[Review] Toki Tori – Nintendo Switch

Toki Tori
Nintendo Switch

Developed By: Two Tribes
Published By: Two Tribes Publishing
Category: Puzzle Platformer
Release Date: 3.30.18

Toki Tori for the Nintendo Switch is a puzzle platformer from Two Tribes. The object of the game is to help a small yellow bird named Toki Tori collect his eggs. Toki Tori has a lot of eggs and is apparently not very responsible with them. They’re scattered across five different worlds which each have three different difficulty levels and an escalating set of challenges.

Gameplay

Toki Tori mixes the storyline from Angry Birds and borrows some gameplay elements from Lemmings. Stages are set up with multiple levels that can be accessed by ladders and jumps. Toki Tori can’t jump very high on his own, just up the smallest outcroppings, but he can jump and float down anywhere using his wings. It would be easier if he could use those wings to fly, but that would basically negate everything about the game.

There are a variety of tools that Toki Tori uses to navigate each stage that are gradually introduced throughout the different worlds he visits. He can build bridges, teleport, drop rocks, and move certain blocks. Each world has a unique tool as well, including a freeze ray, ghost traps, and a vacuum backpack. Toki Tori uses these tools to cross gaps and build stairs to get to higher levels in his quest to recover his eggs.

The tools combine with the layout of the stages themselves to create the puzzles Toki Tori needs to solve. Figuring out which tools to use in what order and which paths to take in what order is the key to completing a stage. Sometimes Toki Tori has unlimited usage of the items he has, and sometimes he only has a limited number of uses for the items he brings. He doesn’t bring every item on every mission, so an element of resource management is part of the game as well.

As expected of a puzzle game, the puzzles get harder the farther into the game you get. They start out fairly simple, but by the third world they get really, really challenging. You really have to find some inventive uses for the tools to figure out how to get from one point to another to get to where the eggs are. It makes for a fun experience overall, but the more challenging puzzles can just get frustrating after some time. I often found myself having to take breaks and come back after some time away to calm down and think straight.

Presentation

Toki Tori has a bright, simple visual style just bursting with charm. The character models are sharp and the animations are smooth. The backgrounds are similarly sharp and colorful, and each world has its distinct look. The happy forest, the spooky castle, and the slime-colored sewers all have their own charms; although the slime covering the sewers looks a lot like boogers. It doesn’t impact the game at all, but I just thought it was worth noting. For some reason. I spent the whole third world thinking I was playing a Boogerman reboot.

Toki Tori’s music is as bright and colorful as the rest of the game. It changes to fit the different worlds; the bright forest has upbeat tunes and the castle has darker, spookier music that fits it better. The music can get a little repetitive as there is only one song per world, and the longer it take to get through that world the longer you have to listen to the music. It never really got on my nerves, exactly, but I would get tired of the same loop playing over and over.

Playability

Toki Tori plays as well on a TV as it does undocked. There are no touch controls or anything, so using the Joycons or the Pro controller makes no difference. The graphics are sharp either way, so, again, no difference in the game between docked and undocked.

TL:DR; Colorful and fun, sometimes more frustrating than challenging.