Originally posted November 4th 2014 on the Seafoam Gaming forums

Title: Turtle Tale

System: Wii U (eShop), also available on 3DS

Price: $2.99

Release date: 10/9/2014

The main game/story

This is a simple, action platformer meant for those who like simple and relaxing experiences. You take control of Shelldon, a Turtle who’s island is under attack by a pirate army led by an evil rabbit. It’s a simple story, and isn’t shown in the game that well, but it still at least gets the job done.

Graphics

Being a rather simple platformer, the graphics are pretty much just as simple. Not much animation to the enemies and some of the level backgrounds look rather bland (Such as the Beach and Cave levels). A few look rather good, however (Like the Forest levels). But for a game like this it gets the job done, as everything is still easy to navigate.

Music and sound effects:

The music score in this game is rather simple, with each theme fitting the numerous worlds. My favorite is the cave theme. The sound effects are also rather simple, but get the job done.

Gameplay

Being an action platformer, it’s pretty similar to the older ones like Castlevania and Mega Man. However, the big difference is that it isn’t nearly as difficult as those two classic games. In fact, it’s actually much much easier than most games of the genre. While that may seem like a bad thing, I still found it enjoyable for what it was intended for. You simply move, jump and shoot. No ducking, no shooting up, just simply jump and shoot, just like in the Mega Man games. And when you take damage, you get knocked back, just like in Castlevania. It’s very simple to the point it’s hard for me to explain it without going on and on about it.

As you start the game, the first playthrough is a great way to introduce the action platformer genre to a beginner, with simple level designs and barely any dangerous enemies to encounter, while the second quest that you can get later on is meant for the more experienced gamers. There is a lot of fruit to collect in each level, and doing so is what unlocks the second quest after you beat every level. The second quest is certainly a step up in difficulty, but I still managed to go through most of it just fine.

Conclusion

Overall, Turtle Tale isn’t the most unique game out there. But that’s OK, as I truly had fun with it when I played it, even though it was pretty simple. The second quest is a neat little addition, and I feel this could be a great entry into the genre for newer players. It’s short, very simple, but also quite a bit of fun! And that is what makes Turtle Tale awesome for what it is! At the low price of $3, it’s a great value for what it is. I give Turtle Tale a 7 out of 10

Thanks to Saturnine games for the review code.