Toodee and Topdee

Genre: Puzzle-Platformer

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local)

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Review:

Toodee and Topdee is a family-friendly Puzzle-Platformer released on PC in 2021 and ported to Nintendo Switch in 2022. This game has players switching back and forth between the game’s titular playable characters so that both can reach an exit. Toodee plays much like a typical Platformer, and Topdee moves along the background like a typical Top-Down character-based Puzzle Game character. Players must use the unique skills of both characters to complete the game’s puzzles.

This game is an outstanding example of taking a simple concept and doing it extremely well. Neither Toodee nor Topdee are very complex characters to control – Toodee can only move around and jump, and Topdee can only move around, shove boxes, and pick up and drop boxes. However, due to some absolutely superb level design and puzzle design, players will have to put some good thought into how to proceed through each of the game’s puzzles. What’s more, this game’s excellent design is exemplified further in the game’s boss design, which makes fantastic use of the game’s unique mechanics.

I suppose I should mention that Toodee and Topdee seems ideally set up for co-op play, and the game does support 2-player co-op. However, only one character can be active at a given time, so that cuts down somewhat on the coordination players could theoretically have with each other.

One other nice element here is the game’s excellent presentation, which uses some nicely-animated pixel art visuals for its characters, with some backgrounds that combine pixellated placid landscapes with dimension-warping distortions, all with a pseudo-3D effect whenever you shift perspective. This is backed by some wonderfully chill synthesized tunes, such as Home, Hello World!, Jungle Kingdom, and Exceptions, to name a few.

Something that surprised me about this game is just how endearing its characters are. The various characters you encounter in your journey are all well-written and have plenty of personality to them, but it’s Toodee and Topdee themselves that really steal the show here. Toodee is the more assertive of the two, but is instantly distrustful of any strange character the pair encounter, while Topdee is both adorably sweet and hilariously oblivious and naive. When you meet the game’s first boss, a massive imposing head, he introduces himself as the boss, and Topdee sheepishly responds that while he’s not looking for work, he’d be happy to take down the guy’s contact information. It’s cute stuff like that throughout the game that made me smile.

There are a few things here that didn’t make me smile, though. First, I wish this game offered players a faster, more direct way to restart levels that didn’t involve pausing and selecting restart in the game’s menu – a single-button level restart would have made some of the tougher puzzles flow much more smoothly. Also, I feel like this game presents a massive missed opportunity in failing to have any sort of level editor.

However, while there’s certainly room for improvement (perhaps in a sequel?), Toodee and Topdee is already a wonderfully charming, creative, and well-crafted Puzzle-Platformer with some excellent level design that does a magnificent job of utilizing the game’s central mechanic. If you’re looking for a great new Puzzle game to add to your collection, Toodee and Topdee is definitely one you should be considering.

tl;dr – Toodee and Topdee is a family-friendly Puzzle-Platformer that has players swapping between two characters – one who controls like a Platformer, and one who controls like a Top-Down character-driven Puzzle Game character. This game’s fantastic level design makes wonderful use of the game’s central gameplay mechanic, and supplements it with a nice presentation and adorable characters. There are a few places where this game could have been improved, but overall this is a phenomenal Puzzle game that fans of the genre should definitely play.

Grade: A-

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2022 Game Awards:

Winner:

Best Puzzle Game – Toodee and Topdee combines two pretty standard types of Puzzle games, resulting in an amalgamation that’s clever and refreshing thanks to some inspired level design and puzzle design. Top all of this with a good presentation and some really lovable characters, and you have an absolute winner of a Puzzle game.

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