Tech-Gaming Technology, Gaming, and Culture
Why do
we root for the underdog? We do because there’s not a single person
who’s never felt left out or abandoned in some way. We all know what
it’s like to be down and out, whether it’s in our spirit, mind, health
or wealth. We root for the underdog because if the underdog can
succeed, anyone can. We can. Toki Tori is a game that sets an
unlikely hero, a chubby little chicken, on the daunting task of
rescuing his many not-yet-totally-hatched siblings.
first appeared on the Game Boy Color and has seen several ports since
then. Now that it’s on the iPhone/Touch, it seems the game has found
its ideal home, a portable platform with a relatively high resolution
touch screen. Despite being a platformer, the game utilizes a
point-and-tap interface that works very. The path-finding is excellent.
Tap anywhere Toki Tori can reach, without using an item, and he’ll
quickly find his way there.
While the game’s hero,
Toki Tori, is a chicken (technically a rooster?), he’s quite brave and
will face some tough puzzling obstacles. Luckily this little chicken is
no bird–brain! The gameplay is similar to Solomon’s Key or Lode Runner. You must navigate each 2D platformer level and rescue every unhatched sibling. Unlike Solomon’s Key or Lode Runner,
you’ll spend a lot more time thinking and planning your steps, than
taking said steps. You are given a certain set and amount of items per
level. You’ll need to use them just right and in the right order to
avoid enemies and rescue your brothers and sisters. Do it in the wrong
order or timed incorrectly and you’ll have to retry the level.
Such
trial and error may sound a bit tedious, but the game’s levels are very
well designed and use items in interesting ways. I rarely felt like I
was solving a level in any other way than how it was intended to be
solved, but the solutions weren’t unfairly obscure either. While this
shows the care put into the level design, allowing a little
improvisation helps to keep things fresh. Linearity is rarely a good
thing but, in a game like this, it at least helps the puzzles remain
puzzling. Toki Tori‘s puzzles are quite puzzling, indeed, and
even some early levels can take you quite a while to solve. I’m a huge
fan of clever action/puzzle games and while Toki Tori
definitely helps scratch that itch, I would have liked a wider variety
of items and more room for improvisation. Still, when “more” is the
biggest request I have for a game, that’s not entirely a bad thing.
Toki Tori
is a very pretty game and while it has that pre-rendered look, the
graphics are quite reminiscent of the excellent sprite work often found
in European Amiga
games. The animations are smooth and cute, and some even had me
chuckling aloud. The music is excellent and atmospheric with fun
melodies and, despite repetition, I found myself enjoying it and
singing along.
If you want significant and clever challenge in your action/puzzle games, Toki Tori is likely a good call, even at $4.99 USD (half the price of the WiiWare version). However if you want more variety, Go Go Rescue Squad looks like it might just be a better call. (Note: I have not yet played GGRS) Me? I needed both.
I’m LOLing at the idea of Tidegear clucking to the game.
How many levels did the final game have? I remember in your preview you said there would be alot.
I’ll wait for a sale.
Nice digital digit.
Damn, there a lot of iphone games I need to get. These things come out 25 times day, it seems.
Good review, Tide. $4.99 isn’t bad is comparison to the Wiiware price.
I though the Wii game was really good. If I ever sell my soul to AT&T, I’ll get this.
Cute little chicken.
It’s got 80 levels across 4 worlds.
Well, you could get an iPod Touch?
Haha! I wrote “chuckling” not “clucking”!