Toki Tori 3D (Nintendo 3DS) Review

Toki Tori 3D is best described as a puzzle platformer, in which the titular character must travel through various environments in order to rescue his egg-dwelling siblings. The first few levels serve as a tutorial, introducing limited-use items like platforms, as well as explaining how to rewind time if a wrong move is made.

More items that shake up the formula are introduced along the way, such as the ability to teleport, a freeze ray which turns enemies into blocks of ice, or traps which can be laid to catch wandering spirits. Each level has a pre-set layout of eggs, and features a specific loadout of items that must be used in order to overcome hazards and obstacles blocking the way. Once all of the eggs have been obtained, Toki Tori will be warped out of the level and taken to the level select screen.

There are four different themed worlds in total, each housing a number of normal, hard, and bonus stages, with some of these having a few solutions, which don't require all items to be used, whereas others rely on trial-and-error, with only one route to take. Thankfully, this is made a lot more streamlined thanks to the time rewinding mechanic that can activated.

Toki is controlled with the D-pad, whilst the A button is used for items, X for rewinding time, and the shoulder buttons for cycling between the available items. Furthermore, the touchscreen has virtual buttons for each item, as well as access to the set of the time-manipulating functions.

Note that In terms of features exclusive to the 3DS, it's a bit of a barebones release. It does feature stereoscopic 3D, which makes the environments look even more beautiful, but the ability to control the game with the touchscreen as it was introduced in the Wii U version isn't present.

Fortunately, Toki Tori 3D does include all of the content from previous iterations, making this a definitive edition for those who only own Nintendo's handheld - and besides that, this title looks and performs exactly the same here as it does on other platforms, making it an ideal choice for playing during car journeys or lunch breaks.