If nothing else, Save Toshi has one of the weirder concepts for a game that I can remember. Namely, that although Toshi, the app’s titular character, loves to dance, she absolutely, positively cannot walk. Your job as the player, in the role of an invisible ball-throwing friend, is to throw things at Toshi’s environment so she can get to the dance floor, and finally move again. It’s a charming, silly concept that fits this sort of physics puzzle game perfectly.
And the actual game? Not bad either! The levels in Save Toshi gradually build in difficulty, so although the first handful might seem dull and slow, it’s important to absorb the lessons they teach, like what effect your balls have on the various surfaces, so you’re better-prepared for later levels.
By the end of the first set of levels, you’ll find some very cleverly designed puzzles, like the sort that involve simultaneously shooting at multiple targets. Juggling multiple plates, so to speak, is a clear advantage that a 3D puzzler has over a more-linear 2D counterpart, and Save Toshi uses that to its advantage.
Unfortunately, Save Toshi is quite plain visually. Other than the dance star’s outfits, you won’t find much in the way of visual flourish. The levels all seem to take place in the middle of a lake, and the blocks that make up the puzzles are single-colored, and nothing special to look at.
Despite its lack of eye-popping visuals, Save Toshi is still worth checking out for its mix of strong puzzle gameplay and oddball sensibility. Although the story of Toshi’s inability to walk isn’t exactly prevalent in the game, there is a sense of lightness around the app that makes Save Toshi a bit more fun than it otherwise should be.
