FrozenRoy Toree 3D Review

A short review for a short game. Toree 3D is a basic throwback platformer to the days of the PS1 in terms of aesthetic and style, something which I would say it executes reasonably well, particularly given the extremely cheap 99 cent price tag. The best thing about this game is the tight controls, this game feels GREAT to control and reminds me that I wish more games would map dash buttons to the shoulder buttons or allow you to remap them. It's soooo nice to hold down the shoulder button for running, thumb ready at a moment's notice to jump at will (or in games with more than just jumps, like Mega Man Zero, attacking or special abilities). If anything the game is a bit TOO good controlling! Because of how much precision you're able to have it can be a bit too easy to save yourself from mistakes you make, especially thanks to the game having a double jump, and because the level design is pretty simple this means the game is pretty easy for better or worse. I think it could have gone a bit harder on not letting you "get out" of mistakes so easily, basically. Still, this game's physics and feel is a real keeper for any future projects! The entire aesthetic and presentation of the game feels on point for the PS1 retro mood, the harbor levels feel right out of Sonic Adventure 2 in feel (though obviously not as expansive) and Toree's design absolutely would appear like this back in the day. It feels kinda like if someone turned Flicky into a 3D platformer. There's also some fairly memorable tunes included in the package, although I'll take this moment to note that some of the sound effects could be a bit loud, and that one thing I wish this game did better was have a bit more expansive Options for stuff like sound, Options menus aren't really something that need to "throw back'. This game was made for a "haunted PS1 demo disc" game am and so it has some light horror elements, but they're veeery minor which I would say was absolutely to this game's strengths. In fact, I'd say 95% of this game's spooky elements would feel exactly at home from a PS1 platformer even without them, like some enemy designs being fairly cartoonishly scary. I also love how it actually mixed this into the game's story: Toree's ice cream is stolen by a "creepy mean guy" and Toree rushes to get it back. The first stage then shows this glitched out grim reaper lookin' guy holding an ice cream. It is very amusing! While I wouldn't say the game is THAT ridiculously short for 99 cents, you can't expect a dollar game to be as expansive as Breath of the Wild, I do think that the game was still somewhat too short even for that. Given the late 90s platformer feel I am really surprised there weren't any simple boss fights in the game, which could have helped break up the stages, in particularly the end of the 9th stage could have tied the spooky elements of the game into a surprise boss fight or something for some flair. It feels like the game ends right when the level design is opening up, as many of the first four levels are VERY simple, even something like two more levels (one for top and bottom row) could have added a lot. This game's shorter than Super Mario Bros. 1 on a casual playthrough, I beat it in 38 minutes while trying to 100% all stars on each stage, so I don't think that much is unreasonable to request. Overall, Toree 3D's a short game that nails what it is going for but admittedly never goes beyond that, held together by well put together aesthetics and very tight controls to make up for some quite simple game design and the feeling there could be "more". At 99 cents? Yeah, I'd absolutely recommend it if you want a quick fun time, and there IS a good deal of replayability thanks to two unlockable characters and the option to go for A Ranks. I even got it for free with gold eShop coins! Just don't expect tooooooo much.