Previously available on the Nintendo 3DS eShop, Turtle Tale now has made its way to the Wii U.

Turtle Tale stars water gun-armed, half-shelled protagonist Shelldon the turtle in a quest to rid his island of the rabbit pirate Captain O’Hare and his swabbies. Turtle Tale is a textbook action platformer in which players run, jump and shoot their way to the end of side-scrolling levels.

Mechanically the game is solid. Shelldon has a good weight to his jump and the shooting feels right. Enemy placement is well-designed without feeling unfair, causing players to consider their movements and attacks carefully.

Where Turtle Tale falters is in its presentation. The game is visually bland offering little variation, especially in the enemies. The enemy characters seem to have been chosen at random and do not always fit the game.

Enemy characters are also recycled throughout the game and used in places that make no sense. For example, the tiki character is introduced in the tiki world, which has an island volcano aesthetic. However, this enemy is later recycled in the sky world, where it makes no sense to exist.

The worlds themselves are game cliches, such as the forest world and the cave world. The platforms lack any visual variety at all and the backgrounds are a repeating loop.

Turtle Tale is a brisk experience which features solid action platforming mechanics. However, the game’s lack of visual variety and charm feels like a melting pot of visual cliches making the complete package one that is easy to forget. It is a great option for young gamers who are new to 2D action-platformers; however, veteran gamers will quickly lose interest.