The least we can say is that Toki has come a long way. Originally released in arcades at the end of the 80s, the game developed and published by TAD was then ported to a handful of home consoles, including the NES, Mega Drive, Atari ST and the Amiga. part. Although the fashion is very clearly for remakes of all kinds, we must admit that Toki was not especially on the waiting list, and especially eight years after its announcement on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC which will have finally resulted in exclusive to Nintendo's nomadic console. For the occasion, an absolutely charming new Collector's version has also been marketed: only, the object is not everything and, very clearly, Toki offers a half-hearted experience that deserves attention.
YOU DON'T TEACH OLD MONKEYS TO MAKE A GRIMACE
Like what was proposed when it was released, the pitch is still minimalist: Toki, a great and valiant warrior, has seen his sweetheart Miho kidnapped by the evil wizard Vookimedlo. Not the most sociable, this one transformed him into a monkey before taking refuge in his palace, at the other end of the country. A good pretext to go and give him a beating in good and due form by ending the reign of his various underlings. Here, no cinematics or dialogues: we go straight to the point and we are catapulted from one level to another, a mini-map and an introductory text serving as the only breadcrumb trail for the narration. Clearly, the interest is not there and it is always a question of crossing levels with twisted difficulty, bathed in a demanding die and retry facet. But before returning to its content (debatable) and its meticulous gameplay, it is important to take stock of the undeniable asset of Toki: a damn pronounced graphic charm of which the talented Pierre Adane is at the origin. Entirely redesigned, the artistic direction gives birth to attractive cartoon characters served by a nice number of cracking animations. However, and even if it is more in line with a certain humor, Toki keeps the dark tones of the original iteration with decorations and bosses both tribal and mystical, far from the childish echoes that one could have attributed to him in the first approaches. Moreover, the soundtrack and the sound-design are not to be outdone since they have been re-orchestrated by Raphaël Gesqua - to whom we owe a plethora of video game OSTs since the 90s - and which hit the bull's eye since they retain the main lines of the real melodies. A remake with a lovely visual and sound dress, therefore, that we can only salute with dignity.
BEWARE OF THE TRUNK
As mentioned above, the principle of Toki remains frozen in time: it is a question of advancing in levels of increasing difficulty, each of them ending with a formidable boss which you will have to overcome. To defend himself, Toki can spit balls like a certain Mega Buster by directing his shots on the traditional main axes (diagonals included) or by jumping directly on his enemies. Simple mechanics on paper, quickly put to the test by the old-school requirement of the different worlds whose taming will not be painless. So to speak, Toki is a decidedly tough game, riddled with critters with diverse and varied patterns and ultra-treacherous locations that leave no room for error. Our simian hero doesn't really take hits – it only takes one to return to the last checkpoint, unless in possession of a temporary invulnerability bonus – failure is an integral part of the game design, especially when first run. But above all, Golgoth Studio's game is based on the same cogs as the arcade version: understand that nothing or almost nothing is done to facilitate your gaming experience and that once your lives and credits are exhausted, you will have to start again... at the very beginning of the adventure.
No backup being present, we therefore find ourselves struggling once again with all the levels in the hope of going, this time, a little further in the progression than the previous part. A process which has of course proven itself in the past but which, even if a real pleasure emanates from it when successful, also shows signs of rust. Even once the six levels of the game have been completed in barely three hours (we include the total playing time with multiple attempts, Toki being able to conclude in a short half an hour in a straight line and without dying for the most accustomed), it is impossible to access any selection of environments: it is only proposed to restart the software in the difficulty of your choice. Of course, everything is bet on the scoring according to the bonuses recovered, the time of completion or the enemies beaten, but it is clear that at 34,99€, the fine is far too high to justify such an amount. . In itself, the rudiments work very well, better than the original version, certainly, even. But better accessibility or a deepening of the content would definitely have been required for a remake that we have been promised for eight years now.
