To name a common example, you might be asked to "find the hidden Gold Mushroom," which is under an invisible turnip leaf in some corner of the world you'd never go poking around in but for the fact that the game just told you that there is a hidden Gold Mushroom.Īt their best, these extra challenges put a new spin on a level you'd thought you'd already mastered often they are just some ticky-tacky chore that pads out your gameplay time.Īt their worst, the challenges turn a level into a monotonous slog. You could technically do this on your first run through, but 1) the game doesn't tell you what the extra challenge is until you've cleared the level once, and 2) the extra challenge is often some random unrelated task that is either unlikely or impossible to perform on your first run. Captain Toad wants you to get as much gameplay time per level as possible, and it's in attempting to stretch a small game out into a long one that it doesn't quite get it right.īesides collecting the three gems and the Power Star, there's one extra challenge that you can complete in each level. As such, there's not a great many levels to play. These are ostensibly optional, but eventually, you'll need to use these gems to start unlocking later levels.Ĭaptain Toad was made in a hurry, using a gameplay conceit and assets from the main Mario series. Along the way, you can pick up three gems that are hidden (sometimes barely, occasionally very well) inside each level. Some levels turn out to be so simple that they're likely to provoke a "Oh, that's it?" when you make it to the goal and pick up the Power Star. The briefer and trickier these challenges are, the better. This is on purpose part of the challenge is carefully observing everything in the level, then deliberately moving Captain Toad safely through it. The cubic design of the levels deliberately works to obscure three-fourths of the level at a time: Toad himself, enemy characters, pathways, treasures. The other key element of Captain Toad's design is a gameplay mechanic that the Mario team usually attempts to erase: The camera. These levels were interesting, often challenging, little puzzles that made for nice little mental breaks from the fast-action Mario levels.
You've got to figure out how to climb up and down them gathering treasures and avoiding enemies, since you can't jump on their heads.
If you played Super Mario 3D World, you'll remember some bonus levels in which Captain Toad-unable to jump because of the heavy burden of his backpack full of treasure-makes his way around tiny cubic levels. That all changes with this week's release of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, to round out the Wii U's 2014 lineup.
And while every other Super Mario supporting character-Yoshi, Luigi, Princess Peach, even freaking Wario-ended up getting their own starring role in a later series, Toad was always the bridesmaid, never the bride.
2 was pulling up weeds, and he was the worst at everything else. Of all of Mario's companions, has anyone had to take as much crap as Toad? Ever since the first time he let you know that the Princess was in another castle, Toad has became synonymous with disappointment. You can talk to other SM3DW hackers here as well as show your own hacking accomplishments.Honestly, I'm just happy Toad finally has his own game. If you need help with the program or editing the game, you can Join the Cat Chat ( ). (make sure to get rid of the -master in the end when downloading both)Īfter that it should be ready to go. These folders must contain their respective project repositories.
To compile Spotlight you will need to download it to a folder also containing the GL_EditorFramework It has a boatload of features allowing you to make your very own levels, toad houses, mystery boxes, and more! System RequirementsĪ full guide to Spotlight can be found on the Spotlight Wiki. Spotlight is the latest (and best) Editor for Super Mario 3D World on the Nintendo Wii U.