Giveaway of the Day - Turtle Odyssey 2

This was originally given away way back in September 07 and received 87% of 430 votes. You can read all the comments via the following link, and also check out Lockett’s incisive comments via one of the review links at the end of this review:

http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/turtle-odyssey-2/#comments

Quote:

It is filled with magical atmosphere of underwater adventures. Our well-known hero, brave and kind turtle Ozzy starts the journey with an innocent game of catch, as Ozzy accidentally smacks into a slab of ice, cracking it and letting a mysterious creature go free. Intrigued, he follows, unknowingly setting off on the adventure of lifetime, which – as depicted via a lovingly-rendered mission map you’ll traverse one stage at a time – is filled with excitement and wonder.

Reference: http://realore.com/turtleodyssey2/ accessed 7th November 2008

Today’s giveaway is approximately 15Mb in size. It’s a ‘pleasant’ sequel to the original Turtle Odyssey which was given away in March 2007. (Is it that long ago, – it only seems like a few months ago?) Anyway, there’s at least one slight improvement to the game that I noticed right away and that was the levels map with its animated turtle showing you the way. The options menu is basic with a windowed mode, video quality toggle (high and low) as well as a toggle to turn the tutorial on and off. There’s no help menu, but unless you toggle off the tutorial, in game help screens will pop up to advise you what is needed to continue during game play. There’s a trophy room that looks rather small to be collecting more than a few trophies, but I haven’t progressed more than a few levels so far (despite having had the game for over a year), so I may be wrong. (Anyone playing this all day please let the community know if there are more than just a few, please). There are six magical worlds in total, with over 50 levels. You’ll find secret levels in each world.

The basic premise is the same as the original, that is walk, jump and kick your way through platform after platform collecting money and crystals and either avoiding or jumping on or kicking baddies. The game is mouse, keyboard, joy pad or joystick controlled, so there are control options for everyone. You can use both keyboard and any of the others at the same time if you wish. Once you’ve fulfilled the tasks required of the level, a gate opens that allows you through to the next level. Once you’ve completed a level you cannot replay it unless you start a new game with a new profile. I found a few video’s of the game which show the gorgeously rendered levels and great gameplay; none are more than a few minutes long, so for those who are not sure about downloading this . It’s one of the things that endear this platform game to me despite not being a great lover of this type of platform game. (e.g. Mario Brothers)

Video footage:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=esJldGIBgvk&feature=related

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=sOveI558ylI&feature=related

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=esJldGIBgvk

Images:

http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&resnum=0&q=turtle%20odyssey%202%20&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

Conclusion:

This is worth the download if you are into platform games, especially if they are your favorite genre. This certainly adds to the original game and as I have kids who love platform games I’ll be keeping this one. (That’s not to say it’s a children’s game). For family entertainment value this is worth 7 out of 10 at least. I originally gave it a 6.5 because in my opinion there are far better platform games that give far more fun to warrant a higher score; but then, after playing it some more, I decided I was being a little unfair. There are lots of excellent and unusual commercial platform games such as Wik and the Fable of Souls, Gum Boy Crazy Adventures and it’s sequel called Gum Boy Tournament, Barrel Mania and even Azangara that was given away last year and is still available for free from my other favorite free commercial games site (Gametop), though it’s now called Dungeon Raider instead of Azangara.

Dungeon Raider:

http://www.gametop.com/download-free-games/dungeon-raider/

That said Turtle Odyssey 2 is still a good game, though much easier than the ones I mention above. Oh yeah I didn’t include my favorite platform, Gish, though I think that one is an acquired taste as you really need to like lumps of tar – it includes a levels editor and lots of extra custom content available from the developers home pages.

Have a great day folks and thank you Realore Studios for giving this second version away and to the game giveaway team for a fantastic project. (I never get sick of saying that)

Other Reviews of this game:

http://www.gamezebo.com/games/turtle-odyssey-2/review

Lockett’s review:

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/2515

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Other free platform games:

There’s actually hundreds of free platform games available if you search the web, though you won’t find any as beautiful for free. I’ve posted a very small selection. The Gametop ones that I mention above and below (Dungeon Raider and Shark Attack respectively) do open up your browser when you close the game down, but otherwise the file is clean of malware. Once you close the browser down there’s no comeback. I have noticed that Gametop seem to be creating more pop ups than they used to, but you just have to click on the x to get rid of them. The tiny inconveniences are worth if for getting the game free.

Oh yeah, also some of the games do try to set Gametop as your home page. Make sure you watch each installation to ensure that the small box is unchecked. Shark Attack definitely had this feature, but so long as you make sure the little box is unchecked there will be no problems. If you do forget and find that when you next open up your browse and it opens at Gametop then just right click on your internet icon and choose the internet properties from the drop down menu, then reset your home page or type in the page you want.

Shark Attack:

http://www.gametop.com/download-free-games/shark-attack/

Super Mario 3: Mario Forever:

http://www.acid-play.com/download/super-mario-3-mario-forever/

Super Mario Bros Deluxe:

http://www.acid-play.com/download/super-mario-world-deluxe/

Abuse:

http://www.acid-play.com/download/abuse/

Mario Brothers:

http://www.acid-play.com/download/mario-bros/

Super Mario PC:

http://www.acid-play.com/download/super-mario-pc/

Loads of online browser platformers:

http://www.youdagames.com/platform-games/

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Good game, buy I have it from the last time it was given away!

Thanks anyway, people that missed it might want to take advantage of this.

Suki