Going in with diminished expectations no-doubt coloured our impressions, but our brief time with Toree 3D was undeniably delightful. For significantly less than the price of a decent cup of coffee, you get an enjoyably bite-sized, colourful 3D platformer with great music and a fun aesthetic that doesn't take itself seriously in the slightest — and it doesn't stick around long enough to get boring, or for its weak points (and inevitable lack of depth) to become an issue. Big studios who feel obliged to stretch games out for dozens of hours could learn a thing or two from its brevity.
Simultaneously using its charm and creepiness to great effect, Toree 3D is an adorable little game with an amazing soundtrack and wonderful art style. It has just enough content to keep you hooked, and at 99 cents is an instant recommendation for anyone looking for a quick platforming fix.
This game is worth buying for the aesthetic alone: the environments, the adorable character designs, the music they're all perfect. Yet somehow they managed to pack in a SOLID hybrid platformer/racer on top of that. It isn't hard to just complete the stages, and unless you undertake the real challenge this game has to offer—the complete mastery of its controls—it will be a short game for you.
If any screenshots of this game caught your interest, then don't worry; it's exactly the game you're hoping it is. I would love to see these characters again in a sequel. This is definitely one indie developer to watch!
Like I said, there are all kinds of really terrible games lingering around the outskirts of the eShop, trying to sucker you in with low prices before they instantly reveal their awfulness. Toree 3D may look like it belongs with those other bottom feeders, but if you give it a chance, you’ll probably be surprised and kind of impressed by what you find.
I rather like the mid-’90s 3DO/Saturn look, and there are a few pleasant music tracks, as well. But when I put the nostalgic presentation and low price aside, I’m left with the realization that Toree 3D is a short-lived game I just didn’t find particularly fun. The level design is hit-or-miss, and the camera needs more attention. I’d direct players on a budget to Macbat 64: Journey of a Nice Chap instead.
The biggest pity is that the developers were so modest in their scope. Perhaps this little experiment is just to test the waters and get some money together for a more ambitious second project. I hope so, because Toree 3D has a lot of potential to be a more full-featured homage to B-tier platformers. As it stands here, though, it's a moment or two of fun. Nothing more, nothing less.
Toree 3D is a cheap 0.99 cent game, and a fun game to try out if you have some money left in your switch account, I recommend you try it. Mmmmmmmmnnnnnmn.
All things considered, Toree 3D is pretty good. The quality isn't amazing, and the game itself can be pretty frustrating, but it's also only a dollar.
PROS
- Decent platformer with different challenges that will appeal to different players and increase replay value (gathering all collectibles vs. getting the best time).
- Cute character design
- Pretty solid platforming mechanics (unless ice or conveyor belts are involved), so any deaths feel fair.
CONS
- Only 5 different environments, one of which only has one level and two of which are cities.
- Ice and conveyor belt physics don't work well with the double jump, leading to weird momentum and frustrating cheap deaths.
- Unclear mechanics. Different jump buttons are never mentioned, enemies can be hard to tell from level decorations, it's never mentioned in menus that bonus characters cannot be used to set time records, etc.
- Minor one but after selecting a character, you can't then change to a different character without completely resetting the game.
All in all, nothing special but definitely worth the low price of entry.
"Is the game fantastic? Not really, but it is definitely an enjoyable slice of pleasant nostalgia for next to nothing. I had fun during most of my playthrough, even though I was let down by the anticlimactic ending. If you want a relaxed forty minute stroll through a 3D platformer that harkens back to the early 90s, then you can’t go too far wrong with Toree 3D."
****/2021/04/30/toree-3d/
SummaryA bite-sized 3D Platformer with a few weird elements. Life as a chirp is hard: As Toree straddles about, a creepy mean guy comes rushing along and steals Toree's ice cream. In an attempt to right this wrong, Toree starts a furious chase through nine carefully crafted levels with a strong emphasis on speed and flow. Late 90s low poly aest...