| Lego Bionicle: Quest for the Toa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | Saffire |
| Publisher | Lego Software |
| Director | Mark Livingstone |
| Producer | Jeff James |
| Designers |
|
| Programmer | Jay Rushton |
| Artist | Sam Nielson |
| Writers |
|
| Composer | Lance LeVar |
| Series | Bionicle |
| Platform | Game Boy Advance |
| Release | |
| Genre | Action-adventure |
| Modes | Single-player,multiplayer |
Lego Bionicle: Quest for the Toa (also known asLego Bionicle and originally titledLego Bionicle: Tales of the Tohunga) is a 2001action-adventure game developed bySaffire and published byLego Software for theGame Boy Advance. Based onthe Lego Group'sBionicle line of constructible action figures, the game follows Takua, a villager on the island of Mata Nui, on a quest to rescue the island's Turaga elders and summon theToa, heroicelemental warriors destined to defeat the evil Makuta.
The game incorporates elements ofplatform games and takes anisometric perspective; the player traverses through 20 levels, divided among the six elementally-themed regions of the island of Mata Nui. After completing each world, aminigame is unlocked that can be played insingle-player ormultiplayer.Quest for the Toa was originally designed to be a prequel toLego Bionicle: The Legend of Mata Nui, a planned PC title developed by Saffire that would ultimately be canceled shortly before release. During development, the game's name was changed fromTales of the Tohunga toQuest for the Toa due to complaints from theMāori people ofNew Zealand. Upon its release,Quest for the Toa received mostly negative reviews from critics, with many criticizing its controls and gameplay. Conversely, praise was directed towards the minigames and graphics.
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Lego Bionicle: Quest for the Toa has been described as anaction-adventure game[1] and aplatformer.[2] The game adopts anisometric perspective and progresses through a series of linear levels.[2] The game features six worlds in total and over 20 levels; aminigame is unlocked after the completion of each world.[3] Within each world is a village; the player can interact withnon-playable characters in each, learning information and additional moves.[4]
Prior to the start of the game, the color of the head, arms, and legs of the playable character can be customized.[3] The player controls Takua, a villager on the island of Mata Nui. As Takua, the player has access to a range of abilities: jumping, throwing objects, pushing stones, and using tools.[5] The player can choose which tools to equip and assign them to the button of their choice in the pause menu.[6] Health and item uses can be replenished by gathering fruit and berries scattered across the world, and some fruit can be used as projectiles.[4] Projectiles are the primary method of defeating the enemies, which populate the game's worlds.[5]
Quest for the Toa was intended to be a prequel toLego Bionicle: The Legend of Mata Nui, which was being developed simultaneously by Saffire, and its ending is a direct setup forThe Legend of Mata Nui, but the game was canceled in October 2001.[7] The main character inQuest for the Toa, Takua, was also the playable character in theMata Nui Online Game, an onlinepoint-and-click adventure game that continued the 2001 Bionicle story.[8]
Quest for the Toa is set on the fictional island of Mata Nui, which is divided into sixelementally-themed regions: the aquatic region of Ga-Wahi, the jungle region of Le-Wahi, the icy and mountainous region of Ko-Wahi, the subterranean region of Onu-Wahi, the desert region of Po-Wahi, and the volcanic region of Ta-Wahi. Each of the regions contains a village, known as a koro, and each koro is led by a Turaga, the village elder. A great temple, Kini-Nui, lies near the center of the island.[9] Although Mata Nui was once a paradise in the distant past, its villages have since lived in fear of the evil Makuta, whose dark power dominates the island at the start of the story. The villagers await the prophesied arrival of theToa, six warriors destined to defeat Makuta and restore peace to the island.[10]
On the beaches of Onu-Wahi, the villager Takua is informed that Turaga Whenua of Onu-Koro wishes to meet with him;[11] upon arriving in the village, he finds that Whenua has been kidnapped by a hostile Rahi beast.[12] After rescuing Whenua, Takua learns from the elder that many of the other Turaga have been kidnapped and that the sacred Toa Stones have been stolen by Makuta; without the Toa Stones, the Turaga cannot tell the legend of Mata Nui and the prophecy of the Toa cannot be fulfilled.[13] Takua manages to recover the Toa Stone for Onu-Koro and departs for the other villages: he frees Turaga Nokama in Ga-Koro, Turaga Onewa in Po-Koro, Turaga Matau in Le-Koro, and Turaga Nuju in Ko-Koro, also recovering their stolen Toa stones as well as the missing tools of each Turaga.
When Takua arrives in Ta-Koro, he is met by Turaga Vakama. Although Vakama has heard of Takua's exploits in the other villages, he doubts Takua will be able to find their missing Toa Stone. Vakama tasks Takua with finding an antidote for the village's poisoned water supply;[14] shortly afterwards, the Turaga is kidnapped. Takua manages to find Vakama and the antidote and is tasked with retrieving the missing Toa Stone, hidden in a nearby volcano.[15] Takua recovers the stone and escapes on his lava surfboard as the volcano erupts, landing in the temple of Kini-Nui where the Turaga have all gathered. The grateful Turaga tell Takua to return the Toa Stones to their rightful places in the temple;[16] when he does this, the stones emit a beam of light into the sky, summoning the Toa to the island and blasting Takua to a beach of Ta-Wahi, where he sees an open Toa canister and footsteps heading towards Ta-Koro.
Saffire had been recommended to Lego by Nintendo; Hal Rushton, the president of Saffire, felt the two companies were similar in that they both placed an emphasis on "high moral standards".[17] Saffire employee Jay Ward called the partnership between Lego and Saffire as a "good fit", describing both companies as being "family oriented".[17] Saffire was headquartered inAmerican Fork, Utah, which Rushton noted had many people who could speak multiple languages; this was important to Lego because they wanted the game to support nine languages.[17] According to Rushton, Saffire brainstormed with Lego employees to create the creature designs for bothQuest for the Toa and its companion game,The Legend of Mata Nui.[17] Taylor Hunt, the nine-year-old son of one of the game's developers, was employed for six weeks tobeta test the game; Dave Rushton, the game's lead programmer, was impressed with Hunt's ability to find bugs and log every error he found.[18]
Bionicle was unique among Lego toy lines at the time in that it encompassed both toys and video games, with the setting of the toys being explained through games. The story and setting of Bionicle took inspiration fromPolynesian culture and languages, andMāori language and influence were especially prominent through character names, myths, tribal symbols, and rituals. Māori representatives found this usage to be inappropriate and a "trivialization" of their culture.[19] Māori groups had taken particular offense to the use of the wordtohunga, which in the Bionicle story referred to the island's ordinary villagers; in the Māori language, the term referred to experts in a specific field. The Māori groups sought to have Lego remove these terms from the toy line and games.[7]
Lego denied claims ofcultural appropriation; spokeswoman Eva Lykkegaard noted that the company had not attempted to trademark any Māori terms and had only sought a trademark for the word Bionicle, which Lego had created.[20] Lego ultimately agreed to stop using several words, including tohunga, and Saffire removed all mentions of them from both of their games in development; because of this,Tales of the Tohunga was renamed toQuest for the Toa.[7] Lego also pledged to create a "code of conduct for cultural expressions of traditional knowledge" and said that no future Bionicle sets would use names of "original cultures". Although Lego did not halt production of the toy line or recall existing versions of the game, Roma Hippolite of theNgati Koata Trust said that the Māori were "impressed by the willingness of Lego to recognise a hurt was inadvertently made and show that in their actions".[21]
Quest for the Toa was initially scheduled for release on theGame Boy Advance on June 11, 2001.[22] The game was first shown off at Camp Game Boy Advance, an event held by Nintendo, in March 2001.[23] It was considered a surprising announcement for the event and was the first project that Saffire had unveiled in several months.[24]Quest for the Toa was later shown off atE3 2001 alongsideThe Legend of Mata Nui, with both titles scheduled for release in September;[25] although the game had been completed for "some time" as of July 18, 2001, it was still being evaluated by Nintendo at that point.[26] The game was ultimately released on October 2 in North America[3] and on October 26 in Europe,[27] but the companion gameThe Legend of Mata Nui was canceled.[28]
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| GameZone | 7.7/10[29] |
| IGN | 4.5/10[3] |
| NGC Magazine | 2/5[30] |
| Nintendo Power | 2.5/5[31] |
| Nintendo World Report | 5.5/10[5] |
Quest for the Toa was poorly received by critics.[28][32] Hilary Goldstein ofIGN gave it a 4.5 out of 10, calling it an "uninspired mess" and "just no fun". Goldstein criticized the "bland and forgettable" non-player characters and said that the game lacked any real challenge or reward but offered praise for its graphics, creature variety, and minigames.[3]Quest for the Toa received a 5.5 out of 10 from Max Lake ofNintendo World Report. Although Lake praised its presentation value, minigames, and dialogue, he called it "a disappointment overall" and felt it was "tragically crippled by frustrating platforming and awkward play mechanics".[5] Fwiffo of Game Over Online gave the game 54%, panning its design as "atrocious" and criticizing the gameplay as "repetitive and, often times, downright boring" but offering praise for the minigames.[1] The game was blasted as an "eye-watering travesty" byNGC Magazine, with criticism directed at its "confused mix of game styles" and "sloppy execution". The reviewer gave the game two out of five stars and advised readers to purchase the toys instead of the game.[30]
Reviewers atNintendo Power gave the game 2.5 out of 5 stars, criticizing its graphics and controls but praising its minigames. Although the reviewers felt the game was "uneventful", they felt it might appeal to younger players as well as Lego fans.[31] Michael Lafferty ofGameZone gave it a 7.7/10, calling it an "enchanting journey" and an "enjoyable little outing". Although he felt the game's storyline was "tired" and noted the game as being very linear, he praised its graphics and puzzles as well as the variety of enemies and minigames.[29] Joe Guys ofGame Vortex gave the game 60%, calling the game "decent" but "more frustrating than fun" due to its difficulty.[2]
In the January 2002 issue ofNintendo Power,Quest for the Toa ranked as the fifth-best selling Game Boy Advance Game for the month.[33]
Vakama: 'When we first met, and you found my mask and my Firestaff, and indeed fulfilled tasks for all the Turaga, you were thought to be an outcast... but you have proven us all wrong, Takua.'
Narrator: 'In a time before time, the island of Mata Nui was a tropical paradise. Then a shadow fell across the island - a shadow known as Makuta. In the dark years that followed, the islanders put their faith in a legend... a legend that foresaw the arrival of six mighty heroes: theToa. For only the Toa will have the strength and courage to bring peace and light back to the world.'
Villager: 'Good morning, Takua! I've heard that Turaga Whenua wants to see you.'
Villager: 'Our village is in desperate need of your help! We fear that the Vakuta Beast has Whenua and he is being held captive in the passageways to the east!'
Whenua: 'I have heard that some of my fellow Turaga are missing... and their tools, like Vakama's Firestaff, have been scattered about the island. Makuta has also stolen the sacred Toa Stones that are used to tell the legends... if the Toa Stones are not recovered, the Legend of Mata Nui can not be told.'
Vakama: 'I've heard about how skilled you are, but I am not convinced. Are you strong enough to recover the lost Toa Tahu stone? I don't think you're up to the task! But I am willing to give you a chance... Makuta's henchmen have poisoned our wells, and we need to find them! If you can find an antidote, I'll give you the help you need to find the Toa Tahu stone.'
Vakama: 'Well, I guess you've passed the test, but I think you were lucky! There is little time remaining to find the Toa Tahu Stone! You must find it quickly before it is lost in the depths of Mt. Ihu forever.'
Nuju: 'Now that the Toa Stones have been returned, we can once more tell the Legend of Mata Nui...' /Whenua: 'And prepare the way for the arrival of the Toa.' /Matau: 'Good work! Now please return the Toa Stones to their proper places in the temple.'
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