Toree 3D - Review

 Perfect bite-sized gaming.

Console: Nintendo Switch

There are a lot of games floating around the Nintendo EShop that are only 1,-. Most of these games are trash. They are hastily thrown together, asset flips and whatnot that is only that cheap because the developers hope they’ll catch some money this way. Toree 3D is NOT one of these games. In fact, Toree 3D is quite the opposite. It’s a well-made, fun and clever little platformer that is the definition of a good bite-sized videogame.

Let’s dive in.

In many aspects, Toree 3D is a 3D linear platformer that sees the little chick Toree run across 9 different levels, jumping and collecting stars along the way. What sets Toree 3D apart, and makes the game such fun is the gameplay and the general atmosphere. Let’s start with the latter.

Toree 3D started life as a part of ‘digital demo disc's full of PS1 style games with a bit of a horror edge to them. Don’t worry, the game’s far from R-rated. There are just some spooky visuals here and there but it’s nothing horrifying. More like it’s just something that pops up once in a while to shake things up a little. The visuals of Toree 3D are thus right out of the PS1 era, blocky visuals and all. It’s this 90’s aesthetic alongside some catchy tunes that give the game a lot of personality.

A look at, well, the looks of the game.

One of the reasons what makes platformers so fun to play is that jumping as Mario or running around a level at high speeds as Sonic is just plain fun. Toree 3D is the same way. Toree is a lot of fun to control, from the way he bounces to his general speed. Running and jumping is just satisfying in this game. You run by pressing the Y-button and jump with the B-button. The typical Super Mario setup, which works as well as always.

Toree 3D consists of 9 different levels for you to tackle in any order you please, except for the final one. These levels are linear affairs with a clear path forward and with only very few enemies. While short, they are well designed, fun and offer more variety than you’d think even if the basic design of each level is shared by another one. These levels don’t last you longer than a few minutes each. The entire game doesn’t even last an hour which is where the low price really shows.

That doesn’t mean that there is no reason to come back to this game from time to time. Each level is on a timer and a final score is rewarded to you based on how fast you were and how many stars you manage to snag. This gives each level a form of replayability, not only in trying to get a better ranking but also finish each of them as fast as possible. There are also two playable characters for you to unlock and play around with. Something else to keep yourself busy with should you so desire.

While the game does a lot of things rights, it has its flaws. Nothing is perfect after all. Firstly, I did have some moments in which I clipped through some object and even the entire screen becoming entirely pink for a second. Nothing big or game-breaking but something I felt like worth mentioning regardless. There’s also some weird choices when it comes to the button inputs. B is the confirm button, not A like it usually is. It’s not a deal-breaker or anything and you do get used to it after a while.

Lastly, the camera controls leave something to be desired. The camera can be freely controlled with the right stick. Doing this is tricky, however, because this means you have to control the camera with the same hand that you need to run and jump. If you want to change the camera position, it’s best to a standstill for a moment, killing the momentum. You can centre the camera by pressing the ‘ZR’ button, which comes in handy, but I still would’ve liked it if the camera was better overall.

Conclusion

Toree 3D is a bite-sized videogame should be. It’s small but well-made and a lot of fun to play with. If you’re a fan of platformers, want to play something that you can just pick up and put down again without, then you can’t go wrong with Toree 3D. It’s only 1,- on the Nintendo Switch EShop so if you have any Gold Points laying around you can essentially get this game for free. I meant, now there really isn’t any reason not to buy this game right?