Posted Thu Nov 6, 2014 at 09:30 AM PST by Brian Hoss
One more gem for 2014.
The High-Def Digest team was recently invited to Nintendo's PR Agency, Golin, for a hands-on preview of what's in store for Nintendo's future. Part one of that preivew can be found here, but there was one game that we coudln't talk about until today.
Continued from Part One:
The Sega reps thank us for our time, and leave us with the PR team to complete our tour with 'Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.'
The game is based on the Captain Toad levels sprinkled through 'Super Mario 3D World,' and it uses the same general design and game play elements with various twists. There is no jump button, and the player is only armed with an action button, which is used to pick up and throw objects, the ability to change the camera angle, and a run button.
The first level we play features a single trail of collapsing blocks that I must out-run as I dodge increasingly numerous flying enemies. As I get closer to the end, the length of the blocks is halved, and navigation becomes much harder. After a couple of tries, I'm able to figure out the course and reach the end. It's only the 12th of 75 courses in the game and straight-forward in practice, but the satisfaction of completing it is addictive enough to make me want more.
The second level I try loads up a more familiar multi-level cube stage, which resembles those from 'Super Mario 3D World,' though more challenging and complex. In the first level of the stage, I ride a raft through a poisoned lake as a group of Hammer Bros fling projectiles at me and leap between platforms that line the lake's edges. My platform has turnips that I uproot and toss at the Hammer Bros to kill a few and make my journey easier. As the raft docks, I guide Toadette onto a series of elevators that eventually lead her to a second raft, which floats her through another poisoned lake with Bullet Bills flying everywhere.
The real beauty of the game is in the level design, and Nintendo certainly demonstrates why they're masters of the puzzle platforming genre through its execution. The controls are absurdly simple and accessible, yet each consecutive level somehow becomes increasingly fresher and more fun to tackle in spite of its simplicity. Not to mention, they're just as beautiful as 'Super Mario 3D World.'
'Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker' will be priced at $39.99 when it is released on December 5th, 2014.
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