Toki

Almost every single game room in the city I lived during my childhood had a Toki cabinet. It was not probably the game that captured everyone's attention at immediate sight, but after your first game, if you were a competitive spirit, the risk of becoming addicted was high.

The reason was (and still is) simple: though not conceptually adding anything new to the platform category, Toki was fun, hard but fair, rich of nice details and very well implemented.

This platform game from TAD Corporation, released at the end of the eighties by Taito, let you impersonate Toki, a caveman who has been turned into a giant monkey by Vookimdelo, an evil wizard that, if not enough, kidnapped also his mate.

To rescue her love, Toki should go through 6 stages full of dangers like the many different enemies (raging monkeys, flying devils, killer-fishes...) or the asperities of the landscape itself (spikes, lava pools...): beware, cause just a single touch makes your hero to lose one of his precious lives.

Thankfully Toki is not helpless at all: he can destroy his enemies jumping over them or hitting them with his burning spit. Moreover during his journey he will find power-ups (like the american footbal helmet for protecting his head from  aerial attacks) and coins used to gain an additional life (50 needed).

As usual, at the end of each stage, you will face a stronger and naughtier foe: the last one will be Vookimdelo himself.

As written before this game is not remembered for bringing innovation: but there are other important elements for a platform game like the high responsiveness to the inputs, the accuracy in detecting collisions, the balance between fun and toughness, all available in Toki. The whole seasoned with some humour.

In these days Toki is having its new fifteen minutes of glory due to a new revamped version of the game for Nintendo Switch, but I also remember with nostalgia the almost perfect Amiga conversion.

How is Toki aged?

Graphic: really nice, with some humorous traits (like the burping monster, or the monkey's diving equipment). Sure, comparing with the Switch version reminds me of the difference between a picture printed with a needle printer and one with a modern inkjet.
Sound: I stand positively surprised, since I never heard the music in the past.
Playability: I never became so skilled to complete Toki with a single coin, but, if I had time, that would be something I like to do.
Signs of the time: it was able to captivate the attention of today young videogamers, isn't this enough?
Overall: not being limited by coins, it's a secure stop-playing-only-when-completed game.