Review Information
Game Reviewed Regular Toad Game, by Hypernova
Review Author Pedigree
Created Jun 6 2020, 8:10 AM

General Commentary and Game Overview
Can a regular Toad save the world and become a hero? Find out if you have what it takes when you storm through all six acts in the world that Hypernova has crafted.
 
Pros This Toad's adventure is a rather small, simple one that does not overstay its welcome. The scope of the game allowed Hypernova and those whom assisted him to focus on the details that mattered and the result is a rather polished story. The story itself is dark in tone at times and deals with a deeper topic that I would have never expected from a fangame on this website. The graphics, especially the backgrounds, and music serve to complete an all around solid package.
 
Cons Toad's greatest weaknesses here are in his speed and jump distance. Toad is slow and while he jumps sufficiently high, he doesn't cover much ground or the many death pits horizontally in his jump arc. The platforming requires precision and timing that is rather tight. Should you fail, you will be punished harshly with getting sent back to the start of an area over and over again. Should you emerge triumphant, you may find no reason to return to this game since you will have unlocked nothing for your efforts.
 
Impressions
Gameplay
7 / 10
As a regular Toad, your adventuring skills are somewhat limited. Under normal circumstances, you can only walk and jump. With certain items, however, you are able to fly or glide in limited areas and attack your foes as well. This simple selection of moves is very accessible to the average or more casual players.

Player actions all function well enough, however there are some design choices that could use a little tweaking. Toad is rather slow moving and there is no run option available to the player. Couple that with a very narrow horizontal jump and it can be difficult to cross some of the more treacherous gaps in the game. Add in hazards like patrolling enemies or one of the several levels that limit your vision in the darkness, and you may be returning to the beginning of an area you just put all that effort into getting through repeatedly. This can be frustrating, especially with checkpoints missing from key areas, such as when you reach the first town in Toad's adventure or before you take on the final boss. Repeating the same content over and over as a result can feel, well, repetitive.

Another design choice that gave me a hard time is enemy knock back. Getting knocked off of a pipe and into a death pit because you just barely missed the timing on the piranha plant's emergence or just barely making it onto a tiny platform before a goomba bumps off is one of the most frustrating quirks in this game. On top of that, I noticed that standing on a pipe or bullet bill blaster does not reset their timers, so it is possible to get hit immediately after stepping off either of those platforms.

Aside from these issues, the level themselves are well made and varied. I loved the puzzle feel of the switch blocks the most. Hypernova definitely came up with some solid and tricky but fair platforming utilizing those, especially after you obtain the magic sword.

I would have liked to have been rewarded for my efforts with some kind of unlockable. Nothing too crazy, maybe just an extra stage or a new toad skin. Being able to play around in the scene shown in the credits would have been a great one. Being able to play as the scientist Toad could have been cool. However, nothing happens once the credits are done. It just stays on that credits scene until you restart the game. As much as I like the game, I do feel that there is no reason to return after you've beaten it once.

One final thing I will mention as a slight nitpick is that I really do wish the game had native gamepad support. I was able to use joy2key to play the game well enough though.

Overall a fun, simple but sometimes frustrating gameplay experience.
 
Graphics
9 / 10
The hand-drawn graphics have some rough outlines and jittery animations, but that felt like a part of the game's charm for me. It's the backgrounds in this game that stand out. From the winter wonderland to the spooky forest, I was delighted by the atmosphere they provided. The snowfall in the winter levels was well done as well, though I have had some frame drops at times in those level. I am unable to reproduce the frame drop with any reliability to help you resolve the issue, unfortunately.

Overall, well done.
 
Sound
10 / 10
The music selection in this game is well done. They added to the atmosphere nicely and I was surprised how well that Undertale battle theme for the amalgamations fit withinm that section of the game, you know the one. The sound effects were effective representations of player actions, and they were good quality without any crackling. The audio levels for music and sound effects are well balanced.

Overall, I have no complaints about the game's audio.

The star of this presentation, however, has to be the story of the game. There's no other section to put this, so I will factor it into the score for Sound. I love underdog type stories and there was surprising depth in there with our Toad character dealing with the loss of a loved one, not knowing what to do with himself without her. Couple that with the sci-fi horror elements and you've got me invested all the way through to the end, no matter how many times I died.

A wonderful presentation that wraps the game up nicely into a solid package.
 
Final Words
8 / 10
There's nothing regular or typical about this fangame, in my opinion. It's got heart in its presentation and is well worth a play. I am looking forward to Hypernova's next project!

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