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In retrospect, 2014 has been a particularly disappointing year when it comes to properly finished game releases, with plenty of AAA releases hitting the market with show-stopping bugs. We've reached the point where original retail copies of new games have become almost useless without copious amounts of patching. Last year we praised Super Mario 3D World for bucking that trend, yet following this year's parade of unfinished software, we feel it's more important than ever to recognise the great games that get it right on day one. While Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker may not be a particularly ambitious game, Nintendo still deserves serious credit for continuing to release such finely tuned work. It's Nintendo doing what Nintendo does best.Of course, this title's origins are somewhat humble, with Captain Toad starting out life as the star of a mini-game included in last year's Super Mario 3D World. Treasure Tracker takes that formula and combines it with a wealth of new ideas that, at least in a broad sense, reminds us of the treatment Donkey Kong received on the Game Boy back in 1994. It's a simple, streamlined title that looks great and plays beautifully. It's within this limited scope that the team at EAD Tokyo has found an opportunity to craft some of the most attractive visuals seen on the Wii U to date.
At a glance, Captain Toad shares much with Super Mario 3D World - as it should, considering it shares its technical underpinnings with the Wii U classic. There's a series of well-lit, nicely modelled stages that double down on its predecessor's aesthetic, utilising all of the tricks that Nintendo has picked up since transitioning to HD development. As in Super Mario 3D World, Captain Toad delivers a 1280x720 image with limited edge smoothing - the game is certainly crisp and colourful but would definitely benefit greatly from improved anti-aliasing, as many edges completely lack any sort of smoothing - particularly in stages with darker colours. Still, with the simple and clean artwork here, image quality is perfectly acceptable and aliasing does little to spoil an otherwise gorgeous game. We would love to have seen support for 1080p a la Smash Bros, but clearly that wasn't in the cards.
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