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Toki Tori

Posted May 25th 2008 by Gareth Trinkwon.

Oh no! It seems that poor old Toki Tori's unhatched buddies have somehow found themselves scattered around the world again. Crammed in the most inconvenient of places and being trapped in eggs (and thus lacking the opposable digits of their hatched siblings), they're in a bit of a spot. Luckily Toki Tori, the cute yellow chicken with a bad ass attitude and a heart of gold, has committed himself to bringing them home. That's right, the obscure and unheard of Game Boy Color puzzler of the same name has gotten its very own sequel on WiiWare. Toki Tori for Wii delivers forty brand new mind-numbing challenges for a mere 900 points. Bargain!

Wait, what the heck is Toki Tori, anyway? Good question! I wondered the same thing before wildly and impulsively flinging my Wii remote onto the buy button and parting with my hard earned points. The basic gist of the game is this: you're a chicken in a small 2D stage and you have to find each of the eggs dotted around the various platforms and pitfalls. Only thing is, some of these eggs aren't quite so easy to get to, and there is often a mob of grumpy creatures with a craving for fried chicken between you and the aforementioned eggs. Fortunately Toki Tori, being the clever little chicken that he is, usually comes prepared for such obstacles, and is armed with a variety of items to help in getting from platform to platform to uh, egg. Depending on the level, he can magically create floating bridges, activate a short-range teleporter, or even bust out Mr. Freeze's ice gun and freeze some slugs. Each item has a specific role and must be used strategically and resourcefully to get to your goal. Especially since they usually have a set limit to the number of times you can use them. Basically, think of it as a brighter, prettier version of LodeRunner.

The epic tale of egg-hunting is spread across four main areas: Forest Falls, Creepy Castle, Slimy Sewer and Bubble Barrage (underwater), each having ten unique stages to work your way through. Earlier stages tend to be somewhat easy, usually being designed to familiarize the player with a new item or ability, but the difficulty soon ramps up and will have players scratching their heads over the puzzles. Seriously, some of these stages are mind-boggling. Most of the game's levels are completely unbeatable if a single item is misused, so expect to be making several attempts at the tougher ones. Luckily the game is smooth and quick enough that it never gets frustrating, and the pay off in satisfaction when you finally figure it all out is well worth the time spent. Just so you don't get stuck and lose interest on the levels that defy all logic, the player is given a single wild card which can be used to skip a stage of your choice while proceeding through the game. You can only use it on one stage at a time, though. So if you want to use it again you'll have to find a way to beat the stage you used it on the first time. For those that really do find themselves stuck, the good folks at Two Tribes have also provided an advice center on their website, where you can request tips on how to beat certain stages from the creators of the game.

Toki Tori gives you a choice of a few control schemes. You can either opt for Wii Remote, Nunchuk or Classic Controller. I found myself using the remote by itself (mostly just for the convenience of not having to plug something else in). It works pretty well. Moving Toki Tori is as simple as pointing the cursor where you want him to walk and pressing A. The game figures out the path that'll he'll take automatically. If an area is inaccessible, he won't move at all. It's a little loose, so hardcore perfectionists may prefer the accuracy of having 100% control of Toki Tori with an analog stick, and the nunchuk and classic controller provide that option nicely.

Not only did the the controls turn out to be inuitive and responsive, but I was also pretty surprised by how good the production values for the game turned out to be. I'm not really sure why. It's a 2D game on a next-gen system. Why wouldn't it look great? Anyway, the game's visuals, both in the menus and gameplay, are fantastic. The game is comprised entirely of high-res 2D sprites. Toki Tori and the NPC's are rendered and animated flawlessly, and each of the four areas are varied in look and style. The game's music and audio is also great, with each area having its own set of catchy music tracks. To top it all off, the game is filled with cute little touches that boost the experience. Toki Tori even sends post cards to your Wii message board every day, detailing his adventures in the various worlds the game has to offer.

Flaws? Well, the game could have perhaps come with a few more levels. On top of the forty regular stages, you're also given a hard mode to tackle some of them again. Still, once you're done with those there isn't a whole lot more on offer. A level creator or even a random level generator might have been a neat addition. The game will have you scratching your head for hours before you're done with it all though, so at around nine dollars for a download, it's a minor concern.

Steady Beat - Dude, it has a teleporting chicken.

If this is the kind of stuff we can expect from WiiWare in the future, I don't think we have anything to worry about! Toki Tori is a cute, fun, addictive puzzler with simple but high production values. Definitely recommended for anyone that enjoys puzzle platformers, and at around nine dollars to download, it's a steal.

Posted in: Reviews