Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a slow-paced puzzle game starring Captain Toad (and Toadette) where you explore various stages that you can rotate in order to look for secrets.  The game is extremely generous, with roughly 80 stages that will have you seeking out hidden passages, moving and rotating platforms, riding minecarts, avoiding a dragon’s flames, using multiple Toads thanks to the Double Cherries, and much more!  Your main goal in each level is to seek out stars, but you’ll also be looking for three hidden gems, completing a secret bonus challenge, and seeking out a hidden Pixel Toad.

The game opens with Toadette being kidnapped by a massive bird named Wingo, and it’s here that I’m going to unload some of my complaints.  First of all, the story in Captain Toad is quite thin.  Honestly, I didn’t expect this game to have much of a plot, but what kind of bothered me was how repetitive the story is.  During every new chapter of the game, the opening alternates between Toad or Toadette being kidnapped, which just seemed…lazy.  Seriously, add some variety, folks!  Watching one of them get repeatedly carried off was just kind of silly.

While Captain Toad is a pretty relaxing game, the slow pace and padded nature of the gameplay made it so that I could typically only play in short bursts without getting bored.  I’m not saying the game isn’t fun, but it’s not really the sort of game one can play for hours.  Toad and Toadette move at a fairly slow pace and can’t jump, and they can typically only defeat enemies by throwing turnips at them or by landing on their heads by dropping from a higher ledge.

The game is also quite padded, as well.  Finding the three gems hidden within each stage was pretty fun, but the extra tasks were a bit of a nuisance.  Each level has a secret goal that you don’t uncover until you finish the stage.  Sure, you still might manage to complete this goal on your first pass through the level, but more than likely, you’ll have to repeat the level in order to collect the required number of coins, find the hidden Golden Mushroom, defeat all the enemies, etc.  And you can’t just go ahead and take care of the Pixel Toad while you’re at it, either.

No, the Pixel Toad must be collected completely separately by entering the level with a different button.  (He’s a pixelated Toad hidden somewhere in the level.  He can be pretty well hidden, but if you listen out for his voice, you’ll at least know when he’s close.)  And when you’re looking for Pixel Toad, you can’t collect any items you missed (and coins don’t count), and you can’t complete the optional goal.  This means that you’ll have to enter each stage 2-3 times in order to finish them 100%!  At the very least, Pixel Toad should have been available normally in each stage so that you could seek him out while you’re completing the level for the first time.

Okay, so now that my complaints are largely out of the way, I want to make sure no one gets the wrong idea.  I did like Captain Toad…mostly.  It is a pretty fun, casual game, and although it’s certainly not perfect, there is an abundant level of creativity on display here, with no two levels being alike.  As mentioned before, some of them have you riding a minecart and throwing turnips at enemies and blocks or avoiding Boos or Shy Guys in the dark or navigating upward through a lava-filled cave as a dragon spews fire at you!  The Switch version of the game even features a handful of stages inspired by Super Mario Odyssey, which was super cool (I just wish we got more of those…).

The puzzles aren’t terribly difficult, but they do get you thinking, and many even allow you to manipulate the environment by rotating entire sections of the level or tapping on certain objects to make them move.  You see, the game utilizes motion controls that move a cursor on the screen that can be used to tap on certain objects and even temporarily stun enemies or uncover invisible coins.  It does get off-center pretty easily, but it can be re-centered with the click of a button, and considering the game’s slow pace, it never really caused me any trouble.  (A second player can also be in control of this cursor.)

If you’re looking for a casual puzzle game that’s filled with charm, then Captain Toad might be for you, if you take into consideration some of my earlier complaints.  Because the game really is cute, and I admire some of the additional details they added, such as how Toad and Toadette shiver in fear in creepy locations, yell into the distance from atop a tower, or even dance with each other after one has been rescued yet again from Wingo.  Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker was originally released on the Wii U, but an updated version has since been released on the Switch (this version sells for $39.99) and the 3DS and can take roughly 8-10 hours to complete.