At a glance, Captain Toad seems like a throwaway game, a weird little spinoff starring a character no one really cares about. Yet it's one of the best puzzle games of the year, and another one of a growing number of reasons to pick up a Wii U.

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Captain Toad is great when the level is fresh, the challenges are hidden and the gems are uncollected. But in attempting to turn what could have been a brief, small game into a full-fledged retail release that it could sell for $40, Nintendo slices this mushroom a little too thin.

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All in all, I like Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. It's a charming experience that features creative levels nearly all the way through.

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The charming adventures of Toad and Toadette are well-worth seeking out, and I’d love to see more titles featuring both of them down the line. It might be hard to tear yourself away from Smash Bros., but Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker makes for an excellent holiday diversion.

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Captain Toad might seem overly simplistic at first glance, but there’s so much more here than expected. It’s a rewarding game that constantly revs up the creativity and challenge to keep you addicted while also throwing in a decent amount of extras to bring you back for seconds. It’s charming presentation and clever puzzles give it a special touch that sets it above other similar games. And frankly, there’s little else out there that’s like Captain Toad.

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Top to bottom, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a delightful little treat of a game. It shows a purity of puzzle design that few studios can match, and it wraps it all in a sugary-sweet presentation that only the most jaded could refuse. With a game this good, Captain Toad may just be Nintendo's next breakout star.

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Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is an incredibly charming game. Getting from beginning to end should take you just under six hours, but if you want to collect every single Super Gem and complete each stage’s special challenge, it’ll last you way longer. In addition, there are also quite a few bonus levels if you have save data from Super Mario 3D World on your system. If you manage to track down this game, you’ll have a real treasure on your hands.

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For me, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a reminder of why we all fell in love with Nintendo. Bursting with personality from every pixel, this puzzle-offering exemplifies their unique approach to game development in continually exploring new experiences to excite and often surprise their audience. In that they succeed once again, rounding off what has been an amazingly consistent year for their talented teams.

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When you’ve grown tired of walloping Kirby for the bajillionth time in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and have had your fill of zipping around Rainbow Road on Link’s bike in Mario Kart 8, remember that there’s a truly special puzzle platformer waiting to be played in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.

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Treasure Tracker may be relatively budget-priced, but it doesn't feel like a cheap, throwaway creation. Every inch of its nearly 100 stages and bonus levels has been buffed to a spit-shine finish, and the Nintendo content factory has produced dozens of one-of-a-kind stage concepts to explore here. Alternately a test of observation, reflex, planning, and deduction, Captain Toad's first standalone title (of assuredly many) demonstrates that spinoffs don't have to feel phoned in... and that there's room in gaming to give top-class love and attention to family-friendly creations, too. A perfect video game sorbet to finish up 2014.

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For anybody else, Captain Toad's weird little experiment would be an afterthought. But Nintendo's exercise in digging has found something pretty special - an action puzzle game that succeeds on charm and smarts, rather than reflexes and spectacle.

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Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a fun puzzle-platformer with a huge amount of polish. The camera angles can sometimes get in the way of its greatness, but Toad’s first solo adventure is absolutely a memorable one.

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Toad doesn’t jump, he doesn’t attack, and he doesn’t make use of any power ups (aside from a short-lived pickaxe) and yet Nintendo extracts more entertainment from this character’s simple gameplay concepts than I thought possible. Mario isn’t featured in this title, but Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker shares the same creative spark that so often fuels games bearing the Mario name.

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Treasure Tracker takes the core concept of Captain Toad and runs wild with it. It’s a smart, adorable puzzle game that presents some awesome locales and really rewards you for taking the time to unpack them. Despite the control issues and menu problems, Captain Toad Treasure Tracker proves that you can still be great without being Super.

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Captain Toad is an experience that doesn't attempt to really wow you, but instead delivers consistent puzzle experiences at a rapid pace. There's more Nintendo could have done with it, but it is a puzzler in its purest form, and that will be more than enough for people who wanted more of the titular hero after playing the bonus games in 3D World.

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Were Captain Toad's world not so appealing, it would be easy to grow tired of the repeat playthroughs if you need to go back and collect items like I did, but the cartoony, whimsical Mushroom Kingdom is easy to love, with layer upon layer of charm. From goombas in swim rings that flap their little feet underwater, to the tiny birds that land on Toad's head when he's idly wasting time, Treasure Tracker has a lighthearted and lovable presentation. It has the right mix of atmosphere and challenging puzzles to keep you engaged, and it's a great experiment within the larger Mario universe. It may have started out as a minigame, but with its original take on the Toad character and a large number of enjoyably tricky puzzles, it's great to see it in the spotlight it so truly deserves.

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Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker isn’t going to blow minds with its humble presentation and laid back puzzling, but it’s still got plenty of imagination and some really sagacious architecture in its level structure. There are moments that tread water, but overall this is a smart puzzler that ought to appeal to most folks. You can’t really say fairer than that.

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Treasure Tracker does enough to justify its existence, offering up a short campaign that, once finished, offers scant reason to come back again unless you’re in love with it. It’s a gorgeous game, as you’d expect, and for the entire run-time it’s fun, delivering that visual flair and level design that it seems only Nintendo are truly capable of providing.

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The (perhaps foolishly) brave fungal explorer makes a welcome return in a full-fledged game inspired by his six bite-sized adventures in Super Mario 3D World. While Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker certainly succeeds brilliantly in most of its puzzle-platforming endeavors, it does feel slightly short in the end, and a fussy camera can sabotage sequences that require quick actions and quick decisions. It’s clear the concept has a ton of potential even after this, though, so let’s hope this isn’t a one-off adventure for our diminutive mushroom hero.

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Utterly charming on (literally) every level, it may not offer much in terms of fast action but this is just as imaginative and engrossing as any Super Mario game.

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Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker delivers both content-wise and with its own sense of character. It is a more relaxed and conceptual delight for genre lovers, ideal for sharing with friends on cold winter evenings. It's the best debut of a Mario-universe character since Luigi's Mansion and the best way to start the new year with a Wii U.

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Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a rare case of a game that feels truly designed — from the ground up — with the Wii U in mind. The GamePad is utilised just enough to be worthwhile without being a nuisance, and the only mis-step is that the difficulty later in the game can't be eased by assistance from a friend, parent or game-savvy son or daughter. That aside, it's relentlessly charming and joyous, and is another example of Nintendo's developers flexing their creative muscles along with game-making skill. There's nothing else like this on Wii U, and it's a welcome addition to the system's growing library.

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I'd initially judged Treasure Tracker as a pleasant but temporary distraction, but I continued playing even after I'd completed every level, and I'm still working on rounding up the collectibles I missed the first time around. Treasure Tracker may be small in stature, but it's packed with depth and detail.

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It’s hard to say exactly how long Nintendo has been planning to give Captain Toad star billing in his own game, but his gradual transformation from recurring NPC into the Mario universe’s unlikeliest new hero has been neat to watch and it represents subtle world-building at its best. But most importantly, Captain Toad’s inaugural title is also a smart, sweetly entertaining puzzle/action game with an earnest, genuine spirit of adventure. Its puzzling but minor issues shouldn’t stop you from checking it out, and it would be a real shame for Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker to get lost in the shadow of that other big Wii U holiday title. Don't let that happen – you’ll be missing out if you do!

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Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a fun puzzle adventure for Wii U. Levels are creatively made and there are enough reasons to play them again. The puzzles are quite short and not that difficult, though.

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Falling just short of greatness, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a pleasant way to exercise your mind over the course of 6-10 hours worth of brain teasers.

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You might have expected more, but Captain Toad remains a charming and enjoyable expansion.

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Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker isn't the most taxing puzzle game in the world, but it's well-paced and enjoyable all the same.

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Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a polished little gem, but the word "little" is key. While not brimming with content (it clocks in at about 7 hours), its brain-bending stages are a welcome dose of EAD Tokyo goodness, even if it does lack co-op. Short but sweet, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker isn't a must-play, but you're unlikely to regret buying it.

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Treasure Tracker is a charming game, but might disappoint some if they drop $40 expecting something more ambitious or substantial. If you know what you’re getting into and you’re alright with spending the money, there’s plenty of fun to be had on Captain Toad’s adventure.

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While it's good to see Nintendo stepping out of its Mario comfort zone, Captain Toad just isn't versatile enough to compete in the big leagues. What would be a budget eShop no-brainer is a little too slight at a higher price.

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Volcynika said:

Jim Sterling gave it an 8/10 http://www.thejimquisition.com/2014/12/captain-toad-treasure-tracker-review-a-turnip-for-the-books/

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A happy game is something this market desperately needs to see a lot more of. A totally unpretentious, colorful, cheerful videogame with no overwhelming sense of peril, no miserable characters complaining about their vapid emotional turmoil, and none of this “moral choice” gibberish.

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codhand said:

GB Dan R. really liked it, but said he thinks $40 might be a bit high.

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Amir0x said:

Come on Captain Toad, let's go on an adventure! We'll have wonderful time and lifelong memories, and at the end of it all we'll discover a whole world out there!

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TheMoon said:

lol Ryckert complaining about the price/value

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Foffy said:

A whole...3D World? ;]

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TheMoon said:

lol Ryckert complaining about the price/value

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TheMoon said:

lol Ryckert complaining about the price/value

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TheMoon said:

lol Ryckert complaining about the price/value

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TheMoon said:

lol Ryckert complaining about the price/value

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codhand said:

GB Dan R. really liked it, but said he thinks $40 might be a bit high.

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Chezzymann said:

Is it just me or are giant bombs Nintendo reviews always significantly lower than everyone else's

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darkside31337 said:

Why is this lol? It seems like the kind of thing worth noting especially with Nintendo games because they are the ones that rarely drop in price within any time near release.

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Servbot24 said:

Seems like a reasonable point to bring up?

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Zeyphersan said:

These scores are exactly on par for what I expected

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Brutalitops said:

I'd be all over this if it was a bit cheaper. Alas, I will wait for a discount

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Exile20 said:

Ye, they are. Their quicklooks is embarrassing when it comes to Nintendo games too. Jeff is the worst. I like Vinny but he is not enough for me to start back watching them.

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BPoole said:

Nintendo has killed it this year with exclusives. Take heed, Sony and MS

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Nintendojitsu said:

The fuss over the price is funny when you take into account people paying above premium for broken games with zero complaints.

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