Tiny Terry’s Turbo Trip Review (PS5) – Turbulent Treasure

Tiny Terry’s Turbo Trip is an open-sandbox adventure proposed to be inspired by The Simpsons: Hit & Run; a game that for some reason hasn’t quite been replicated despite being one of, if not the, best example of an open-world adventure. For me, we’re two for two when it comes to this niche within a niche, as Turbo Trip proves there’s still space for chaos to be had at all ages.

Developed by Snekflat, Tiny Terry’s Turbo Trip is a relatively short and straightforward open-world collectathon. Think of games like A Short Hike or Lil Gator Game, but if it had a bit more absurd humour and a complete disregard for any social rule. That’s not to say Terry is bad but rather there’s no such thing in the town of Sprankelwater.

Stealing cars to sell them and hitting residents with an iron pipe until they pop out cash are all well within the law for Terry, making his Turbo Trip ultimately one where you can get up to some guilt-free mischief. But is there more than meets Terry’s blank white eye? Surprisingly, yes.

Out Of This World

The game opens with Terry at the Job Centre, waiting to be seen about getting his hands on a car. While waiting, a cutscene plays out where he’s chatting to Gron about what he wants the car for. There are a couple of different dialogue options to pick as the conversation plays out. They don’t change the narrative, but there is a decent sprinkle of choice to get the biggest laugh out of me. I was immediately into whatever Snekflat was going for with the comedy.

Dialogue is stilted and direct like a Wes Anderson film, but oddball and surreal like Napolean Dynamite or Hot Rod. It’s a type of quirk that informed my comedic tastes and was an excellent way to set the tone. Terry wants the car to go to space. No one’s asked him to, nobody knows that’s what he’s trying to do, but Terry is laser-focused on getting there in his turtle shell-looking taxi that he’s wangled his way into possessing.

Cars don’t naturally go to space, so your job as Terry is to collect as much junk littered around the town of Sprankelwater to upgrade your new ride. The game doesn’t really give you a direction or objective to pursue after the opening cut scene, you’re left to explore at your own pace with the idea of going to space. The world is completely explorable on foot and in your car from the get-go, so getting into the rhythm of collection and progression may take longer for some than others. My advice is to stop off at the first building you find and the game will push a couple of intentional instances to aid your journey e.g. receiving an iron pipe to whack anything and everything.

A Taxi Too Crazy

There are a handful of ways to collect junk for your vehicle: speak to the townsfolk and complete their objectives – leading to a spot for buried junk treasure, find it lying around in hard-to-reach areas that test your platforming abilities, or simply dig it up in random but signified areas. Each avenue of collecting bolstered a different aspect of what made my time with Tiny Terry’s Turbo Trip so enjoyable.

Getting to know Terry’s friends, family and random townsfolk often built out the world in effective ways, if not it was at least laugh-out-loud funny. Seeing random junk on top of buildings and learning the platforming system on a deeper level, like learning I could attack with my weapon to give myself almost a second jump in semi-Mario fashion. Being on the lookout for environmental flourishes that form a circle, soon learning digging up within them rewarded me with junk, had me scouring and generally appreciating the densely packed artistry of the world design.

I don’t use the term simple as a pejorative, because it’s the very straightforward approach the game has and the lack of friction progressing that had me, much like Terry- gormless, switched off but overall just enjoying the flow of collecting junk and completing objectives. Objectives could be collecting bugs with your net to create a new menu item at the beach hut, selling cars to a friend from school or even a game of footy. Other examples like football break out into minigames that play a little differently to the regular free roaming, all of which are mechanically sound and a good way to break up what you do on a moment-to-moment basis.

Having A Road Rager

I do wish there was a bigger reliance on the driving, seeing as the game is centred by it narratively and gameplay-wise. However, I spent most of my time running around the map looking for treasure, chatting and whacking folks and creating general chaos. The driving itself is arcade-y as turning is sharp and responsive whilst being weighty as you screech around sharp corners. Most surprisingly, you can enter other NPCs’ vehicles and drive them or steal parked cars which have their distinct feel too.

It’s that level of detail that’s showcased across the game’s design that, while being subtle, create a world that’s lived in rather than played in by you. There’s a good amount of buildings that are enterable with diverse interiors, characters all chirp with their own quirk when speaking, item placements for collectables feel deliberate by rewarding players with their explorative intuition.

It works all succinctly to the point of being almost unnoticeable because it’s instinctive. Which is a wild thing to say for a game that rarely takes a moment to take itself seriously – until it does. There’s a heart in Tiny Terry’s Turbo Trip that’s buried until some of the story beats play out that I wasn’t expecting at all. It’s a love letter to chase your dreams whilst having fun in the meantime. Something that should be ubiquitous but it really takes a silly little game like this to remind myself to try and do that more.

All Hail The Cab

All in all, Tiny Terry’s Turbo Trip is a short but sweet open world collectathon that’s full of charm, a great amount of humour and a big heart. The visuals share what I can only describe as jagged and wonky. Kind of how the Cartoon Network show Ed, Edd and Eddy had misshapen environments, maybe a few lines added to create texture that jumps out of you.

It’s also bright and bold with colour, making a real joy to explore. As I mentioned before, I do wish there was a bit more implementation of the driving and some clearer sign posting at the start and end when trying to go for 100% could be a little bit better.

Overall though, the game never loses its steam despite its straightforward gameplay. I clocked in about 8 hours to find all the junk but most could find it sooner and probably finish the game around the 5-6 hour mark, making it perfect to play in an evening or two. I hope you’ve got some change for the cab fare because this is a trip well worth taking.

Tiny Terry’s Turbo Trip is out now for PlayStation 5 (review platform), Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam.

Developers: Snekflat

Publisher: Super Rare Originals

Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.

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