Turbo Kid Review

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Fast Facts

The Writing of a Game from a Movie

Turbo Kid is a Metroidvania title based on the movie of the same name. Though I have never watched the movie, I enjoy action-platformer titles and am excited that I gave this one a shot. Find out my thoughts in this Rapid Review.

To begin my time with the title, I was shown a brief cutscene showing my main character exploring a world and getting robbed. This served as an interesting introduction to the game, as since the title is a Metroidvania, I constantly had to seek out new and unique upgrades. I enjoyed this scene, but there were many more just like it that intrigued me. There are a bunch of brief yet interesting moments like this throughout Turbo Kid’s story, and I enjoyed exploring them. The dialogue itself was also done well. Each of the characters seemed like they were unique, even though they had a specific role to fulfill during the game. 

However, I thought how the story tied into the gameplay was more important. Turbo Kid did an excellent job showing the significant elements of the story. For example, key locations or places I needed to explore were bolded and coloured differently in the dialogue. This seems like a small thing, but it made it so much easier to find what I needed to do next. This is further exemplified in Turbo Kid’s quest log. This made it easy to check what action items I had left to complete, even from conversations that happened a long time ago. As a whole, not only did Turbo Kid feature an interesting story with solid characters, but it also made it easy for me to digest key information at all times.

Charging Up

Although I enjoyed the writing in the game, to me, someone who never watched the movie, it served as filler content for the game. Instead, I was truly interested in the gameplay. Thankfully, and somewhat surprisingly, I enjoyed almost every aspect of the gameplay. 

For starters, the premise of the game is solid. In Turbo Kid, I traversed a vast landscape searching ultimately for four different upgrade chips that would grant me access to a gate sealing the exit of the area I was placed in. However, in typical Metroidvania fashion, I needed to unlock a variety of upgrades to get these chips. Each of these items was guarded by a set of enemies too. For each chip, I typically had to uncover a vast labyrinth of an area and take out foes along my way. This gameplay loop, though nothing overly unique, worked well. 

Additionally, Turbo Kid’s map heavily supported the gameplay. The map is excellent. It showed how much of each room I explored, what kind of barriers blocked progress in certain locations, and where to find certain non-playable characters. This prevented me from getting lost and wasting time.

The game also features a bunch of quality-of-life features such as save points and teleporters. By default, Turbo Kid has a lot of save points. I enjoyed this. Though the frequency of checkpoints meant the game as a whole was not insanely difficult, the game was not overly simple either. I enjoyed the game balance. Additionally, having teleporters made traversal much easier. I could go back to old locations seamlessly. These components helped define the identity of Turbo Kid. The game was always happy to help me have a good time. 

Understanding Power

I also found that Turbo Kid excellently introduced new abilities. Throughout the game, I found new powerups. Though these upgrades were rarely anything abnormal, the developers detailed exactly how they could be used and I enjoyed that each upgrade could be used for both exploration and combat. Upgrades such as the wall jump and roll were incredibly easy to integrate into my combat toolkit, as they increased my agility and improved my ability to dodge. That being said, surprisingly, I rarely found myself using a variety of weapons during combat. Outside of a few instances, I stuck with the machete and my main blaster. This was a bit disappointing, as I never enjoyed experimenting with the handful of other weapons, but I enjoyed the main weapon and still found combat enjoyable. As a whole, my upgrades worked well and were fun to use.

I also enjoyed taking out the enemies in the game. For starters, each enemy, from basic foes to bosses, telegraphed their attacks nicely. Moreover, each action they took gave me plenty of time to react. While there were some areas where I had to face off against hordes of enemies, I never felt as though I could not surpass any of the enemies. I also thoroughly enjoyed the boss fights. Not only were these fights interesting, but each had a gimmick that truly differentiated them from the others. While I liked the boss fights and enemy designs a lot, unfortunately, the regular enemies rarely encouraged me to play the game vastly differently than I was used to. There was a decent amount of variety in their designs and actions, but I handled each of them very similarly. Though not the end of the world, this was mildly disappointing. 

Presentation

That being said, each of these enemies were visually distinct and charming, albeit evil. As I mentioned previously, the game does an excellent job of telegraphing information including the text, map design, and enemy attacks. However, each component of the game is stunning. Although the game is profusely gory, each component of the game’s visuals is stunning. I also liked how each of the non-playable characters stood out from one another. Anyone important looked memorable, so I knew exactly who to talk to when I needed something. 

Moreover, the sound design was top-notch. It was upbeat and atmospheric, reminding me of the synthetic beats from Narita Boy. The sound design complimented the game world in Turbo Kid nicely.

As a whole, Turbo Kid is an excellent Metroidvania, especially for those who like being guided without being told where to go. The game has a lot of collectables, engaged me with fun boss fights, and kept me hooked with a lovely presentation. Though none of the upgrades are vastly unique, and the combat sometimes felt repetitive, Turbo Kid is a lot of fun. I can easily recommend it, even if you are someone who, like me, has not watched the movie.

Rapid Reviews Rating

4.5 out of 5

4.5

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