three diamonds to collect and a hidden extra challenge. An additional Hide-And-Seek mini-game has you pixel-hunting for a miniature Toad (this is way more fun that it sounds) and there are coins to collect for new high scores too. Play enough and the game will start offering you additional mini-game challenges to try to complete, though I haven't entirely figured out the logic of how all of them work.
Captain Toad Treasure Trackers shows the Switch off at it's absolute best. If you like puzzles, this game is an essential part of your Switch collection, and it will keep you entertained for hours on end with it's fun puzzles and cutesy style. Much like Monument Valley and games of a similar ilk, though at first glance things might appear simple, this is a game with a lot of heart, and well worth your time.
Onward Captain Toad!
