Lego Bionicle: Quest for the Toa (also known as Lego Bionicle and originally titled Lego Bionicle: Tales of the Tohunga) is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by Saffire and published by Lego Software for the Game Boy Advance. Based on the Lego Group's Bionicle 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 the Toa, heroic elemental warriors destined to defeat the evil Makuta.
The game incorporates elements of platform games and takes an isometric perspective; the player traverses through 20 levels, divided among the six elementally-themed regions of the island of Mata Nui. After completing each world, a minigame is unlocked that can be played in single-player or multiplayer. Quest for the Toa was originally designed to be a prequel to Lego 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 from Tales of the Tohunga to Quest for the Toa due to complaints from the Māori people of New 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.
A gameplay screenshot of Lego Bionicle: Quest for the Toa, which uses an isometric perspective. The player's remaining health, item uses, and ammunition are tracked in the on-screen HUD.
Lego Bionicle: Quest for the Toa has been described as an action-adventure game and a platformer. The game adopts an isometric perspective and progresses through a series of linear levels. The game features six worlds in total and over 20 levels; a minigame is unlocked after the completion of each world. Within each world is a village; the player can interact with non-playable characters in each, learning information and additional moves.
Prior to the start of the game, the color of the head, arms, and legs of the playable character can be customized. 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. The player can choose which tools to equip and assign them to the button of their choice in the pause menu. Health and item uses can be replenished by gathering fruit and berries scattered across the world, and some fruit can be used as projectiles. Projectiles are the primary method of defeating the enemies, which populate the game's worlds.