Turn It Around
Score: 74% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Majesco Developer: Taito Media: Cartridge/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Puzzle
Graphics & Sound: Turn It Around is the latest of the mini-game games that have become increasingly popular over the last few years. Graphically, it is more detailed than some of the others, such as Warioware: Touched!. All of the characters have more facial features and the backgrounds are comprised of more than one color and various scenes. The wheel that you turn looks different on most of the levels too, so you don't feel like they're all the exact same game. The main screen and really all of the games are very brightly colored and happy looking, giving you the overall impression of a peppy game. The background music is also different for most of the games. They're really just jingles, but they do seem to match the feel of that particular game. Games such as "Packed Train" and "Elevator" also give you the background sounds of things you would expect to hear, like the chatter of people around you.
Gameplay: Turn It Around is comprised solely of games that you play by using the stylus to rotate a wheel on the touchpad. In some of the games, such as "Dragonfly Hunt" you turn it as fast as you can. Others, like "Sushi" you turn it slower or quicker, depending on what you're supposed to accomplish in that game. There are even a few like "Safe Cracker" that you have to think and stop turning to line different pieces of things up. In total, there are 24 different mini-games to play. When you first start it, you're given the choice of 1 Player Turning, 2 Player Turning, or Options. In 1 Player Turning, you can choose Challenge Mode or Free Play Mode. In Challenge Mode, you have to beat each of the 24 puzzles once. In Free Play Mode, you can choose any of the puzzles and play them for as long as you want. If you have a friend who also owns Turn It Around, you can choose 2 Player Turning, with both players being required to have their own cartridge to play. In 2 Player Turning, all of the games are multiplayer. You can play a 3 Round Gachi Battle where first one to win three randomly selected games wins, or you can choose a 1 Round Gachi Battle where whoever wins the randomly selected game wins, or Panel Attack where whoever claims the most panels wins. Choosing Options from the main Menu allows you to change the degree of difficulty to Easy, Medium, or Hard. You can also change your character to either Pink or Orange, view your game rankings, or delete the data. When playing the games, if your score is in the top 180 scores, you get to enter your initials.
Difficulty: Honestly, Turn It Around is a very, very simple game. To beat single player mode's "Challenge," you simply have to beat all 24 mini-games without quitting. Even if you don't beat it on the first try, you can choose to continue and try it again without having to start over on all the rest. It'll take you maybe 30 minutes to get through all the games. If you don't have time in one sitting, just close the lid and the game will sleep until you open it again. After you finish the "Challenge," you don't unlock any new games, and you don't get any bonus levels. You simply keep playing the games to beat your previous scores and the scores that were preset by the developers. There are three difficult levels available: Easy, Medium, and Hard. But really, even Hard isn't a major challenge. You can play against a friend and maybe get a challenge there. Since the game will store up to 180 top scores, you can play for quite a while trying if you're dying to see your initials in every spot.
Game Mechanics: To play Turn It Around, you use the stylus, tap the touch screen then drag the stylus in a circle to simulation turning a wheel. Some games require you to turn it in a specific direction, or even change the direction in the middle of the game. In most games, you can also use the D-pad and the (A) and (B) buttons instead of the touchpad to simulate the rotations. In some games, such as "Arkanoid" and "Bub Bob," I found the buttons to work better, but overall, Turn It Around was meant to be played using the touchpad and it works better that way. Turn It Around is a fun game to play and easy to learn. I wish that there was more to it, though, because I got bored of it quickly. There's only so many times you can play the same game over and over, and with only 24 games, even with the different graphics and music, you find it becoming monotonous after and hour or two. If you really want to play Turn It Around, I recommend renting it first.
-Cyn, GameVortex Communications AKA Sara Earl
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