Reviewed: July 31, 2009
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Publisher
Chillingo Ltd

Developer
Chillingo Ltd

Released: May 8, 2009
Genre: Platform
Players: 1

8
9
8
6
8.8

Game Info:

Your goal is simple – guide a waddling chick around multi-tiered levels collecting eggs. Toki Tori has a growing toolset to help you overcome obstacles. You might need to build a bridge to get across a gap or teleport in one of four possible directions to get into an enclosed area. Some tools are limitless and others have counters, forcing you to plan your strategy in advance and take the optimum path through each level.

The levels also feature some clever enemies, most of which you simply avoid through careful timing. There are also inescapable pits, and if you fall into one of these you will have to restart the level. Moving Toki Tori is quite clever in that you don’t drag him around by pointing at the screen. Instead, you merely point to where you want to go and he goes there, even if it means climbing a ladder or flapping his wings to slowly descend to a lower ledge. The only time you have to be precise is when you want to stop on the lip of a gap to build a bridge or make a timed dash to reach a ladder and avoid a charging enemy.

You can zoom in and out of the level and scroll around using the two-finger system and there is a handy toolbar that has one-tap buttons for all your available tools, and this can be moved to either side of the screen.

The graphics are some of the best of any iPhone game I have played to date, not only with the colorful and detailed level designs but the insufferably cute animations for Toki Tori. Some of the best animations are when you aren’t even doing anything and any one of several idle animations will take over. Even the menu and loading screens are works of art.

There is a substantial offering of puzzles – 80 levels in all spread across four themed worlds, but some of the earlier levels are quite easy and even the longer ones near the end only take 3-5 minutes. There is no scoring system or ranking and there is no variety in the way to finish a level so once you finish Toki Tori there is no real reason to replay it anytime soon, but the game isn’t that expensive and its fun to play and gorgeous to look at. Even the music and sound effects are totally charming.

The relatively short nature of the level designs makes this a perfect mobile game for quick spurts of puzzle-solving and the game auto-saves after each level so you can jump back in where you left off or even replay your previous levels if you wish. Toki Tori is total fun, and this is one app I won’t be deleting…even after I finish all 80 levels.