Stitchy in Tooki Trouble Nintendo Switch Review

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Fast Facts

Stitchy in Tooki Trouble

Developer: Polygoat
Publisher: Polygoat
Website: https://www.polygoat.com/games/stitchy-in-tooki-trouble/
Genre(s): Platformer, Adventure, Arcade, Action
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Age Rating: PEGI 3
Release Date: 15/04/2021
Price: £11.69

A code was provided for review purposes

Story

The story in Stitchy in Tooki Trouble is about a small little farm that is ransacked by a stampede of Tooki’s who steal all the corn from the farm for some reason. By some sort of magic a lone scarecrow is brought to life and immediately gives chase to retrieve what’s been taken. The story is very bare bones but sets the scene for the adventure ahead. It has a very similar premise to the Donkey Kong Country Returns plot that sees a strange group of Tiki’s stealing all of Donkey Kong’s bananas.

The real question is, does Stitchy in Tooki Trouble do enough different to stand apart from one of Nintendo’s giant franchises?

A Decent Romp

So, after playing Stitchy in Tooki Trouble it struck me straight away that this was a by-the-numbers platformer and was definitely aimed at a more casual and younger audience. I think it’s down to the slower gameplay and simpler platforming. Meaning that you’re pretty much moving forward from the left side of the screen to the right until you hit the goal at the end of a stage with very little to no deviation. While there are collectibles to nab everything is in plain sight, even more sought-after collectibles are never too far away. They can normally be acquired by using enemies heads to bounce off or by using your double jump to reach a higher platform. Kids will be able to find everything without too much trouble and I’m sure they will enjoy the cheerful soundtrack and colourful environments.

Game stages remind me a lot of Donkey Kong Country Returns with its bright graphics and environments. Additionally, numerous little touches such as toppling ice towers, crumbing platforms and minecart sections. While the platforming is not as fluid as Donkey Kong Country Returns, it still provided a decent romp through its main campaign. But there are certain traps that made the game a little less challenging. For example, falling into a body of water results in you standing on top of it as though it is made of stone, only taking damage on contact before the invincible frame kicks in.

If this had been a Donkey Kong Country Returns level, you would have sunk and had to restart from your last check-point. It’s here where some of the challenge is taken away; where a number of times, while I missed a jump, I was still able to continue regardless of damage taken thanks to the invincible frames. However, there’s one stage later in the game that’s mind numbingly infuriating due to input lag which is odd, considering how easy the rest of the game is.

He’s Made of Straw!

Our straw hero has a few moves at his disposal such as the ability to jump and ‘ground pound’ on boxes to see their contents, reveal secret areas or to collect collectibles. Jumping, swinging, ground pounding on boxes or bouncing off enemies’ heads (all the while collecting the corn that is scattered around) will help you not only gain lives but also achieve a 3 star rating at the end of each level. There are also hidden and not so hidden totem heads that form a statue at the end of each level, giving the player some incentive to replay levels to seek them all out. Each area also contains a secret level that can be unlocked once a certain amount of collectibles and totem pieces have been discovered which adds to the replayablilty. While it’s nothing particularly ground breaking or new, it’s still a decent platformer even if doesn’t change up the formula all that much.

However, like all good platformers the game does have some events that occur, like its boss battles, that do offer some interesting sections. For example, one that sees you moving through a temple while an octopus pursues you using its tentacles to smash platforms that may require some quick thinking to avoid. Once you reach the boss area you’re confined to a single screen. Using your ability to jump over the octopus’s huge swinging tentacles, ground pounding on its weak points will send it packing. But it’s nice see a few different attacks and moving sections to keep things interesting during these encounters.

Issues

The most annoying thing I found in the entire game was the final minecart stage in the last world. There was a significant delay when pressing the jump button that I had not really noticed in other stages. This made this one stage one of the toughest stages in whole game. It was made more annoying as rest game was pretty easy to get through. I lost a lot of lives thanks to the delayed input, I could imagine it may frustrate others too.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics are really bright and colourful with some nice backgrounds and little details like moving objects. The music is equally cheerful and packaged as a whole it looks nice.

Verdict

Stitchy in Tooki Trouble is a decent platformer for a younger audience and while it has some similarities to Nintendo’s Donkey Kong Country Returns game it doesn’t quite reach those heights with its slower gameplay, lifeless main character and that annoying minecart stage. However, if you look past these imperfections this could be a fairly good little game to play over a weekend. I just hope that if a sequel is created, they push for a more exciting hero, more unique mechanics and a faster, more fluid control system, as I think the model for the game right now has a lot of untapped potential.

3 out of 5

3

You can purchase Stitchy in Tooki Trouble in the Nintendo Store.