Nostalgic 3D platforming? Balan Wonderworld, take note.
Say what you like about fancy level design and clever mechanics that turn everything you know about the genre on its head, but when it comes to 3D platformers there’s really only one reason we return to our favourites again and again: throwing Mario around a course feels fun on an instinctual, sensory level. It’s the fundamental way Banjo, with his little bobbing backpack, instantly responds to our inputs — and the joy we get from performing a perfect sideways somersault in Super Mario 64 or Sunshine or Galaxy or Odyssey — that has us going back to the ‘golden’ 3D platformers. Intricate courses that put your acrobatic skills to the test are important, of course, but the best platformers just feel good to control. So, the greatest praise we can heap on Toree 3D, a super-cheap, micro-sized offering from Diplodocus Games, is that basic locomotion ‘feels’ great.
It’s elementary two-button stuff, with a dash on ‘Y’ and (double) jump on ‘B’, but developer Siactro nails every basic birdy bounce. Each of the game’s nine short courses — linear gauntlets littered with conveyors, moving platforms and fans — features a set number of stars to collect as you scramble though to retrieve Toree’s stolen ice cream (or something) from some evil-looking spirit thing. Unsurprisingly, the game’s not big on narrative, and that’s just fine.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
