Review: Super Turbo Action Pig - Pigs Can Fly?

Overview

The old saying about rarity goes 'when pigs fly', well when you have a pig that's not only super, or turbo, or action, but all three the rarity of pigs flying just doesn't sound as rare. Super Turbo Action Pig is a simple casual game where you try to guide the pig strapped with a jet pack as far as you can in the 2D side scrolling scene. You're trying to avoid all of the sausage makers (weapons in the air) of the evil Butcher Bill to make sure you don't become sausage.

Features

The game is just an endurance game where you try to last as long as you can. The weapons are stationary, and you control your pig moving vertically by tapping on the jet pack thruster button. Each weapon you pass is worth one point, but as soon as you touch one, it's game over. Three difficulty levels are included with each one having it's own online high score table. OpenFeint is used for leaderboards and achievements, and there are golden sausages to collect every 100 cleared weapons.

The Good

If you're a fan of casual endless games then you will be instantly drawn to Super Turbo Action Pig. It's just so simple, and yet so fun to tap the thruster to move up and down dodging the various weapons. As soon as you lose you'll want to play again right away with the play again button on the losing screen with evil butcher bob's grinning face. You will delicately tap the thruster to glide through the gaps in the weapons, trying to be so careful. The instant death adds the suddenness, and ups the ante to make the game more pressure packed. The three difficulty levels are nice additions to vary the gameplay a little, as are the various special weapons Butcher Bob throws at you. Collecting the golden sausages add an extra challenge, and of course the OpenFeint leaderboards and achievements add the replay factor for those that are into those types of things. The game is from the artist of Trenches, and you instantly see the super finely polished production values in every aspect of the game. Every item on screen is packed with detail in such a clean design. The animations are outstanding highlighted by the pig squinting its eyes, putting its ears down, and making its curly tail straight when you tap the thruster. Then there is the exhaust from the jet pack that looks like realistic black smoke, and the orange blast from the jet pack. When you hit one of the weapons the screen splatters with sausage and red sauce, or blood. The included soundtrack is great to say the least, and fits with the action theme perfectly. It feels as though it's straight out of a Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoon with Snidely Whiplash and Dudley Do-Right, and there entire game feels that way.

The Bad

The game is simple and repetitive so that after you've played once you've seen everything in the game. It's a relatively simplistic gameplay mechanic, but that doesn't stop you from playing it multiple times. In terms of simple casual games Super Turbo Action Pig doesn't stand out beyond the fact that it has a flying pig with brilliant production values.

The Verdict

Super Turbo Action Pig is a solid game that only shines in the production values. There is nothing remarkable about the gameplay which is just mediocre, though there's no doubt it's fun. It has a few replay factors including OpenFeint and multiple difficulty levels, but there is never a change in the gameplay. If you're a fan of the simple casual genre this is another good one, but if you've had enough of these simplistic games then you can keep looking.

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