Tiny Terry’s Turbo Trip is developer Snekflat’s second game, their first being a hand-drawn 2D action platformer called Wuppo. Released back in 2016, you help a ‘wum’ find a new home in a bizarre but charming world filled with strange creatures, puzzles, monsters, and plenty of political madness. A Netherlands-based indie developer, Snekflat, has a taste for creating quirky and fantastical worlds, which is evident in Wuppo and here in Tiny Terry’s Turbo Trip. With the stated inspirations from their Twitter page of The Simpsons: Hit & Run and A Short Hike, I was giddy with excitement to see how this mashup had worked out.
Its the summer holidays, and Terry’s parents have gone away and left Terry at home to attend summer school, which Terry thinks was a bad idea, so in spite of his parents decision, he decides that instead he is going to drive a car into space and be famous. To achieve this goal, Terry must first get a car (which he manages to do in the most funny of ways), and when he does, you have to help him collect enough turbo junk so he can upgrade the turbo in his car so it becomes powerful enough to ascend the road that leads to space. Yep, that is the actual plot; I haven’t made that up, and it was a blast helping Terry complete his mission.
Tiny Terry’s Turbo Trip is a 3D mini open world game set in the town of Sprankelwater, which you will have to explore and help its citizens gain the much-needed turbo junk, and the tasks at hand are as crazy as the plot itself. Find blueprints scattered around the town to help create gummy pups, aid a criminal to come up with some crimes, help a friend create bug buns, steal cars, do yoga, and play orange football with your friends—these are just some of the silliness to be had in the missions you’ll have to complete. Each time you finish a task, you are given a location where there is a buried turbo junk bin, and this will reward you handsomely with 100 junk pieces. Turbo junk pieces are also scattered all over the town, some in plain sight and some in the most obscure of places.
Driving itself is a major part of the gameplay, and at first the driving felt a little heavy in its turns, but you soon get used to it, and it wasn’t long before I was driving around like a maniac. You’ll be pleased to know there are plenty of chances to deal damage to scenery through dodgy driving, and although you can run over the citizens of Sprankelwater, they just jump right back up and carry on with their day like nothing had happened. This is true for Terry himself, where I had multiple instances of being run over in quick succession, and with a quick brush off and a quick chuckle, we were off again. Often, you will see other cars get themselves into sticky predicaments through some interesting pile-ups, which just adds to the hilarity of it all. You can also jump into the backs of random cars and take control of them for a cheeky lift, which is handy if you’ve wandered off to far from your car.
Even if you have lost your car, its location is shown on the mini map, making it easier to find. You can access a full map of the town by pressing up on the D-pad, and this gives you a helpful look at the entire town. Remaining tasks, hats, and junk shops are shown, as well as the locations of important characters. You can add a pin to a location, which will give you a distance from where you are, but unlike GTA, it won’t add a followable track on screen. SatNav has not reached Sprankelwater just yet!
While you are busy acquiring turbo junk, you’ll also come across rubbish bags or bins that can randomly contain money, which can be used in two ways. The first is in the junk shop, where you can acquire tools to help you out. Some of the items are essential to fulfilling some of the tasks, like the shovel or bug net, or you can grab the glider to help you navigate the world easier, or the junk alerter that lets you know if you are close to turbo junk. Other items like the wrench or baseball bat are there to just make your life easier when smashing up rubbish bins or stealing cars.
The other use for money is to buy hats!! There are a wide range of them to buy, including a snorkel and goggles to a deer stalker. There is no advantage to the hats aside from looking very cool while on your journey. Hat shops were sprinkled over the town, selling a different assortment of hats in each one, so your never far away if you fancy a change.
But I think we can all agree that the bright, quirky, and colourful visuals are a real standout here. I haven’t seen something so original in quite some time. Everything has this distinct look, from the buildings to the characters themselves, and it’s truly beautiful. Just looking at Terry himself, sporting what looks like a swimming top and flip-flops, and with the unique way he’s been designed, it just adds to the craziness of it all and just made me smile the whole time. I’m still not quite sure what they are, though. Maybe aliens, fish, or lizards?? I think it’s left for you to interpret what they are for yourself. Character names are just as ingenious as the designs, and it must of taken some time to come up with them. As a little taste of what to expect, I’ll just leave you with the name of the mechanic who installs your turbo upgrades: Zmirapfy!
Everywhere you look in the game, there’s something to make you smile, laugh, or just be confused, and of course this shows in the writing too. You get a great sense of everyone’s personality through the writing while also giving you something else to chuckle at or just to be bemused with. The best example I can think of is with Terry himself, as he misses words altogether in his sentences, and he does love to use a good dramatic pause. The soundtrack by Thomas de Waard helps convey everything happening on screen through high energy and playful music. I must warn you, there’s some proper earworms here, though, and you’ll definitely catch yourself humming to yourself when your away from the game.
Tiny Terry’s Turbo Trip is a big bundle of joy from start to finish. A game that would wipe anyone’s gloom away through its unique sense of humour and interesting visuals. There’s plenty to see and do without it feeling overwhelming, with more left to explore even after my four-hour playthrough. If you are looking for something a little bit different from the norm that won’t soak up hours of your time, then I would highly suggest taking up this particular trip with Terry.
Release Date: May 30th, 2024
Platforms: PC
Price: Unknown
Many thanks to the publisher for the review copy
Version Tested: PC (via Steam Deck)
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