[quote]Follow my Curator page, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41363546-Fruit-N-Doggie-Reviews/]Fruit N Doggie Reviews,[/url] so you can be updated whenever I post a new review.[/quote]
[h1]Overall Rating - Seriously Flawed ★★☆☆☆[/h1]
[h1]First Impressions[/h1]
My sense for the quality of Steam titles was quite low initially, so I didn't realize that I probably wasn't going to be a fan of Toast Time (TT) when it showed up in a bundle. A simple, yet fun game about blasting enemies with toast sounds kind of odd. It could have been pretty enjoyable too, but there's a few key issues that really hinders the experience.
[h1]Gameplay[/h1]
There's two game modes available in TT. The first are referred to as Missions, and after clearing enough of those stages, you'll unlock Survival Mode. Most of the missions are solely focused on keeping the enemies from making contact with the clock, as you wait out the timer until enough time has passed. While shooting at the enemies with your projectile, crates will occasionally spawn in, giving you one of the weapons that you've currently unlocked. The more crates you obtain, the more options that will be available. Unfortunately, what weapon you're given is completely random, instead of being pre-set to better match the layout or situation. Picking up a crate might give you the perfect weapon, or something that's nigh worthless. Occasionally, a mission will have a unique effect in place, such as limiting how many shots you can fire.
What I find odd about the game is Survival Mode, also known as Iron Man Mode. As you might expect, it's set up as a gauntlet, where you have to clear every stage without failure. Any mistakes forces the player to start over from scratch again. None of that is unusual, but you unlock this mode long before you finish every stage. I'd think the sensible thing to do would be to open this option after clearing each stage, as an additional challenge.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3158066937
[h1]Controls[/h1]
This was one of the areas in the game that I found unsatisfactory. Shooting at enemies causes immense recoil to your character, and when you're firing on multiple foes, you'll wind up flying all over the screen. Just keeping up with the enemies spawning into the stage can be difficult, but with this affecting your place on the screen and sometimes putting barriers between the enemies and where you want to shoot, it's a significant burden. It's the equivalent of a 3D shooter, but one where you don't have direct control over your position on the map, because each gunshot propels you around instead. That'd be a nightmare, and it's no better here.
[h1]Story[/h1]
Because this is an arcade experience, there isn't any plot behind being a living toaster fighting sentient... water? They look like drops of rain and icicles, but I'm not really positive. Then again, everyone knows how water is a toaster's greatest enemy, so I'm guessing that'd be the logic here.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3158066229
[h1]Visuals[/h1]
I'll give the game some credit, for being able to make cute sprites out of a title that makes use of so few colors at any time. Unfortunately, the developers weren't more considerate for the side effect this would lead to. When the screen gets busy, it's very difficult to distinguish one thing from another, because all the crucial elements are the same color: your projectiles, the clock, your own character sprite, and of course the enemies. Even if they just changed the projectiles and enemies to different colors, I think it'd help quite a bit. Ironically enough, the background has a gradient effect, so it'll subtly change from one color to the next, while all the crucial objects are all white.
[h1]Sound Design[/h1]
From what I noticed, the songs are played in a random order, or at least aren't specific to the stage or set of missions you're currently on. They don't seem to end in time for the stage wrapping up, which isn't too surprising with how short each one is. Any given one might last for 35 or less seconds, so the tunes don't get much time to get anywhere. I have to think that continuously playing the songs that'd continue despite a stage ending or you failing would work better with these limitations. The short refrain that plays out after beating a stage is enjoyable enough.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3158066679
[h1]Pros[/h1]
🌟 Honestly, I love the lighthearted and silly premise this game has. Arcade games don't have to be gritty and realistic to be engaging, they can be cute and silly.
🌟 Power-ups drop into the stage, helping to even the odds against the merciless, smiling enemies.
[h1]Cons[/h1]
❌ Once you see the orientation of the game on your PC, you'll figure out that this was originally a mobile game that was ported over. TT isn't too outrageously priced, but I think it has enough issues that it should be on the cheaper side.
❌ There's an achievement for playing this title for just under six hours, yet it's rarely earned. The game also has cards, which would lead to many people grinding for the unlocks, and hasn't bumped this up to even 2%.
❌ The mechanics don't work in solidarity with each other, making for a frustrating experience.
[h1]Tips[/h1]
🔍 If a power-up generates in an out of the way place, it's probably not worth getting, since you may not be able to get back into place in time.
🔍 Firing at enemies with intention seems to be the best approach. Spamming attacks without regard for anything won't always work.
[h1]Final Thoughts[/h1]
There's a few areas in games that will almost always cause problems, and TT includes two of them. First of all, the controls make the game much more difficult than it needs to be, as firing on the enemies flings you around the screen. It feels punishing when that's the only option you have to fight back, aside from crashing into the ground near them. Although a different problem, the lack of color and distinction between your projectiles and the enemies leads to a similar outcome. When you have a hard time telling what's happening, it comes across as unfair, which is how the lack of control over your own character feels. Despite the cute, silly premise, playing this game isn't nearly as fun as it might look, so I wouldn't recommend it.
[table]
[tr]
[th]PC Specs[/th]
[th]Performance[/th]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Ryzen 2700
RTX 2070
16GB RAM
ADATA SSD
1920x1080
[/td]
[td]The game ran without incident on default settings.
💖 - TT is healthy
[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]
