Toki: Going Ape Spit
| Developer: Taito | Publisher: Sega |
| Release Date: 1991 | Also On: NES |
When I purchased a Genesis that came with thirty two games on eBay, one of the games included was Toki: Going Ape Spit. Having read Martin Henely's review from a couple years ago of the NES version, I was somewhat excited to get a chance to play what I thought would be a quality follow-up. By the time that I actually played the game, though, my excitement quickly turned into disappointment.
Toki: Going Ape Spit is not even a follow-up at all. It is more or less a straight up port of the NES version of the game. Sega reprogrammed the game and published it themselves in 1991. Not having played the original, I will have to defer to Wikipedia's claim that the game on Genesis includes additional levels, but as far as I can tell, the graphics were hardly improved, if at all. This is clearly not anywhere near what the Genesis is capable of and indeed I have seen better on the NES. Don't even get me started on the sound that repeats itself throughout the entire game.
The Genesis version of Toki has an opening scene where a well-built almost Tarzan-like guy and a girl are minding their own business when an evil wizard transforms you into an ape (devolution, if you will). Not to steal anything from any other video games, your job is to rescue your princess girlfriend and take care of the wizard that transformed you into the beast that you now are. Your weapon of choice to save the day? Monkey spit. I kid you not.
As far as gameplay goes, it is about as disappointing as the graphics. Toki can jump around like any other platformer, kill enemies by hopping on their back, and of course, fire those spitballs forward as well as up. Along the way you can collect power-ups to increase the number of spitballs that you can fire at once (three), one will increase the size of the spitball and the last is sort of a wave shot. These power-ups last a set duration of time. Other than spit power-ups, you can also find a pair of shoes that will help you jump higher and a helmet to protect our hero.
The game isn't very long. It may take you an hour or two to beat, depending on how often you die. The levels aren't very long, either. In fact, there is a timer for each stage set at ten minutes, so unless you have to restart, you won't spend anymore time than that in each stage. There are multiple stages to a level and each level has its own unique boss fight. Like the enemy AI, which does not react at all to your actions, the bosses are quite dumb and as such, quite boring as well.
For whatever annoying reason though, the developers decided to kill you with a single hit. So even though the computer enemies are almost legally retarded, you still will die on occasion due to sheer carelessness or a bad camera position. While you can adjust the camera up and down by pressing up or down on the control pad, you may not always remember to do so, which often results to you jumping to the unknown and either falling into a gap or running directly into an enemy.
With Sonic the Hedgehog on the Genesis in 1991, I am not sure what to make of Sega's decision to release what is essentially a port of a mediocre 1989 NES game. Maybe it was simply to expand the Genesis library or maybe it was a case of poor quality control. Whatever the case, Toki: Going Ape Spit never should have made it outside of the development studio. It is a poorly animated game in terms of graphics with limited length, pitiful AI and a lousy single tune that loops, which will drive you ape shit. Unless you are a die hard platforming fan or a collector, shy away from this one.
| Graphics: | 2 |
| Sound: | 2 |
| Gameplay: | 6 |
| Creativity: | 5 |
| Replay Value/Game Length: | 6 |
| Final: | 4.2 |
| Written by Kyle | Review Guide |
Game Freaks 365 is not responsible and does not endorse the comments posted above from registered users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, or remove user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice. Items that may be considered inappropriate to post are those containing profanity, hatred, vulgar, unlawful or threatening comments.
Read 431 times.
