I’m not the audience for Toki Tori 2+. But I can tell you who is: 6 year olds and their families.
I’m lucky enough to have a young 6 year old boy in my life who loves video games. He’s a pretty cool dude, and he knows what he likes and what he doesn’t. Since Toki Tori 2+ came to my PS4, he always wants to play “that one with the chicken”. The animation and aesthetic appeal to him, the controls are simple enough for him to grasp without guidance, and it becomes an entire family event to help him solve puzzles.
This is where Toki Tori 2+ excels. There’s nothing particularly special in terms of control, design, or challenge. Everything works well, functions as intended, and can even be quite enjoyable. But what is special about this little chicken’s adventure is its adorable, endearing accessibility to a universal crowd. Anyone can pick this game up and run with it. There’s no huge learning curve, and this opens the game up to a wide audience.
Here’s why that is so important: In a world where games carry a stigma of violence and extensive challenge, it can be difficult for those gamer moms and dads to find ways to open up the world of games to their kids. Toki Tori 2+ is a rare and successful blend of ageless accessibility and engaging gameplay. As such, the project’s greatest achievement is walking this tightrope without pandering, or even condescending, to the families and the youth. Toki Tori 2+ is a game you can feel good about sharing with a younger child and know that it is both enjoyable and stimulating for the whole family.
Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty: In Toki Tori 2+, you take control of a chicken with two abilities: the ability to whistle a scale and land on your butt. These two elements, combined with some light platform elements, make up the entirety of the game. Whistling can bring things such as crabs and lightning bugs closer to you, while a butt slam can push things away. These are the ways in which you’ll navigate the world.
The level design is solid, and the world of the game can even look quite beautiful at times. It feels a bit like being in a Pixar movie with a lively, vibrant world that is potentially touching and sincere. There are times and places where the level design seems to drag out or repeat a bit much, but this never really holds the game back, especially when the game’s prime audience is considered.
By now you must be thinking “Okay, Logan. You make this kid/family game sound so great! If it’s so good, why haven’t I heard about it? What’s the catch?” Well, there is a catch, dear reader, and it’s not an easy one to describe. In order to do so, I’ll have to give you some background information:
The original Toki Tori came out in 2001 for the Game Boy Color and received solid critical praise, though it never quite took off with consumers. Toki Tori 2 then came out in 2013, first to the Wii U (doesn’t it look like a Wii U title?) and then to Steam. Later that same year, Two Tribes released the expanded Toki Tori 2+. Now, in early 2016 (almost 3 years later), Toki Tori 2+ has come to the PS4. Toki Tori 2+ has, in an almost mirror fashion to the original Toki Tori, received positive critical reviews and has been largely ignored by consumers.
But the question remains: Why? If it’s a good game, why is no one buying it? I can’t put it better than the developers themselves, who spoke to Eurogamer last year about that very question. “I don’t think I would have bought Toki Tori 2 if I was a consumer,” Two Tribes co-founder Collin van Ginkel told Eurogamer. He continues, “It is a good game and it’s the best game I think we’ve released so far…We were trying to make a game that didn’t leave anybody out.”
And yet, I opened this review stating that I wasn’t the audience for this game. Between releasing on a struggling console, a difficult release schedule, and muddy branding decisions, Toki Tori 2 was always set-up to fail. The gameplay is good, but not unique. The aesthetic is cute, but generic. Toki Tori 2 (and 2+) is a good game, but not a successful game. It doesn’t have a specific audience, it doesn’t have any particularly outstanding features, and it never even reached enough people for them to make a decision on it.
And all of those things make it perfect for children and families. Because it tries to appeal to everyone (and doesn’t quite manage to do so), it can easily be accepted by children while also being just engaging enough for parents to share. It doesn’t ask too much of you, it sincerely does offer some nice gameplay, and it creates a Pixar-esque world that is perfect for that exact demographic.
We’ve covered a lot in this review, so allow me to tie things together for you. Toki Tori 2+ is a good game. It’s got enjoyable gameplay, an engaging artistic direction, and a simple structure that anyone can leap into. The game’s faults lie primarily in its image. It can’t quite figure out who it’s aimed at and what it’s trying to achieve. But I say that, if you are a gaming family and need something fun and wholesome to help introduce your young one to gaming, this might be the game for you.
A PS4 code was provided by Two Tribes for the purpose of this review.