Games

While the old adage that "turnabout is fair play" applies in many situations, Natsume's Turnabout is all about diabolical puzzles where players rotate the entire puzzle while the pieces move within its borders, sliding and rolling into mind-numbing configurations and patterns. The 100 puzzles provided are divided into two groups of 50: Begin Mode and Main Mode. The first 50 puzzles must be solved in order to open up the remaining 50, but the puzzles are numbered in five rows of ten each -- solving seven rounds in a row will open up the next row of ten, thus the puzzles needn't be solved sequentially. Puzzle pieces in Turnabout come in three types: colored balls, colored blocks, and sliding blocks. By rotating the puzzle board, balls and sliding blocks adhere to the forces of gravity and fall down into open slots. Manipulating the puzzle correctly takes skill and usually no more than ten to fifteen "steps," even at advanced levels. Learning to solve puzzles backward by picturing the flow of the pieces mentally can be an essential tool to success and none of the 100 puzzle board configurations are the same shape. For players looking for even more challenges, up to 50 custom-made puzzles can be devised, using five different colored balls and blocks and nine movable sliders (blocks) in Edit Mode.

In Turn and Burn: No-Fly Zone the player gets in the cockpit of the famed F-14 Tomcat and launches into a series of sorties on enemy fighters. The game is a simulation with real instruments and gauges and authentic weapons such as Sidewinders, Phoenix missiles and the M61A1 Vulcan Cannon to shoot down enemy fighters scattered throughout the stages. Players also land on their carrier in both daytime and night time missions. The game also features Mode 7 scaling.

Turbo: Super Stunt Squad is a high-velocity action game featuring the super-charged crew of characters from the upcoming film. Each playable character has their own signature street style and tricked-out skills which will come in handy when showing-off and earning respect with super-cool stunt moves. Expert skills will also prove useful to earn power-ups, customize your character, win competitive challenges and discover shortcuts in the dynamic larger-than-life environments of Turbos world.

There has been a racing game for just about every vehicle - automobile, motorcycle, jet-ski, airplane, you name it. Now, Rapid Racer (Turbo Prop Racing in the United States) lets race speedboats. The game offers several boats to choose from, and by winning races you can customize your speed, handling and acceleration. The game features six unique tracks filled with twists and turns. Each track is playable in three different modes: day, night and mirror. There are also plenty of secrets to unlock. As you win races, new tracks and boats will appear, as well as a special fractal racing mode that generates random tracks. The time trial mode lets you race against a "ghost" boat, and you can save your best times to a memory card.

The sequel to OutRun features similar basic gameplay to the original, with the action viewed from behind the car, and the challenge being to complete each stage within the time limit. Contact can cause the car to spin, slow down or even flip; in each case you will lose time. There are 16 stages set across the US, gradually moving from east to west, all depicted differently visually. After every 4 levels, you go into a shop screen, with a choice of upgrades. As the title implies, you now have a turbo booster installed, which speeds up the car, although over-use can cause the engine to overheat, and it is not recharged until each shop section. You have 5 continues, and failure to complete the course within the time limit costs you one.

Turbo Esprit puts you in control of a Lotus Esprit cop car, with the challenge of breaking up a drugs gang and protecting the innocent. A map is built into the car, which can instantly show the positions of the baron's cars - this is crucial because you can't interrupt them before the initial deal is done, as this will simply make them leave and try again another time.