TOREE 3D

My very first review! It was a super short game, so I hope to get into a good writing format without getting too bogged down in details about the game itself.

You read that right. One United States Dollar. It's dirt cheap, so if you play 3d platformers at all, or if you like racing games (i'll get into that), or honestly if you just have some points lying around in your eshop account, you should give this a go. I won't be offended if you skip the rest of this review! _{I'm pretty sure no one's reading it anyways...}

So, what's toree 3d?

Toree 3D is a short (13 short levels, each roughly 1-3 minutes long) 3d platforming game. Obstacle course style levels where there is one path from the start to the finish line. It controls like a racing game, grading you at the end for your speed. Because it's so fast paced, you really want to play it with the dash button held down at all times, and I found it best to think of the little bird as a racecar or something when I was trying to figure out speed and momentum. The levels have a suprising amount or replayability, with new character unlocks for getting all the coins in each of the main 9 levels (which was quite easy) and another one for getting 'A' rank in each main level (still working on it, may or may not end up actually doing this).

Things I liked

The gameplay itself was fun and engaging! Once I started using the trigger to dash and freed up my thumb to use only for camera control and jumping, I had a much better time with the game. I also really liked the setpieces. You'd think they'd be pretty minimal, and they are, but the dev somehow manages to sneak in some jumpscares. They didn't "scare" me so much as they made me blow air out of my nose in amusement, but you get my point I hope. The soundtrack was fine, did its job well. Adherence to the ps1 style was pretty good.

Things I didn't like

Sometimes the lighting effects made it a little bit difficult to distinguish platforms from each other. This was particularly an issue in one of the rooftop levels. I also wasn't a fan of the double jump. It was needed for some of the longer distances but I often overcorrected with it, especially when trying to move on ice. Nitpick, but I found the bird's sound effects kind of annoying. These all feel like massive nitpicks because again, the game is literally one dollar.

Verdict

Of course I recommend it! Will I return to it after this? Probably not, but I had a good time with it! I can say that I had a good enough time to immediately go and buy the sequel, Toree 2, and that I'm now closely following the developer for the upcoming sequel Toree Saturn, if that gives any indication of how I liked it.

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