Common knowledge states that the last month of any given year tends to be pretty dry when it comes to outstanding game releases, but December 2014 took that tired notion and slapped it around the head. The last month of the previous year may not have been as prodigious as November when it came to the sheer number of releases, but what did come out was of impressive quality.

One of the best puzzle games of 2014 (The Talos Principle), for example, came out last December, while one of the year's most outstanding co-op adventures (Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris) was also officially unleashed on the world. But there was one game that almost universally charmed and impressed the content crew here at GameSpot, and that's the debut game from a previously little-regarded Nintendo character.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, at first blush, seems like a one-trick pony. Based on the mini levels that first appeared in Super Mario 3D Land, you'd be forgiven for thinking that this game would just continually recycle the same simple yet fun Captain Toad is anything but monotonous, despite the main characters' physical limitations (there's no jumping or butt stomping for Toad or Toadette). There's a surprising amount of platforming variety available here, from inventive levels where you're controlling multiple Toads, to mine cart sections that make great use of the Wii U gamepad, and even large-scale boss battles. Captain Toad stretches your mind, challenges your skills, and just as importantly, puts a smile on your face. Few games have the surplus of charm and whimsy that Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker has, making it a deserving recipient of our Game of the Month award for December 2014.