Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker review for Nintendo Switch

Here?s Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker for the Wii U. Wait I mean the Nintendo Switch! Yeah it?s a lame dad joke but with so many ports from the Wii U library making the ?Switch? this year you might forgive a little confusion. But hey, at least they?re quality games that Nintendo is choosing and that means a lot of great stuff you might have missed if you didn?t own a Wii U is now available on a cooler system. So if you?re like me then you?re not complaining about a chance to revisit some of these gems, and that?s just the case with Captain Toad.

If you?ve never played Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker then I?ll give you the history. The idea of these little puzzle levels were originally bonus rooms on Mario 3D World which were so well-liked that Nintendo decided to make a while game out of them! We then got Treasure Tracker, where your goal is to explore each level and get to the gold star. Sounds simple right? Well so does filing my taxes but try explaining that to my kids. There are all kinds of hazards, enemies, and puzzles sitting between you and your beloved gold star.

Each level is just as adorable as Toad himself. They?re full of great details and meant to be viewed from a variety of angles to see what kind of secrets are hidden away. You?ll be wanting to constantly look around too, since every level has 3 gems to collect and also a special objective you can try to accomplish. This adds a good amount of replay value which I don?t mind, since completing a level usually takes just a couple minutes and I really enjoy just kind of being in them.

Moving Toad feels great. He feels a little slow as usual but sometimes you want that level of control, but it?s possible to run and this speeds things up. This also feels more precise with the Switch joycons than I remember, but I might be imagining things. Overall the controls are well balanced for the game and as usual it’s a good challenge. I think maybe Toad wouldn’t weigh so much if he sold some of all that treasure he’s hoarding. You think after collecting all these gems that he’d just retire. I know I would!

Visually the graphics are simple and cute. I usually love how the Switch?s portability makes games more accessible but here it almost feels like the levels are too small on the little screen. This game was made to be seen on a large screen and while it was never an issue to play on the go, I would say that far-away views in Treasure Tracker are nearing the limits of what a game should do on the Switch. This is strange to me since I haven?t felt this way about anything else on the Switch library.

Everything else is carried over just like you remember it. I?m sure there are some changes we aren?t aware of, but one new addition is a two-player mode which was lacking on the Wii U. It’s similar to how other single player games handle co-op, with the second player being able to move the camera and throw turnips instead of being their own character. We also get some new locales from Super Mario Odyssey. Both of these additions help make this feel like more than just a port, but I wouldn?t blame you for holding out if you just bought the game for your Wii U.

Just like you?d expect, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is the complete package on the Switch. It?s a straightforward port with a couple add-one that don?t feel stapled on, but as always the real draw is having a game on a console with more staying power and appeal than the Wii U offered. If you?re not familiar with Captain Toad then definitely check this out, but if you had the game on Wii U then you?ve probably already made up your mind about if you?ll be migrating the recent ports over to the Switch. Either way you cut it, this is a great game and a definitive port.

Nintendo provided us with a Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker Switch code for review purposes.