“Super Toss the Turtle” Review – More Fun Than It Should Be

We rarely focus on mobile games here at The Gaming Outsider, but I came across one recently that put a huge smile on my face, and I couldn’t help but talk about it. Nate Lucas, who does all of our artwork, contacted me and told me that I had to download a free-to-play game called “Super Toss the Turtle”. My immediate reaction was probably very similar to the one you’re having right now. “Why in the world would I want to play a game by that name?” But I gave it a shot anyway and  haven’t looked back. This game is ridiculously absurd, but in all the right ways, and I can’t stop playing it.

At its core, “Super Toss the Turtle” is pretty much what it sounds like. You’re given a small cannon with which to fling a cartoon turtle (or whatever other creature you acquire along the way) as far to the right as possible by tapping the screen to measure how much power the cannon will fire. After your turtle is airborne, you fire a gun while its in mid-air to keep it juggling for as long as possible. You’re going for the longest distance here and will keep making further and further attempts earning cash for each meter traveled. The problem is that you have a limited number of shots, so eventually you’ll have to simply watch the rest of the action unfold.

On top of the skill mechanics, you have the added element of randomness to the gameplay. While your turtle is in the air, there are all kinds of collectibles to collect, targets to bounce off of to keep your momentum going, and death traps that will end your run immediately. The trick is to use the physics to your advantage. Your turtle will propel faster if you fire at it when it’s on the way down. On the flip side, if you let it bounce off the ground, it will slow your momentum, so the idea is to fire right before the turtle hits the ground maximum effect.

If all of this doesn’t sound crazy enough, you also have a crazy amount of violence and gore. Let’s me honest, it’s a little disturbing to be shooting at a turtle in mid-air for the sake of sport (I’m surprised PETA hasn’t shut this down yet), and it’s done in very bloody fashion in this game. But at the end of each round, your turtle stands up with a big smile on his face walking away relieved. It’s bizarre and insane, but completely works for me, especially with some music that is very reminiscent of Mega Man or Street Fighter II.

Look, this isn’t going to make any Game of the Year lists for me by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m having so much fun with it. I can literally play a round or two in under a minute, and even a small run gives you a feeling like you’re heading towards the next weapon or upgrade. As expected, there are some micro transactions built into the game, but all they seem to do is make your progress move faster. I have yet to have even an inkling of desire to put any money into it. Sadly, I feel like I will eventually hit a wall where I’ll finally give up because the gap in between upgrades is just too long. But if they had put a $5.00 price tag on this and shortened those gaps, I would have jumped on that pretty easily.

Trust me, give this game a try. I’ll admit that I didn’t get it within the first five or ten minutes, but once I started getting upgrades and realized what they were going for, I couldn’t put it down. It’s one of the only mobile games I’ve played that made me not only smile, but laugh out loud. Check it out, but don’t give up after the first two or three rounds. Let yourself get some upgrades and just see how addicting it can really be.

“Super Toss the Turtle” may be a simple mobile game, but its addictive progression and hilarious, demented nature make it totally worth a free download to at least try.