Finding a game that can really immerse a player into its universe is a challenge, and even more so when it comes to indie titles. Especially with the recent influx of indies, this leads to a “diamond in the rough” sort of situation where you have to look for games with one or two defining qualities while the rest suffer. Every now and then though, you find a title that really sets itself apart from the rest and shows that it doesn’t take a giant studio to make an amazing game. Thankfully, TurnOn is definitely a diamond. It has a complete experience combining story, music, graphics, and gameplay all into one amazing package while still keeping that fun atmosphere. I really think the story was the strongest part of the game so I’ll talk about that first.
TurnOn puts you in the shoes of a little blue alien spark that crashes into Electro City’s power station. Upon crashing, you accidentally cut off the city’s power but shortly after you meet a scientist that recruits you to help get the power back on by taking you around the city throughout the 32 levels and turning on the various generators. The game contains no dialogue so the story is told in comic book style cutscenes along with actions and grunts from the characters. This sounds like it would hurt the overall story but it actually helps tell it a lot more straightforward since the story isn’t very complicated. Even without the story seeming to be the primary focus of the game it was still very strong, expressed tons of emotion, and really became the highlight of the game for me.
Graphically, TurnOn is beautiful, the 3D cartoon graphics really help support the laid back fun feels that you get while playing. The music in the game also helps support the same feeling and on the faster-paced levels becomes an actual part of the game but gets a bit annoying if you fail a level enough since it starts over every time you die. I never encountered any real technical issues with the graphics besides what I think was a texture glitch that rarely happened where you jumped onto an invisible platform. The sound in the game was pretty good but occasionally you would get a loud siren off to the side which would blare in your ear for a while. Overall, I think that this was a very strong part of the game and it left a burning urge in my wallet to buy the soundtrack.
In a platformer, it is very important that the controls are easy to use, learn, and are fluid so you can easily go through faster-paced levels. Luckily, TurnOn’s controls were very well done besides a problem with jumping being slightly delayed in the faster-paced levels on the edge of a platform. Since there weren’t too many of the faster-paced rhythmic levels in TurnOn it ended up being a minor issue overall and the rest of the controls were perfect.
The gameplay was overall very relaxing and just plain fun since there were only a few parts where you really had to focus. The few times the game would speed up would either be on the clever boss fights the game threw in or the transition between areas which would put you in a Guitar Hero-like sequence where you would race along the platforms jumping to the music. These faster sequences can be a bit infuriating but help you feel a sense of progression throughout the game that you wouldn’t otherwise get on the normal levels. TurnOn’s levels also have a scoring system at the end of them which scores you on how many lightning bolts you collect and how many various electronic devices you can turn on such as lights and air conditioners. These then give points at the end which will give you a rating kind of like many mobile games with 1-3 stars but in this game, it is 1-3 lights. Many of the game’s achievements are dependent on you getting 3 stars, collecting lighting bolts, or just exploring and finding various things, and with 82 achievements, there is a lot to find.
There were a few issues I did have with the gameplay, though. One of the biggest issues I had with the game was the lack of invincibility frames that would often translate to you taking multiple hits of damage when you were frozen from taking the first hit. Another issue with the faster levels was an occasional moment where you couldn’t jump after landing on a platform. TurnOn used a system to zoom in and out when jumping to different platforms that look closer or further away but with this system, there was a major issue where it would zoom at the wrong time which would quickly screw up a jump. None of these issues really took away from the game though since it only enforced the life system on the harder levels like the boss and rhythmic ones I talked about earlier.
Summary
TurnOn is an awesome 3D puzzle platformer that uses a variety of new systems to make the game not only fun but different from other games in its genre. The story is told in a comic book style fashion and even though it isn’t the true focus of the game, it still becomes one of its strong points. The overall good-natured atmosphere is mainly produced by the cartoon style graphics and the amazing soundtrack which makes the game very immersive. Controls were almost perfect besides a few slight issues but these issues never really took away from the game. Playing TurnOn itself is very fun and definitely can lighten up anyone’s mood with the many level varieties it incorporates despite the issues the game has. Overall, I really think that if the issues in TurnOn are fixed that this game could be one of the best platformers I have ever played.
Noel was a regular ICXM contributor in 2016, publishing 83 articles across game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news. Their work focused on hands-on reviews, platform commentary, and breaking-news reporting during the run-up to Xbox One S and Project Scorpio, plus the broader Windows 10 gaming push.