In Tiny Terry’s Turbo Trip, you step into the flip-flops of Terry, a blueberry-headed kid whose singular, absurd goal is to drive his car into outer space. The narrative kicks off with Terry conning his way into obtaining a taxi—not for work, but purely for this interstellar aspiration. The true joy of the story isn’t the destination (space), but the journey through Sprankelwater, the tiny, densely packed open world. Terry’s main quest quickly takes a backseat to hilarious, often surreal interactions with the town’s quirky residents. From helping a restaurateur catch bugs for a new menu item to witnessing the mayor float away, the game thrives on its witty, non-sequitur dialogue and wholesome exploration of what it means to be an inhabitant of this bizarre little town.
Tiny Terry’s Turbo Trip is a “Playground Game” combining elements of a 3D platformer, open-world exploration, and a kid-friendly take on the Grand Theft Auto-lite formula. The primary objective is to collect “TURBO JUNK” scattered across Sprankelwater to upgrade Terry’s car boost. Traversal is key: you can run, jump, use a paraglider, or simply steal (and crash) any vehicle you come across. The game actively encourages irreverent chaos—whacking people with a pipe or digging up treasure is all part of the fun. Side activities, such as frantic soccer mini-games and bumper car battles, provide currency to buy tools like a bug net or shovel. While the driving controls can be loose and the physics chaotic, this inherent jankiness works in the game’s favor, lending itself to slapstick humor and unpredictable, genuinely funny moments.
Tiny Terry’s Turbo Trip plays very much like GTA but in a very kid friendly way. I mean this is kinda neat, but at the same time kind of feels just off. So the game plays like an over the top, whacky, and totally chaotic GTA style game. But the thing is there is no real violence in the same vein as GTA. I kinda wish it was as morbid as that may sound. A surprising aspect of the game is the writing. I mean yes it’s kid orientated but is very funny, pokes fun at everything, and is just a blast to read through as you go through the game.
I touched on the writing because that combined with how over the top the game is and it’s GTA formula, it shouldn’t be kid friendly. I mean this should have been a South Park tongue in cheek style game with a GTA formula that was geared towards adults. One could argue that the Saints Row series kind of did this, but Tiny Terry’s Turbo Trip could have cranked it up to 11. It could have looked at games like Saints Row and Grand Theft Auto and told them both to hold its beer.
The game stands out immediately due to its striking, colorful, and unique art style. Characters are charmingly blobby and out of proportion, creating a visual aesthetic that feels like a bizarre, low-poly cartoon come to life. The world of Sprankelwater is vibrant, sunny, and meticulously detailed, making every corner tempting to explore. On the Nintendo Switch, the game’s performance is generally serviceable, but not flawless. Because of how open the game world is, you do have instances of frame drops which do result in slow downs. This is more prominent when you’re driving and have a lot of traffic to deal with on the roads. This will also happen if there are a lot of objects that have physics involved.
Another negative aspect when it comes to performance is the camera. The camera can be very hard to control at times and seem to float off on its own. This feels kind of odd when it happens and very frustrating when it comes to some of the tight platforming sections. As much as these issues affect performance they can pretty much be forgiven. This is mostly due to the fact that the game is inherently silly and chaotic. It really only adds to the overall experience.
The audio perfectly complements the game’s joyous and chaotic tone. The soundtrack, composed by the creator of the Wuppo score, is bouncy, heart-warming, and incredibly catchy, encouraging you to zoom through the world. The sound design leans into the absurd, with the residents of Sprankelwater speaking in funny, squawking, and squeaking voices that are translated into witty speech bubbles. The sound effects for breaking objects or using the car’s turbo boost are impactful and satisfying, enhancing the feeling of playful destruction and speed.
One of the most interesting things about all the games’ sounds is that they sound like someone made them. Like someone sat in a booth and made car sounds with their mouth. Like kids do when they are playing with their toys. I mean literally every sound effect has this aspect to it. When the characters talk, the sounds they make while talking are rather annoying. In fact I remember saying to myself that they should be actually fully voice acted. To have them squawking like they do drives me nuts and it would have been much better to have the entire dialogue voice acted with real words behind the characters. The fact that it sounds like you have people squawking into a mic sounds lazy and like there wasn’t much effort put in.
Well the more I played the game and the more I saw the bigger picture of what the game was trying to do, the more I really came to understand why the developers took this approach. I am not knocking the sound design. I mean truthfully all of this only adds to how absurd and silly this game is; I think it’s a great compliment to the game. In fact, I think that if the sounds were more professional sounding or real world sounding that it would detract from the overall experience rather than enhance it.
Tiny Terry’s Turbo Trip is a delightful, short-form open-world adventure. It succeeds not by offering hundreds of hours of content, but by packing a few hours full of memorable characters, anarchic physics, and genuinely funny writing. It’s the perfect, low-stakes digital vacation for anyone with a Nintendo Switch looking for a game that embraces silliness and rewards curiosity. As much of a missed opportunity as this game is, it’s definitely a unique experience. I would highly recommend that everyone check this game out!
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
In addition to writing articles, Ryan Byers also creates content for his YouTube channel called "Obscure Games and Consoles", collects video games, and dabbles in video game development.