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Seven years ago, developer Two Tribes released Toki Tori for the Game Boy Color. It was one of those games that became an underground classic, buried under the popularity of Pokemon and the mountains of licensed shovelware clogging retail shelves. But it’s hard to keep a good game down and now, almost a decade later, the little Puzzle-Platforming Chicken Who Could makes his WiiWare debut. visuals Toki Tori looks fantastic for a remake of a Game Boy Color title. The graphics are bright and colorful, with a vibrant sharpness that gives off a very animated feel. There are four main graphical themes, ranging from lush forests to dank sewers, but there is enough variation from level to level that it never gets boring. For a budget download title, Toki Tori looks slick and professional. audio Despite its lineage, Toki Tori thankfully sports much better music than Game Boy chiptunes. It’s catchy, it’s upbeat, you could even dance to it if you really wanted to. It also gets a little repetitive since you will only be listening to one song per world. It’s not a huge issue early on when most levels can be completed in a few attempts, but once you reach the trial and error stages later on the songs will be etched into your brain. It’s not bad music by any means, it would just be better if there was more of it. gameplay Imagine a cross between Lemmings, the original Donkey Kong, and chess. This odd mix of genres still falls short in describing Toki Tori’s gameplay, but it give a good idea of what to expect. In a nutshell (eggshell?) you guide Toki Tori, The Bravest Little Chicken There Ever Was through levels filled with enemies and obstacles in order to rescue your eggshell-imprisoned bretheren. Collect all of the imprisoned eggs and it’s off to the next level. It sounds simple, but that’s where the chess comparison comes in. Which chicken do you rescue first? If you use an item to go after the one on the left, how are you going to get to the one on the right? How will you avoid the enemy patrolling back and forth near the egg on the bottom? Toki Tori forces you to heavily consider which route to take through the stage. Use an item in the wrong place or go after the wrong egg first and you will often find yourself at a dead end. A sucessful player is always thinking five steps ahead. Toki Tori utilizes a point-and-click control scheme. Simply point to where you want Toki to move with the Wii remote and hit A. You can also manually move him with the nunchuck or classic controller, but the pointing is intuitive enough that the other options aren’t a nessecity. There are a number of items to aid you in your egg hunt, including bridges to span gaps, a limited distance teleporter, and the ability to move blocks. Items are activated by pressing B on the remote, although many of them only work in specific situations. Depending on the level, only a few items are avaliable and even then only for a set amount of uses. Taking the time to plan out where to use your bridge and which enemy to freeze is absolutely key. Jump into a level with reckless abandon and you will often find yourself stuck. The great part about Toki Tori is that it encourages you to sit back and plan your options. There is no timer and no penalty for zooming out to view the entire level. The game is more of a brain teaser than a test of reflexes or timing. If a level proves to be too difficult, the game offers an out in the form of the Wildcard. You have one Wildcard, and you can use it to skip any level at any time. The catch is that the card will be stuck on the level you used it in, and you don’t get it back until you return and finish the level properly. The game features four different worlds and ten levels within each of those. On top of that, seven additional harder levels are unlocked for each world as you progress, putting the total number of stages just shy of seventy. Some of them are real head-scratchers, too, so rest assured that you’ll be getting your 1000 Wii Points worth. multiplayer There is a limited co-op mode where a second player can draw on the screen to help or just plain annoy the first player. It’s similar to Super Mario Galaxy’s co-op, but is less interactive. overall Toki Tori is an excellent update to an overlooked classic that many gamers may have missed the first time around. Solving puzzles and navigating levels is addictive and engaging without ever becoming stressful or demanding. For fans of puzzles, platforming, chickens, neurological activity in general or a combination of any of those, Toki Tori is a must-purchase. It may have slipped under the radar before, but now is the perfect time to give this unique game the second chance it deserves. Don’t miss out.
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