Turbo Kid - Switch Review

We often see films based on games (the less said about that the better), but how often do we see games based on films? It does happen, of course, and there have been some successes over the years—the Riddick games spring to mind—but basing a game on an existing IP from a different medium always feels quite risky. However, that has not deterred Canadian developer Outerminds! Turbo Kid is based on its namesake and predecessor—the 2015 Canadian-produced film. 

It wasn’t a huge hit outside of Canada (at least not according to my research), but in order to ‘get into the role,’ I decided to track it down and watch it for this review, and it's awesome! Think Mad Max meets Excitebike. Will the game follow in the film’s footsteps as a success?

The Good

So first and foremost, Turbo Kid is a metroidvania, presented in a retro pixel art style. You play as ‘The Kid,’ who is dressed in a bright red Evil Knievel-type motorcycle suit, and his BMX bike sits front and centre in the gameplay. The Kid jogs around like any normal video game character, but also at the press of a button, you can summon his bike! It's so cool and so fun; the bike physics actually work exactly like the aforementioned Excitebike, whereby you need to time your hitting of sloped surfaces perfectly to gain momentum. The Kid is trying to rid the Wasteland of an evil presence and must do that by exploring the four areas that branch off the main hub area. You are also aided by Naomi, who crops up at various points of your adventure to offer insights and navigation tips. 

Turbo Kid also has a refreshingly mature element to it, which you scarcely see in these kinds of games. The enemies disintegrate into bloody body parts when you defeat them, there are themes of drug use, and there’s even some effing-and-jeffing. None of these things impress me particularly, but it certainly made the overall story experience more impactful and thought-provoking as a result. On the body parts… Another oft-neglected element that Outerminds has nailed is the melee combat. The Kid is armed with a machete, and it’s incredibly satisfying to gib enemies and crates along the way (if you don’t know what gibbing is, ask your parents!). Melee attacks in metroidvanias often get underused due to how ineffectual they are, but not here. The combat in general really feels punchy and satisfying.

In keeping with the apocalyptic Mad Max aesthetic, the soundtrack in Turbo Kid is synth-pop awesomeness. Shut your eyes and you could be listening to Bronski Beat. The music, the colorful language, and the gibbing… What decade have I awoken in??

TL;DR

• BMX mechanic is both fun and cleverly utilised
• Satisfying combat
• The retro soundtrack will remind you of yesteryear

The Bad

Turbo Kid doesn’t really miss, but if I were to nitpick, it lacks a couple of useful features I have come across in most other metroidvanias recently. For example, the ability to pan the camera up, down, left, and right so you can peek at what is just off-screen is immensely useful in any platforming-heavy games. Whilst Turbo Kid isn’t reliant on platforming, there were certainly some sections where I fell to my death or right on top of a spike pit because I couldn’t really see where I was going.

Secondly, perhaps the load times feel quite long in Turbo Kid, and for a game with such a basic (but beautiful) look, that felt kind of jarring to me. All in all, though, it ran pretty smoothly; I was just impatient because I was enjoying it so much!

TL;DR

• The ability to pan camera in cardinal directions would have greatly benefitted
• Some long-ish load times

Final Score: 8/10

Without sounding too much like Goldilocks, Turbo Kid is a metroidvania just the way I like it. Not too easy, not too hard and the exploration is challenging and not too hand-holdy. 

Is Turbo Kid the greatest metroidvania based on a Michael Ironside film? Of course it is, until a Top Gear or Starship Troopers metroidvania comes along (publishers and developers take note). But in all seriousness, Turbo Kid is very good in all the right places and is a must-play for any metroidvania fans!

Thank you for checking out our Turbo Kid Switch review, thank you to Outerminds for providing the review code and thank you to our Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:

• Andrew Caluzzi (Inca Studios / Camped Out)
• Bel Cubitt
• Bobby Jack
• Jack Caven
• Nintendo Maniacs
• RedHero