Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a puzzle platform game for the Wii U. It was released on November 13, 2014 in Japan, December 5, 2014 in North America, January 2, 2015 in Europe, January 3, 2015 in Australia, and January 9, 2015 in Italy. The game is based on The Adventures of Captain Toad stages from Super Mario 3D World but features extensive depth and variety. This is the second game to have a Toad as the main protagonist, with the first game being Wario's Woods, released twenty years prior.

Story
Captain Toad and Toadette are out treasure hunting, climbing a structure to get a Power Star. They soon after notice feathers falling from the sky when Wingo, a large bird who's described as "a lover of all things shiny", grabs the star. Toadette attempts to retrieve it while Captain Toad is temporarily knocked over. Wingo makes off with both the star and Toadette, leaving the Captain on his own. Captain Toad must then go through stages collecting Power Stars to reach Wingo and save Toadette.

Once Captain Toad reaches Wingo's fortress, they fight, and after Wingo is defeated, Toadette is rescued and they continue treasure hunting. However, Wingo returns to steal their treasure again and ends up capturing Captain Toad, allowing Toadette to journey on a solo adventure. After another long journey, Toadette saves him, although immediately afterward Wingo reappears, captures Toadette again and blows Captain Toad away.

The Captain awakes in a dark cave, where he finds another Power Star snatched away by Wingo. Toad pursues to a large mine. Meanwhile, Toadette escapes Wingo and goes off to reunite with Captain Toad, though is captured again soon after. Wingo then takes her to the same tower, while Captain Toad arrives. After a final fight, Wingo is truly defeated, and the two Toads ride off in a minecart as the credits play.

After the credits, Captain Toad notices a Green Star falling through the sky, and chases after it, leaving Toadette in the minecart. The opening scene of Super Mario 3D World plays, though after Mario and the others enter the Clear Pipe to chase Bowser, the Green Star falls in as well, with Captain Toad climbing into the Clear Pipe to chase after it.

Gameplay
Captain Toad controls similarly to The Adventures of Captain Toad, and is unable to jump. Instead, he can pull on Pluck Patches, patches of grass which can contain items such as coins, power-ups, or turnips, which can be thrown at enemies in a Super Mario Bros. 2 fashion. The camera can be rotated in any direction to view the stage at different angles.

The main goal of the game is to reach the one Power Star in each stage; the player must do so by navigating each stage and solving puzzles to reach them. Unlike The Adventures of Captain Toad, the levels have no time limit. Instead, the game keeps track of the highest number of coins earned in each level and the time taken to complete each level. Each stage also has 3 Super Gems (similar to the Green Stars of Super Mario 3D World) to collect, as well as a bonus objective that appears after beating the stage, in which the player must clear the stage while performing a certain task (collecting a certain mushroom, taking no damage, defeating certain enemies, etc.).

Controls

 * Move -
 * Run/pluck/throw - /  /  /
 * Zoom in -
 * Turn on/off headlamp -
 * Camera:
 * Tilt - /  /  (tilt)
 * Move 45 degrees - /
 * Center - (press)
 * Move behind player -

Playable
Draggadon is also playable in a cut-scene, but due to the player having limited control, he is not directly considered a playable character.

Supporting

 * Blue Toad
 * Yellow Toad
 * Green Toad

Other

 * Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad
 * Bowser
 * Green Sprixie Princess
 * A mole-like species, which awards prizes when caught.

New

 * Flaptor
 * Piranha Sprout
 * Mud Trooper
 * Stumper
 * Mummy-Me

Bosses

 * Draggadon
 * Wingo
 * Gold Draggadon

Stages
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker features 79 stages (referred to as "mini-universes" ). The game is divided into various "episodes", with their own plots, as well as containing a number of different stages played as each character. Each stage also features a challenge that can be completed for an extra bonus.

References to other games

 * Donkey Kong: The music that plays when using a Super Pickax is a remix of the theme that plays when Mario collects a Hammer in Donkey Kong; the way in which the pickaxe is swung is also a reference to the Hammer. Retro Ramp-Up is based upon this game.
 * Super Mario Bros.: A cover of this game's underground theme is used in Mine Cart Tunnel Throwdown.
 * Super Mario Bros. 2: Turnips and sprouts on the ground return, Shy Guys appear as basic enemies, and various buildings draw from the design of Wart's castle.
 * Super Mario World: Wingo has a feather on her hat that resembles the Cape Feather. During the fights against Wingo, Toadette will throw Toad a Super Mushroom, similar to Peach in the final Bowser battle.
 * Super Mario 64: When playing in a Coins Galore level, a remix of the slide theme of this game plays.
 * New Super Mario Bros.: This game's lava level music is partially covered.
 * Super Mario Galaxy: Captain Toad and the Toad Brigade return from their debut in this game, along with their iconic sound track. Also, the Starshroom appears in the ending credits if the game is beaten twice. The Starshroom appears secretly in Episode 1's Gold Galore if the player rotates the camera. It is seen in the distance.
 * Super Mario 3D Land: A cover version of this game's beach level music appears.
 * New Super Mario Bros. 2: The Gold Mushroom returns as an item.
 * Super Mario 3D World: This game is based on The Adventures of Captain Toad, first featured in this game. Many mechanics from this game return, as well as cover versions of several tracks from this game. Super Bell Hill, Conkdor Canyon, Shadow-Play Alley, and Clear Pipe Cruise return as stages. Also, the intro from this game can be seen after the credits, revealing that Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is, in fact, a prequel to Super Mario 3D World.

amiibo
This game has been confirmed to include functionality with amiibo, Nintendo's series of NFC enabled figurines. However, upon the release of the game, it does not have any indication that it has amiibo support, neither on the box nor in the game itself. Despite this, amiibo support has been confirmed be added on March 20, 2015. Only the Toad amiibo will be available, which will place a hidden 8-bit Toad sprite (called "Pixel Toad") in each stage that the player must find to complete a challenge.

Development
The idea of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker came to director Shinya Hiratake as a dream. It originally featured Link as the hero instead of Mario, as Mario not being able to jump would not make sense. Link would explore in a diorama-style in a tech demo presented to Shigeru Miyamoto. The idea was shot down, though Miyamoto realized a potential with the idea. It was included in Super Mario 3D World, where Hiratake chose Captain Toad because the heavy backpack would have prevented him from jumping. After Super Mario 3D World came out, Miyamoto encouraged production of a full game around the concept.

Beta elements
Several of the stages shown off during E3 2014 had different names than in the final game. The boxart was also changed during development. Several enemies such as Flaptors seen in the final game do not appear in the E3 demo.