Game of the Day 4/13/2016: Tricky Kick (TG16)

[celerystalker]

Tricky Kick is the sort of game that's never going to make any kind of top ten lists, but it's the sort of game with which it's easy to lose an afternoon. A single-screen puzzle game, Tricky Kick tasks you with completing dozens of stages by identifying matching pairs of themed objects and positioning so that you can kick them into each other, causing them to disappear. Your goal is to clear out each screen in order to move onto the next until you've cleared all stages.

In attempt to add some personality to the game, it is structured into groups of ten levels, each starring a different character and theme, ranging from an adventuring elf to a sentai super hero to a girl trying to walk home on bad streets, each with unique backgrounds and items to remove. Clearing each set of ten awards you with a password to unlock another ten alternate stages of that theme, making for a total of 120 stages. You can pick your character when you turn the game on, allowing you to approach the game in any order you'd like, though those characters' stages must be played in order. Each does have his or her own self-contained story and ending, which, while functionally superfluous, still helps build a sense of completion for each set, and the changing scenery really helps the game feel less stale.

The graphics and sound for Tricky Kick aren't anything special, but it's clear what everything is supposed to be, and it offers more variety than something similar like Boxy Boy or Kwirk. If you have an affinity for this sort of single-screen block moving, it's a solid play, and doubly effective as a portable game on Turbo Express.

Played this one?

[Emperor Megas]

I have this one, too. I don't think I ever played it though. It was a later years acquisition. I have a soft spot for these sorts of games. They were some of my favorites back in the day. They were the sort of games that replaced Saturday morning cartoons for me, either because I aged out of them, or because they stopped having them...or they did and they just sucked. I don't remember which it was.

Games like this, Splash Lake, Chew Man Fu, etc. we perfect for weekends when I didn't have much to do. Man, I really loved the TG-16.

[celerystalker]

I have this one, too. I don't think I ever played it though. It was a later years acquisition. I have a soft spot for these sorts of games. They were some of my favorites back in the day. They were the sort of games that replaced Saturday morning cartoons for me, either because I aged out of them, or because they stopped having them...or they did and they just sucked. I don't remember which it was.

Games like this, Splash Lake, Chew Man Fu, etc. we perfect for weekends when I didn't have much to do. Man, I really loved the TG-16.

Yeah, those sorts of games were great for those lazy, sleepy weekends when you didn't feel like anything intense and just wanted something light-hearted to play, and the Turbo has a pretty large amount relative to the size of its library. This and Boxy Boy especially ate up a lot of time for me.

[CRTGAMER]

Tricky Kick is the sort of game that's never going to make any kind of top ten lists, but it's the sort of game with which it's easy to lose an afternoon. A single-screen puzzle game, Tricky Kick tasks you with completing dozens of stages by identifying matching pairs of themed objects and positioning so that you can kick them into each other, causing them to disappear. Your goal is to clear out each screen in order to move onto the next until you've cleared all stages.

Played this one?

Suggest including Console name in the Title, for Instance TG16 Tricky Kick. I had no idea what system this game is for until I googled, it was not even mentioned in the review.

[celerystalker]

Suggest including Console name in the Title, for Instance TG16 Tricky Kick. I had no idea what system this game is for until I googled, it was not even mentioned in the review.

You're right, I only mentioned the Turbo Express. Sorry! Console will be included in the main text for sure going forward for sure, and in the title if it isn't multi-platform.