Game Info
GAME NAME: Turtle Tale
DEVELOPER(S): Saturnine Games
PUBLISHER(S): Saturnine Games
PLATFORM(S): Nintendo Wii U
GENRE(S): Platformer
RELEASE DATE(S): October 9th, 2014
It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of old school 2D platforming. It is embedded in my roots as I played countless hours upon hours of my youth rocking this genre on my NES and then SNES. Turtle Tale from Saturnine Games is the latest in a string of 3DS eShop games to be making the jump over to the Wii U, but thankfully the game has been glossed over with a nice coat of HD paint to make the visuals and colors really shine.
I love me some great character pun names and Turtle Tale doesn’t disappoint. The hero of the story is Shelldon, your average turtle. He and his super soaker are on a quest to reclaim his land from Captain O’Haire and his monkey pirate brethren. The game doesn’t have an overworld map to speak of, but instead, has you playing a series of platforming levels in a row. Each different location will have you play 3 different areas for a total of 15 levels through the first quest.
In each level you use your platforming abilities to collect 100 pieces of fruit, which if all collected by the end of your journey, will unlock another more difficult and platforming intensive quest. The second quest is less of a collect-a-thon and more of a brutal game of survival as you only get two hearts to live. The levels will range from a beach to a forest and even into the skies on hot air balloons. The adventure ends with a fun battle against Captain O’Haire which is a great change of pace but the inclusion of boss battles in each area as well would have been a very welcome addition.
The gameplay is your average 2D side scrolling affair. The first few levels start to become monotonous but with the inclusion of falling platforms, rising lava and even some nods to the Mario series such as moving levels and parrots that fly from the bottom of the screen sort of like cheep cheeps, Turtle Tale adds a little variation and homage to the genre. Shelldon can jump with the B button and fire his super soaker with the Y button. The super soaker is a unique weapon because the water that squirts out has a realistic physic to it as it eventually drops off and doesn’t keep going in a straight trajectory. This comes in handy when you need to hit an enemy that is lower then the platform you are standing upon. One minor gripe I had is that when you finally reach enemies that can shoot or throw stuff at you, you can’t hit the down button to duck. Ducking is an integral part of platforming and has been in the genre for decades.
The port of Turtle Tale from the 3DS to the Wii U was done very well. The crisp high definition graphics really make this game gleam. Whether it be on the TV or on the GamePad via off screen play, the visuals have been enhanced big time over the handheld counterpart. The soundtrack is also every fitting for the game and has some really great catchy hooks. It’s not Donkey Kong Country but is definitely high quality.
The Recommendation
Turtle Tale was actually a nice surprising eShop title. I wasn’t expecting much, but actually found a really enjoyable 2D platformer. For $2.99 it is hard to argue with the value, as you have two 15 level quests, each unique and challenging. The port from the 3DS was extremely well done and not sloppy. If you are a fan of the platforming genre I suggest you give Saturnine’s little gem a go.
