Review Information
Game Reviewed Toad and the Ancient Keys, by DustinVG
Review Author Cap'n Coconuts
Created May 4 2016, 5:41 AM

General Commentary and Game Overview
Toad and the Ancient Keys is a small metroidvania platformer--in other words, a fairly non-linear game that focuses on exploration and finding items that give you new abilities so you can explore further. In this game, the ultimate goal is to find the three ancient keys which open three locked doors. It isn't clear what the purpose of finding the three keys is up until the ending, which I shall not spoil.
 
Pros + It's a metroidvania! Don't see too many fan games like that.
+ The map has many branching pathways that serves to give the game a non-linear feel.
+ The music is pretty good.
 
Cons - The treasure isn't as well guarded as I anticipated (i.e. no bosses).
- The graphics department is rather lacking.
- No special effort was made to give the game replay value.
 
Impressions
Gameplay
8 / 10
The game captures the spirit of the metroidvania genre quite well. You won't be getting far in your quest for ancient keys without learning a few new tricks, and you'll have to explore to find those. Learning to spin jump and hi jump as well as finding a sword lets you venture deeper into the labyrinth and collect all the keys. Fortunately, there happen to be save points in this dungeon which will save your upgrades and keys and will serve as your respawn point in case you take one too many hits.

Given that the game description suggested that the treasure at the end was well-guarded, I'm a bit perplexed to find a total absence of bosses in this game. The most danger that this dungeon has to throw at you is a few traps and small-time enemies.
 
Graphics
5 / 10
Most of the graphics in this game have been ripped from NES games such as Super Mario Bros. 2 and Zelda II. There's a bit of custom stuff, but most of the graphics are ripped.

In general, the use of said graphics could have been better. I know this is an NES-style game, but there's very little variety to be seen in the background and tiles for this Temple of Ancient Keys. It's mainly just a sea of bricks. Enemy sprites like the Goombas could have been drawn better, and Toad's sword attack is just one static frame instead of an animated swing or thrust.

All in all, the graphics department is missing a lot of variety and polish, and therefore has a lot of room for improvement.
 
Sound
9 / 10
The sound effects are generally what you'd expect from an 8-bit Mario or Zelda game. That's fine, albeit a bit unoriginal.

I'm not sure what the source is for the music, but it's well-done, fits the game well, and certainly isn't some Super Mario All-Stars MIDI that's been used dozens of times.
 
Replay
4 / 10
Generally, I don't give many points for replay value unless the game has content that encourages you to replay the game. Things like bonus levels, extra difficulties, or a list of high scores can create or add replay value.

This game has none of those things. I can see a scoring mechanic based on time spent and damage taken, but the game doesn't have that. You could probably speedrun it on your own, I guess.
 
Final Words
7 / 10
A short little platformer that's certainly worth a playthrough.

Comments
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DustinVG
Jun 27 2016, 2:32 AM
Really late, but thanks for the review, Mr. Nuts.
 
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