Toki
Nintendo Entertainment System
Nostalgia Factor:
Toki came out for the NES in 1991. I was nine years old. I remember seeing this game's box art at Blockbuster Video when I was looking for a new game to rent. I never checked out Toki, though. It was one of those games that I classified as "just kind of there." I had heard or read literally nothing about the game - good or bad. So I just assumed it was not worth checking out. If it was a fun game, I certainly would have heard about it, right?
Here we are in 2023. This game has been out for 32 years now, and I am just finally giving it a look. Did I miss out big time by passing on this game when I was a kid? Let's find out.
Story:
You play as a caveman named Toki. Your buxom blonde partner has been kidnapped and you have been turned into a monkey. You have to travel through the mystical jungles of... uh, wherever you are, to retrieve her and turn yourself back to human form.
Gameplay:
I've heard this game described as a run and gun game, or a 2D shooter. I wouldn't say that's exactly right. Sure, it is a 2D side scrolling game. And I guess technically you are shooting projectiles in front of you. I think of this more of an adventure platformer than a shooter, however. This is closer to Mario than it is Contra.
This is a game that handles well and is easy to pick up and play. The controls do exactly as they should. You move left and right, you jump, you climb vines, you jump on enemy heads, and you shoot fireball projectiles in front of you. It's a slower moving game with emphasis on platforming and precision jumping.
Each stage only takes a few minutes to complete, and at the end of it you face off against a boss that has an easily identifiable attack pattern. Just because the pattern is easy to figure out, doesn't mean that the fight is easy, however. Much of the challenge of the game comes from these boss fights. Luckily, they are very fun to figure out and not a chore at all. The frustration you feel playing Mega Man you do not feel here.
The game is very generous with extra lives and checkpoints. This is good because there can be some difficult areas that you will encounter from time to time. Your character can't take much damage. You start off with just 2 hit points. You can find yourself getting killed in a matter of seconds. You get more hit points as the game goes along, so that is a relief. But the challenge is still there. The game is pretty short, but don't expect to simply just breeze through it your first time. Maybe you will on your second time or your third time, but not your first.
Before I move on, I should mention that there are some interesting gameplay variants from time to time, such as swimming areas or a gimmicky skateboard (?) area later in the game. I hated that part though. The swimming areas are fine, however. They remind me of Mario 3 when you have the frog suit in the Stage 3 water levels.
Graphics:
There's not much to write home about concerning the game's graphics. It looks fine by present day standards, sure. It's a little plain, but overall it is a perfectly okay looking NES game. Nothing great, nothing terrible. Which is one of the reasons I never checked it out to begin with!
If there's one thing that did stand out about the game's graphics, it is the boss design. Some of them are fairly creative. Also, there is a level that has an oddly effective 3D effect to it. I don't know if the game designers did this on purpose. Your character has a reddish hue. The level has a bumpy, dark blue background. The contrast creates a 3D effect that makes Toki seem like he's popping out from the background. It's cool, and I am not sure I've ever seen anything like that in a game before.
Sound:
I like the game's music. It's catchy and it fits the theme of the game perfectly. It won't go down in the all-time pantheon of great video game music, but it does its job. I don't really have much else to say here, as I'm not exactly a great judge of what sounds good or bad in video games. As long as it doesn't suck, I am okay with it! Toki's audio definitely does not suck.
Overall:
I love it when I play a game on a whim, with no idea what to expect, and then I like the game. Now I'm not saying Toki is this tremendous, groundbreaking game or anything like that. I understand that in the grand scheme of gaming it is pretty pedestrian and insignificant. But you know what? I don't care. I had a decent time with this.
I think if I had decided to play this game as a kid, I would have enjoyed it. I don't see why not. It checks all the boxes for fun 2D NES platformers back in the early 90s. And it is not absurdly difficult either. Back in the days of Blockbuster I easily could have rented this and beat it over the weekend.
I understand that there are other Toki games out there, such as an arcade game and a Genesis version. There's probably more, too. Playing this game did not dissuade me from checking them out by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, now I am actually quite curious to give them a try.
Look, this isn't a game that is going to change the world or anything like that. But if you come into it with low expectations and give it a shot, I think you'll be as pleasantly surprised as I was. It's a perfectly fine and serviceable NES title. Easy to pick up and play, fun, challenging, but also kind of short and lacking in replay value. There's not much gameplay innovation either, and the game's mediocre graphics and so-so storyline don't do it any favors.
I thought I'd give this game something in the C range, but it definitely deserves better than that. If only by a little bit.
THE GRADE:
B-
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