Giveaway of the Day - Turtix Rescue Adventures!

I wasn’t informed as to what game was being given away last night. I discovered what this weekends games would be when I got up this morning about an hour before the giveaway, so I really haven’t had time to play the game in depth; however I have purchased this and played it several years ago so can say it’s well worth downloading. I’ve done my usual job below except I’ve used Gamezebo’s review in the game section instead of my own impressions and have used Alawar’s images, otherwise this wouldn’t have been posted for a couple more hours because writing up one of these reviews takes a minimum of at least 4 or 5 hours.

Installation:

Today’s game giveaway is a platform arcade game; the second in the Turtix series of games called Turtix Rescue Adventures!.

The giveaway downloads to a 24.9MB zip file that unpacks to a read me and dual activation and set up module. To those new to the game giveaway that means just install the game and it should automatically register because the activation module is wrapped in with the set up file. The game installs to

C:\Games\Turtix Rescue Andventure\Turtix.exe

The installed game is 31.4Mb in size. There is no shortcut installed to the desktop nor to the Start/Programs list. So make a note as to where the program is listed (see above). You will need to create your own shortcuts from the Turtix exe file. Also there is no uninstaller, so to delete the game just dump the whole folder in your waste bin. According to the properties there are no previous versions This is the first time we’ve been given this version before. The game works on win XP, Vista and Win 7 platforms.

If you get any problems once the giveaway is over, or late in the day (there’s no moderation usually for the last five or six hours until the last half hour or so of the giveaway) please post them over in the forums. I’ve started a thread HERE in the game discussion forums. Otherwise follow the link I’ve provided just below the conclusion and scoring section; that will take you to a thread I posted a few weeks ago that covers most FAQ’s regarding problems running game giveaways. Thank you.

Introduction:

Turtix is back and he’s bolder than ever in the awesome Turtix: Rescue Adventures! Help the world’s nimblest turtle navigate three gorgeous game worlds dripping with eye-tickling detail. Thrill to exciting action sequences that challenge you to take out a variety of enemies with your acrobatic acumen. And relish the opportunity to put your brain cells to good use as you eliminate traps and obstacles in an effort to rescue hundreds of young turtles from the grip of the bad guys. With easy-as-pie controls and a tutorial that will show you the ropes, you’ll be up and running in a snap in this breathtaking arcade puzzler for the whole family.

Reference accessed HERE 4th May 2012

Video:

You can see some videos of Turtix: Rescue Adventures! Game play HERE, HERE and HERE

The Game:

You needn’t be familiar with the previous Turtix game or other platform-like puzzlers like Lemmings or Vikings to enjoy playing through Turtix – Rescue Adventures. Don’t be fooled by its cutesy graphics: this game will provide hours of head-scratching fun for those who like a challenge. Oddly, though, it’s missing some features we liked in the original game – but we’ll get to that in due time. Turtix the bug-eyed turtle is back, and this time you’re asked to travel to three huge worlds – the Magic Forest, Underground Caves and Barren Desert – to rescue fellow students accidentally trapped in magical bubbles. But these hapless creatures will simply walk blindly to the exit of the multi-tiered level, so it’s up to you to preemptively protect them from harm before you set them free. Therefore, you must shutdown traps and bypass prickly enemies before the student turtles can hurt themselves. You’ll accomplish this by activating switches, pushing crates onto dangerous spikes or taking out baddies by jumping on them. If you get hurt falling onto spikes or dropping off a ledge you’ll lose a valuable health point but if you find chests hidden on the levels you can gain some of that back (or be rewarded with other bonuses, such as an extra life or more time added to your clock for higher points). You’ll also collect stars and find secret areas to collect gems. The player must also figure out how to reach hard-to-reach places, such as ledges that require a crate to jump on, buttons that open doors, underwater caverns, teleportation portals and a gorge you can only bypass by climbing on vines. The trick is to figure out which order is required or else you might have to restart the level and try a different path. Speaking of which, some of the tasks you had to complete in a certain order didn’t make much sense. Specifically, early on in the game I had to push two crates over a spiky area before my little turtle buddies walked towards it. But if you choose to push the, say, left box onto the spikes instead of the right one first, the second box won’t fit for some reason, even though they’re identical. Instead you need to push the left box on first, followed by the right. If you do it in the wrong order the puzzle cannot be completed. This was frustrating. Another minor beef: Gamers navigate around the various levels using a mouse, keyboard or mouse, but the it’s too bad the player can’t remap the keyboard commands; I found it awkward to press the Up arrow key to jump when I would’ve preferred the spacebar as required in the first game. Speaking of which, unlike Hollywood movies, casual game sequels are usually better than their predecessors because game designers add new features and fix issues. Oddly, Turtix: Rescue Adventures isn’t quite as good as the first game because of only one game mode (instead of two in the original), two levels of difficulty (opposed to three) and I preferred the closer “camera” in the first game to see all the great graphics with more detail. That said, Turtix: Rescue Adventures is still a very fun and challenging puzzle game with 60 levels, dozens of secret areas, bonus levels and tougher “boss” creatures you must defeat by studying its pattern and attacking at the right moments. The game is also a refreshingly unique option for casual players bored with Match-3, hidden object and time management games.

Reference accessed HERE 4th May 2012

Features:

1) … Three gorgeously detailed worlds to conquer

2) … 60 levels containing tons of puzzles

3) … Boss battles and bonus levels

4) … Dozens of unique enemies to defeat

5) … Casual and Hard modes

6) … Mouse, keyboard and joystick support

7) … Gameplay that’s appropriate for all ages

System Requirements:

CPU – PIII-750
System RAM – 128MB
Video RAM – 32MB
Direct X

Conclusion:

This is an excellent and very colorful platform game that’s ideal for the family. There are slight differences from the original Turtix, that in my opinion take away from the game, for example there’s only one mode and the game world has been set further away with respect to perspective compared to the original. This gives a feeling of being detached from the game (though that may just be me) whereas with the first Turtix game I felt I was right there in the action. Still, it’s nothing major. The game play remains with the endearing character of Turtix.

The whole family will love this game especially the younger ones, though I’m sure adults will to. I used to play this with my kids when I purchased it from Reflexive Arcade some years ago.

Game play is well worth a good 8 out of 10 IMO. Though the overall score comes to 7.25 out of 10 using the criteria below:

Scoring:

Game play – 8
Graphics – 8
Audio – 6
Re-playability – 7

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Download, Installation & Game play Problems:

If you have any problems installing today’s game please go HERE for help.

If you’re looking for something other than today’s game check the didimatic site via THIS link for some brilliant deals. Steam has an excellent deal on Sanctum
, a first person tower defense game with a free weekend and, if you decide to purchase there’s 75% off. You can either buy the game itself for $2.49/£1.74 or the game and all dlc for $5/£3.75 (8dlc’s). There’s also 50% off Batman: Arkham City + DLC. You can get the game for $14.99/£9.99 and four DLC’s for £7.71 and there’s also a 66% deal on Batman Arkham Asylum game of the year edition ($6.80/£3.40) which you can find HERE.

Morrowind, the third in the Elder Scrolls series celebrates it’s 10th anniversary this week, so you can get great deals on both Morrowind: Game of the Year Edition and Oblivion Game of the Year Deluxe Edition for $9.99/£6.49 and $12.49/£9.99 respectively (You can also get the non deluxe edition of Oblivion Game of the Year for $9.99/£7.49. The difference between the two is that you get some extra mods such as Fighter’s Stronghold Expansion, Spell Tome Treasures, Vile Lair, Mehrune’s Razor plus much more. All of these extra mods are available for free, but they have been incorporated into the commercial game in the correct order to ensure no conflicts arise. There are several other deals available from Steam as well as many more from Gamersgate and Gamestop; all of which you can find via the Didimatic site, which I’ve linked to above.

You can get Aqua Bubble 2
for free from Realore this weekend and a new game is available from Alawars game box called Discord Times. (You need to install the free gamebox from Alawar to access the free games, which for newcomers change over approximately every month). If that’s not enough, check out the Game Discussion forums HERE for details of other games either free or on deals. For example, Epic Inventor, Mecha World, OGS Mahjong, Desolate Hope, Zombie Grinder, Insane Zombie Carnage, Oolite, as well as others i mentioned last week for example a superb 3D space game called Wing Commander Saga: The Darkest Dawn which is totally free. There’s also updates to games I’ve posted over the last three years as well as several other new postings that include I shall Remain, Counterstrike 2D, a SAM Missile simulator, Arx Libertatis, SCP- Containment Breach (horror), Speed Dreams (motorsport sim), Battlemass (strategy game), Naev (space arena shmup) and a cartoon like shooter called bullet Train, plus many more (well over 2000 free games). There’s also at least three or four indie game bundles still available; where you pay what you want. You’ll find details over in the Game discussion forums HERE
as well.

The latest 24 hr deal from Steam is Titan Attacks! Which has the same easy-to-learn and addictive gameplay of the classic arcade shoot ‘em up, but is packed full of extras – new features, new strategies, and stylish neo-retro visuals.

Quote:

As the last surviving tank commander on Earth, single-handedly turn back the evil invading alien army, drive back the Titans across the Solar System, and defeat them on their homeworld…
Battle swarms of alien fighters, bombers and giant boss motherships, over 5 unique worlds and 100 levels of frantic action. Earn bounty money and upgrade your ship with extra cannon, rockets and lasers. Destroy falling wrecks, dodge hurtling asteroids and capture escaping aliens – or blast them from the skies! Win prizes in sharp-shooter challenge stages and compete on the online Hi-Scores table!
.

Indie Bundles still active

Oh yeah, nearly forgot, there’s another Indie bundle just gone live called The Indie Royale May Hurrah Bundle, that contains more excellent Indie games, in this case, Dungeon Defenders (brilliant cartoony tower defense game), Containment: The Zombie Puzzler (a strategy game) , Data Jammers: Fast Forward (continuously moving three dimensional driving and destruction game set within a retro wireframe world of impossible race tracks). Weird Worlds: Return to infinite space (Sci Fi Adventure/Strategy game), and Brainpipe: A Plunge to In-humanity (A real time spatial navigation and quick reflexes game with psychedelic visuals). A minimum of approx $5 is asked for, though you can pay more. The price fluctuates according to what’s already been given. The more someone gives, the higher the next person has to give.

You’ll find both threads near the top of the page in the sticky section

Whiterabbit aka Stephen

Hey, Whiterabbit-uk, if you haven’t seen it, I bet that you’d be interested in Jen-Hsun Huang’s Keynote. A brief description is available, but the 30-minute video is well worth watching:
http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/articles/watch-live-streaming/
Only the first few minutes talk about the GeForce GTX 690, you can just read about it here:
http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/articles/article-keynote/

……………………..Moderator comment…………………….

Thanks Fubar. I’ve already been reading about the 680 and a friend mentioned the 690 while chatting last night. I will probably purchase a couple when I start my next build (unless they have started on the 7 series by then , lol). I probably won’t be building another computer until I can afford to buy one of those motherboards with a dual cpu and 8 memory slots included. I already have part of the water cooling system for the new build, but moneys tight so it’ll be another year before I can afford to build a new one outright from scratch. The main advantage I see is being able to take advantage of the new PCI-E 3.0 slots. I have them on my new computer, but the 6 series wasn’t available 4 months ago, so I ended up with two of the 5 series which don’t support PCI-E 3.0. Thankfully my newest build is fine for the latest games. I’ve got too much video RAM (6GB) as I purchased the Gainward phantom cards. I’ll give the computer to my son when I do build a new one.