(5-year-old's review, typed by her dad)

You get to be a little chick and jump and also you can die by jumping off the edge! HEE HEE HEE

The first one is my favorite level and also you get to jump on bad guys.

A cute 3D platformer for only a dollar, I couldn't say no. Really fun, controls great, great aesthetic and music, I'd really like more games like this that focus on getting the quickest time possible, and not just making a time trail mode for levels. Some weird jank in certain levels and their design, but it goes by quickly enough that I'm still positive on it. Very short but sweet. Also when the horror-type stuff started appearing I was very worried this was going to be "you think it's cute but its actually fucked up and evil!!!! the game gonna kill you!!!" but thankfully it never gets to that level and stays pretty consistent in its light tone.

The monsters in the 2nd ice level legitimately creeped me the fuck out though, fuck those guys.

A short review for a short game. Toree 3D is a basic throwback platformer to the days of the PS1 in terms of aesthetic and style, something which I would say it executes reasonably well, particularly given the extremely cheap 99 cent price tag.

The best thing about this game is the tight controls, this game feels GREAT to control and reminds me that I wish more games would map dash buttons to the shoulder buttons or allow you to remap them. It's soooo nice to hold down the shoulder button for running, thumb ready at a moment's notice to jump at will (or in games with more than just jumps, like Mega Man Zero, attacking or special abilities). If anything the game is a bit TOO good controlling! Because of how much precision you're able to have it can be a bit too easy to save yourself from mistakes you make, especially thanks to the game having a double jump, and because the level design is pretty simple this means the game is pretty easy for better or worse. I think it could have gone a bit harder on not letting you "get out" of mistakes so easily, basically. Still, this game's physics and feel is a real keeper for any future projects!

The entire aesthetic and presentation of the game feels on point for the PS1 retro mood, the harbor levels feel right out of Sonic Adventure 2 in feel (though obviously not as expansive) and Toree's design absolutely would appear like this back in the day. It feels kinda like if someone turned Flicky into a 3D platformer. There's also some fairly memorable tunes included in the package, although I'll take this moment to note that some of the sound effects could be a bit loud, and that one thing I wish this game did better was have a bit more expansive Options for stuff like sound, Options menus aren't really something that need to "throw back'.

This game was made for a "haunted PS1 demo disc" game am and so it has some light horror elements, but they're veeery minor which I would say was absolutely to this game's strengths. In fact, I'd say 95% of this game's spooky elements would feel exactly at home from a PS1 platformer even without them, like some enemy designs being fairly cartoonishly scary. I also love how it actually mixed this into the game's story: Toree's ice cream is stolen by a "creepy mean guy" and Toree rushes to get it back. The first stage then shows this glitched out grim reaper ass guy holding an ice cream. It is very amusing!

While I wouldn't say the game is THAT ridiculously short for 99 cents, you can't expect a dollar game to be as expansive as Breath of the Wild, I do think that the game was still somewhat too short even for that. Given the late 90s platformer feel I am really surprised there weren't any simple boss fights in the game, which could have helped break up the stages, in particularly the end of the 9th stage could have tied the spooky elements of the game into a surprise boss fight or something for some flair. It feels like the game ends right when the level design is opening up, as many of the first four levels are VERY simple, even something like two more levels (one for top and bottom row) could have added a lot. This game's shorter than Super Mario Bros. 1 on a casual playthrough, I beat it in 38 minutes while trying to 100% all stars on each stage, so I don't think that much is unreasonable to request.

Overall, Toree 3D's a short game that nails what it is going for but admittedly never goes beyond that, held together by well put together aesthetics and very tight controls to make up for some quite simple game design and the feeling there could be "more". At 99 cents? Yeah, I'd absolutely recommend it if you want a quick fun time, and there IS a good deal of replayability thanks to two unlockable characters and the option to go for A Ranks. I even got it for free with gold eShop coins! Just don't expect tooooooo much.

30 minutes of (mostly) jolly, simple and straightforward 3D platforming. It ends right when the gameplay needed more variety, which this 1 dollar game won't give you. I don't think the weirder elements of the game added anything substantial, would prefer them to not be in the game instead of disturbing a perfectly cheerful experience. But it's nothing too fatal, the vibrant low poly aesthetics are too hard to beat.

Also, this is just a tangent but this game makes me nostalgic for a penguin platformer game that was preloaded on my old Linux EEE PC back in the late 2000s. Images of that game were just flying all over my brain during this playthrough. And I don't think I have thought about that game for years.

Ice-cream duck unfairly named after Tories loses their cone to Insert Itch.io Scaryguy Here and ends up becoming the new Ninpen Manmaru for half an hour, 10/10 gg ez

The slow but steady low-poly revival in this industry, starting around a decade ago and now flourishing with notables like A Short Hike and Signalis, has had its share of wannabe mascots. Everyone from the heroine of Lunistice to Haunted PS1's garbed skeleton has auditioned for the role, and Toree's no different. This game's developer, Siactro, has made a small stable of mascots already, all of them suspiciously cute, identifiable, and resalable in today's nostalgia market. Disposable heroes are always in vogue, just easier to sugarcoat when hidden behind the veneer of aesthetic authenticity. So it goes. Toree 3D is exactly the kind of small, pleasing half-hour snack that game jams are known for, previously the domain of classic Flash or Shockwave releases. It's very easy to replay and a worthy title despite its shallowness. If I ain't seeing Fangamer merch for this in a year or so, then I'm going to be very confused.

Our premise doesn't get much simpler: you play the titular bird thing, flightless and defenseless save for a double jump and dash. All the player's worried about is getting from point A to B, either with all the star pickups or the fastest time possible to hit that top level rank. Toree 3D nails almost all its basics, from intuitive controls to reproducible physics and scenarios. I know, for instance, that airborne momentum is a constant, which makes jumping across icy platforms that much trickier. A lack of auto-adjusting camera means you'll need to force center or move the right stick more often than should feel necessary, though. This degree of polish is easier to achieve nowadays thanks to widely-known tricks and prefabs in middleware engines like Unity, but it still takes work and testing. So I can't hold anything against Siactro for making a solid platformer loop, one which can't rely on much content or gimmicks to distract from potentially poor playability.

Make no mistake, however. Toree 3D is proud to be derivative, following not just one but two social media bandwagons. Why develop a more distinct identity for this avian anybody and the world they're exploring when you can just slap that low-res filter atop what feel like prototype assets? And why not hastily add a so-light-it's-nothing horror/spooky theme to the opening and final stages, just so it can technically qualify alongside the other Haunted PS1 jam entries? Again, I can't blame Siactro for making these savvy decisions. They're smart compromises to spread the game way farther on Twitter, Discord, Tumblr, Backloggd, etc. than was once possible. I'm a sucker for low-poly art in general, enough to lament its popularization as a micro-trend that'll risks being recycled into meaninglessness. For 1 buck, a mini foray into this style cost me practically nothing and offered so much in return.

All nine levels are well-designed for what they are, though quick to repeat their ideas. One could argue there's only so much these simple jump and run mechanics could offer, yet I'd hoped for more puzzles and enemy variety. There was certainly room in the snow stages for less mindless auto-scrolling down slopes with fences. I'd have added sections where skillful players can quickly hop between panels to activate temporary platforms, perhaps a little icy hopscotch across lava. There's a lotta clash between the game's autopilot segments (ex. the moving scaffolds in the city) and the light speedrunning angle Siactro's going for.

The only incentives you get for pushing Toree to the finale as fast as possible are two extra characters, for that matter. It's thankfully satisfying on its own to master these obstacle courses, and I messed around with Macbat's free flight for a bit of fun. But the game's truly over by that point; we're far from a Pilotwings 64 scenario where the game's worlds remain intriguing to explore without win states. Siactro's reverence for, and ability to replicate, nostalgic echoes of '90s pop art and software also holds him back from doing anything that unique here. My favorite theme here was chaotic New Osaka, which itself teeters too close to the vaporwave Orientalism I see in other contemporaries.

Games that exist to remind me of older, more fleshed-out experiences put themselves in a tricky situation. As I played the ocean levels so obviously cribbing from Sonic Adventure (2), I couldn't help but think, "why not just go for that A rank and emblems on Metal Harbor?". Indeed, Toree 3D tends to trap itself into these comparisons. Evoking nostalgia for that era of bigger-budgeted console games runs the risk of bouncing one towards replays, assuming nothing substantially new or unique is offered. Whereas Sonic became a mascot for cool, challenging setpiece-driven adventures in his heyday, Toree feels like the runt of that litter, an adorable ode to some unreachable past. I want the best for this scrimblo, though, even if I'd rather not play something like this for more than an hour. Efficiently packing a more diverse and meaningful array of challenges into this runtime, like boss encounters or side modes leveraging the mechanics, seems like a logical next step.

A lot of my comments so far are closer to nitpicks than deep criticisms, plus expressing my regular disdain for pandemic-era trend hopping. (That behavior is itself partly excusable for a lot reasons, most of them coming back to the world likely ending as we know it, but I don't want to cramp Toree's style with that talk here.) But hey, it's hard to dislike, let alone hate this kind of game. It just doesn't compel me that much by design, as vibes...aesthetic...charm...whatever aren't enough for me. Siactro's found a place in this market no different from many other solo devs, expectedly polishing up quick prototypes into lightweight scene darlings. And this one's still a big leap forward from Kiwi 64, showing how much this guy's learned and improved upon in eight or so years. I've designed enough Doom maps to know one shouldn't be so harsh towards even the slightest works in this category, no matter how trivial or commodified.

In a sense, I think Toree 3D is well worth its price and promises, though hardly the ambassador of Three Strings and the Soul Gaming that some like to categorize it as. (Hell, I don't even lionize Cave Story to that degree, and that genuinely moved past its influences and somewhat against trends familiar to its original audience.) Here's just an inoffensive, inauspicious, Twitch-friendly ditty that plays well with just about anyone. It's like Gunman Clive back in those desperate early days of 3DS software, insofar as we've only just started to get low-poly, PS1-/Saturn-/N64-esque low-poly experiments of this quality. I'm just hoping to feel something more when I inevitable blast through Toree 2 and other games indulging this aesthetic. Nothing in this one actually feels cowardly, just missing out on its potential—my ire's saved for copycat low-poly horror games at this point. (Or that big Mega Man Legends 3 fangame which could have happened by now, given the talent and interest surrounding this style.)

Now, Toree 3D but condensed to 13kb of filesize? That would excite me. I'm not sure how one could reasonably compress the excellent poppy soundtrack into those limits, but that's one reason Pixel wrote his own sound tech for Cave Story to keep the size down. Regardless, everything I've heard about Toree 2 says I should enjoy that one a lot more on its own merits, not just as an exercise in clever imitation. Maybe I'll play that later this year when I've got nothing better to do.

i read online something along the lines of is toree 3d a horror game and my real af reaction to that was like what the FUCK is going on with this game on god

and so I decided to play it teehee thats my villain origin story

now i saw toree around here and there because it looks goofy as fuck and there's a song from toree 2 that I got in my videogame ost playlist and I fucking vibe with that a bit too much

sooo this is a 3d n64 style collectathon (i actually dont regard side collectibles like this one as collectathons because theyre not required to continue the story but i digress i dont actually know the real definition) platformer and its pretty damn sick if you ask me

controls are as simple as they get you can walk around jump run and move the camera the fucking end

chicken guy named toree is collecting little stars around some different environments which are skyscrapers ? mountains ? traffic roads ? aerial whatever environments ? x2 because the second levels are the same assets but a little more "difficult" and "long"

so for a total of 8 levels + 1 you get a really short and fun experience if you ask me

the ost really took me by surprise because why the hell would you make so manu bops for a stupid game like this one ? I don't get it like the final level theme ? a fucking pussy popping tune

if you ask me what the horror parts are sometimes in 1 level stars will get spooky and the world will get red the end also theres some distortions here and there and "jumpscares" but if you get scared by this stuff please don't watch the day to day news on the TV because the real world is way spookier young one

chirp chirp/10

Didn't realize I never reviewed this game. Better late than never, though.

This game was my introduction to Siactro, a solo game developer who makes small, cheap platformers, most of which harken back to the N64 and SNES platforming classics. Some might call their games pandering or shallow, but I think there's a surprising amount of depth and love for the craft in them that leads me to holding them in high regard. Whether or not you liked Toree, I highly recommend Macbat 64, Super Kiwi 64, and Beeny, they're delightful little treats and offer more than you'd expect.

But those games aren't Toree. And, well, to be frank, Toree is my least favorite of Siactro's offerings (that I've played). All of their games are simple, but I find Toree to be too simple. Lacking, even. The same charm that the others have isn't nearly as strong here, and I never felt like I was having as much fun. Perhaps because this is a level-based 3D platformer rather than an explorative collectathon? Maybe this just isn't Siactro's area of expertise? I don't know. On top of that, this game also just forces a sort of horror element in it much less elegantly; the others have horror elements (not much, you won't be crapping your pants or anything), but it's presented in a very natural way that feels befitting of the retro callbacks, here it just feels amateurish. As my friend maradona puts it, it's like something MatPat would make a theory video on rather than something that could just... be.

Unfortunately for me, this is the one of Siactro's games that has kind of blown up. I blame AntDude (I mean... that's how I learned of it). A sequel, two games of 3-4 levels each, and another one-level entry. I'll admit that I haven't played them, so maybe they're a lot better and makes Toree a much more worthy leading series, but I wish it was Macbat or Kiwi instead. Not trying to come off mean at all, I'm glad this developer is getting more attention, and Toree 3D is still good I just don't think it's great like their other works.

Still, it's only a dollar. I doubt you'll regret trying it even if you don't end up caring for it. But I recommend Siactro's other games more! And try playing them more or less in order, there's merit to that.

It's alright, but camera feels limited and slow even at max speed, and the controls feel a bit stiff, so trying to get certain stars in the highway levels where there were enemies that you can't attack was really awkward.

There are horror elements in this, but they feel tacked on, like, just so it could be in the Haunted Demo Disc and get people's attention because that's supposed to be a horror game collection. It's very little stuff in like, 4 levels, and it's never contextualized. I feel like it'll end up making people that would've like this give it a pass, even if the piano in Mario 64 is scarier than anything in this game.

Now, I can't be too harsh on this considering that it costs less than most fast food these days, but this is a completely bare-bones platformer with but a handful of content and little in the way of challenge.

The aesthetics are fine, the low-poly PS1 era visuals do their job and the colour palette ensures that everything is clear and distinct - your path ahead is clearly defined, while enemies and collectibles are hard to miss. Inhibiting this somewhat is the camera, which is controlled entirely manually and isn't nearly sensitive enough to be convenient. Despite the emphasis on speedrunning, I find myself having to awkwardly manage charging around corners while manoeuvring the camera into place so as not to run into an enemy or fall down a pit.

Speaking of enemies, there really aren't a whole lot of them, and are usually pretty easy to avoid. Challenge in general is limited to simply landing your jumps right, and even this is only really difficult in the second half of the game. There are only 9 levels, and 4 sets of assets between them - the times required to S rank stages are pretty demanding, but finding the collectibles is a cakewalk - you keep everything you picked up even if you die, and there's rarely that many in the level. Given how linear each level is designed, you'd struggle to actually miss any of them in your first run.

There's certainly replay value, which mitigates the tiny amount of content on offer, but it's so vanilla and easy to play that there's very little motivation to do so. You can unlock 2 other characters - one for collecting every star and another for getting A ranks on every level, but only Toree's runs let you get ranked anyway, so they're just fun extras.

Altogether it's a pretty mediocre, basic game that I could only really recommend to small children...except the game has weird out-of-place horror elements that mean nothing at all due to an absence of actual story or resolution, so maybe don't let your kids play it.

It's certainly not a rip-off, especially if you get it on sale, but honestly? The main thing you'd be wasting is your time.

What does $1 get you? A forty-minute cheerful platformer that couldn't be more simple a game. The plot is you control a small yellow bird trying to get his ice cream back from the grim reaper of video games. The game sports 9 levels with a new mechanic thrown into each one with the themes of the levels repeating themselves after you beat the first four. That's pretty much the whole game. The basic movement is fun and responsive and I got a kick out of trying to speedrun levels. I definitely thought there was going to be some sort of twist as some of the levels built up that there would be some sort of finale but instead, it ends like any other level.

It really feels like a game that could act as an excellent introduction to the platforming genre but overall has very little substance or staying power. That being said I will always enjoy running around 3D retro spaces and the aesthetics of the game made me nostalgic. I've heard its sequel is far better so in my mind this game is simply a jumping-off point for the developer to hone their skills. Still worth the $1 though.