⠀

Do you like exploration? Secrets? Treasures?
Then try a hand at this adventure!

This is a fun game to spend a few evenings on; searching for gold and for ancient artifacts, battling monsters and pirates, uncovering forbidden mysteries… It's not quite Indiana Jones, but it's certainly worth spending time to play.
And yes, it being free and running well on Linux is a nice bonus, too.

(Do note that boss battles can have quite punishing difficulty… and good luck reaching that flashlight; you're absolutely gonna need it.)

at first full screen didnt work showing only black screen, tried again in window mode ok, then full screen worked good, tried to check gamepad in setup but didnt let, gamepad was recognized in game but inpud map was dissaster, configured steam input and i was able to play, lot of dialogues for a platformer, like if was an rpg, not the best looking game, simple pixel art, proper music, very basic and simple controls, no run function, but have a hang mechanic, it has a weather system, and you can see it even in doors. great adventure game for free, its amazing.

One of my fave games. Played it when it was a GOG exclusive, and replayed it to see how it aged. Well, it's as fun and original as when I played it all those years ago, despite the numerous technical issues and bugs. Despite having problems it features stellar level and game design that respects the players' intelligence by letting them experiment and figure things out for themselves, while leaving numerous threads on where to go or what to do next.

An absolute masterpiece. This game is the definition of a hidden gem. I played this game in my childhood WAY too much downloaded from GOGgames, anyways this game is incredible.

Really solid exploration platformer. Doesn't lean too hard on action or character power growth, it's mostly about running and jumping around a huge world discovering things, with some light puzzle solving. Delightful new experiences throughout. Some bosses are a bit frustrating, but surmountable with a little patience. I had a great time

---see where this game landed on my metroidvania tier list beneath this review!---


This is a very under-appreciated and often forgotten 2D adventure / platform / metroidvania game. It's an absolute gem. It came out on GoG at a time before steam was filled with decent metroidvania’s.

I played this game to completion on GoG, where Treasure Adventure game has long been free to play.

I can’t speak for the re-skinned version (Treasure Adventure World), though the different art & sound led me to assume that they had butchered it, and so I was turned off from trying it.

Metroidvania isn’t the first genre that springs to mind with this game. It’s one of very few games that recapture that enjoyable gameplay loop of sailing around to different islands with treasure maps, looking for X-marks the spot. Zelda: Windwaker was probably the first game to do that in a satisfying way, and few have tried to re-create that gameplay loop. Spiritfarer and Sea of Thieves being some of the few other examples. That puts this game in a bit of a niche.

Another game with some similar adventure vibes released a year after TAG was Fez.

I recall people raving about another game made by one guy around the time that I was playing TAG: Cave Story (Even though it apparently had released many years earlier). I remember playing through that game and thinking how mediocre an experience it was in contrast to this one. I can't help but wonder why something like Cave Story has had so much more publicity around it while games like this one are rarely mentioned. In fairness, unlike Cave Story, this developer did not also do the music.

Speaking of which, the music is exceptional. Memorable tunes give the areas that you explore flavour and adds to the charm of the overall world. I just wish there were options to raise/lower the sound volume in game, a basic quality of life feature that's missing here.

The graphics and presentation might look pretty weak in the games opening moments, and the gameplay is quite slow compared to the typical 2D platformers these days. The characters' handling is also quite floaty and irritating, which generates some of the games challenge and frustrations, particularly early on while you're adjusting too it.

Often I was thinking 'I have this game figured out' and then a set piece would occur that had some effort put into it that impressed me. Early on, TAG kind of lures you into assuming you've seen the extent of the game and that your future will be rinse and repeat and then WAM it always gets better.

Treasure Adventure Game isn't for everyone, and it's hard to say how much of my appreciation for this game is nostalgia for my first playthrough in era. The closest game I can think to compare it to besides Windwaker might actually be Wuppo or The Way. Treasure Adventure game is not a game where you power up your character to the point that you are flying through screens decimating everything. It is a slower paced adventure, and a brilliant one at that.

=====================
My Metroidvania Tier List (excluding Metroid & Castlevania titles)
=====================

S Tier: Aeterna Noctis | Astalon: Tears of the Earth | Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom | Hollow Knight | Cathedral |

A Tier: Doomblade | Afterimage | Elderand | Ori and the Will of the Wisps | Environmental Station Alpha | Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights | Depths of Sanity |

B Tier: Blast Brigade | Alwa’s Legacy | Steamworld Dig 2 | Islets | Blasphemous | After Death | Pronty^ | Haak | Outbuddies DX | Mortal Manor | Escape From Tethys | Treasure Adventure Game | Chasm | Haiku, the Robot | Monster Sanctuary | Rabi-Ribi | Elliot Quest |

C Tier (enjoyed playing): Momodora: Reverie under the Moonlight | Ghost Song | Lone Fungus | Aggelos | Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night | Death’s Gambit: Afterlife | Catmaze | Omega Strike | Plague of Yamorn | Sheepo | Infernax | Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth | Carrion^ | Wuppo | Iconoclasts | Ato |

D Tier (liked some things, but had issues): Moonscars | Rusted Moss | The Messenger | Castle In The Darkness | Alwa’s Awakening | Pharaoh Rebirth | Yoku’s Island Express | Guacamelee! 2 | Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse | Shantae: Half-Genie Hero | Beholgar | Touhou Luna Nights | Headlander | Axiom Verge | Strider | Minoria | Souldiers | Bone Appetit | The Witch & the 66 Mushrooms | Transiruby | Destroy Space Aliens | La-Mulana | Guacamelee! | 8Doors | Gato Roboto | Super Panda Adventures |

E Tier (Didn’t like): Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap | Rain World | Dandara | Vernal Edge | Blaster Master Zero | Medusa | Sundered | Salt & Sanctuary | Valdis Story | Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet | Chronicles of Teddy | B.I.O.T.A. | Shadow Complex | Grime | Timespinner | Rex Rocket | Phoenotopia: Awakening | Aquaria | Nyaruru Fishy Fight | Apotheon | Bad Pad | Lootbox Lyfe | Angel’s Gear | Fearmonium | Dust: An Elysian Tale |
====================

Treasure Adventure Game is a masterpiece, a gem. It's a metroidvania with a huge, living, detailed and varied world, tons of content and diversity, lots of puzzles, secrets and some mini-games, as well as bosses. It has a solid story being told through dialogues and a few cutscenes. It offers a nice soundtrack. It even has in-game day-night cycles and changing weather.

I passed the game back in 2015 and replayed it in Steam recently. My second run took 24 hours to collect all objects and complete all quests for 100%+ ("good end").

The difficulty of the game increases gradually. Although the empasis of the game is on adventure and exploration, there are some plaforming (mostly jumpring) sequences that might make you hate them :) Luckily, there are enough save points around to split your walkthrough into comfortable chunks with pauses.

There is no map in the game. Some paths, objectives and gameplay techniques are not obvious (at least, to me). So I consulted a walkthrough (http://jayisgames.com/review/treasure-adventure-game.php#walkthrough) to keep track of the order of finding items and completing quests.

Quick tips for newcomers. Before running the game, remap Menu from Esc to something different (for instance, M) in the settings, otherwise there will be no opportunity to close the inventory screen without quiting to the title screen. Press S or D (not Enter or Space) to select a menu item in the title screen.

Low-fi Metroidvania. No minimap but the map is just a ring, and you get a compass and waypoints.

An amazing and challenging platformer that resembles platformers of old with a a little cliche but entreating story. For anyone with a craving for a challenging yet fun platforming adventure then this is a must play.
And I mean come on it has a cute parrot so it's a must!