[EXPlay] Turnip Boy Robs a Bank (Nintendo Switch)

Welcome to EXPlay, (Explain & Play) the review series where we care not for scores but tell it how it is when it comes to every game we get our hands on, whilst also taking the time to include some lengthy gameplay, to give you the reader, the chance to shape your own impressions and views whilst watching and reading.

In this explanatory review we’re covering Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion by developer Snoozy Kazoo.

Turnip Boy Robs a Bank: (The Explanation)

Turnip Boy Robs a Bank is a sequel to Snoozy Kazoo’s Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion which was inspired by the Yoshi Tax Evasion meme. Unlike the original game that was more of a “The Legend of Zelda” style game, this 2D pixel adventure has opted for a roguelite twin stick shooter that is more akin to PAYDAY with the titular Turnip Boy performing a heist on a high security bank.

 

Sometime between the end of the first game and leading up to this one, a great War broke out and between foodfolk. With Mayor Onion gone, the rest of foodmanity has fallen into disarray, they fought long and hard but through the chaos, a power hungry vegetable named Stinky took advantage and seized control of the great botanical bank. Stinky has since been accumulating all of the wealth of both the old world and the modern world world, with the remaining foodfolk with little choice but to either work at the bank or ro live in its halls as refugees.

 

As for Turnip Boy, he recieves a phone call from his father’s sworn enemy, Dilitini, who whishes to meet with Turnip Boy to talk about a big job. They meet up in the middle of the night under a lampost to discuss the deets on how Dilitina and the Pickle Gang are going to rob the Botanical Bank to steal the Motherlode hidden somewhere in its vaults and they need Turnip Boy to help them do so. Turnip Boy, who is no stranger to a life of crime now, takes the job and this is where his new misadventure begins.

 

Much like the first game,there is a very horticultural theme with the characters being sentient fruits and vegetables. The enemies, this time around are a little different with retuning enemies like Snails, worms and rabbits making up part of Stinky’s security force, and new enemies like Peppers and pumpkins, joining the fray and Bacon rashers, FUZZy peaches, and Donuts making up the police force that will eventually turn up to stop your efforts. Each enemy has a their own means of attack with snails, worms, and rabbits using melee attacks and hurting you by merely making contact. As for the other enemies, there are armed with an assortment of weapons from melee to powerful ranged weaponry that can certain give you a bad day if you are not careful.

 

Turnip Boy is no pushover though, as he too can carry weapons, up to two at any one time and can switch between them by presing X. The weapons that can be found during any run in the bank are quite rudimentary and being made up of plants and foodstuffs like corn, leak stalks, cacti, etc, but you can bring these weapons back with you to the hideout and use them in research to unlock better weaponry like machine guns, shotguns, rocket launchers and even chainsaws!

 

As for actually playing Turnip Boy Robs a Bank and what you have to do, you are tasked with breaking into the bank and making away with as much money as you can carry within a time limit. Once the timer is up, the police will arrive and you will be forced to shoot your way out in order to make your getaway with the loot. You won’t be able to take away a lot of dough in the beginning but what you do make out with, you can use to upgrade your cash carrying capabilities, as well as your health, melee damage, timer extension, and other things to make your heists more successful with every run.

 

In order to progress through the bank, you won’t be able to get to the Motherlode straight away. You have to fight through a number of boss characters in order to get clearance cards to access certain areas and you will also have to purchase items off the Dark Web (via a computer in the hideout). You can only purchase these items though after coming in contact with an obstacle or an NPC that requires you to have that item, forcing you to go back to the hideout in order to buy the item in question. One example is the pickaxe, which is needed to break the statues in the first main room of the bank after the foyer. I won’t say any more though to avoid giving any more spoilers.

 

Turnip Boy Robs A Bank is labelled as a roguelite in the sense that there are floors in the bank that are accessible via elavators but which floors you can access will differ on each run. Due to the randomity of these floors, there isn’t anything that would hinder your progress through the game if you don’t get the floor you want. Instead, for the most part, they are optional extras that can help net you more swag or may have NPC’s that have side quests for you.

 

These side quests are optional of course and it is not necessary to try and complete them on a single run. Oftentimes, you may have to do a couple of runs in the bank in order to complete the quest as you may have to wait for the floor to respawn again. When you do complete these quests though, you will be given items that may come in handy for other quests or be rewards with hats that you can wear if you feel like changing up your look.

 

Much like it’s predecessor, Turnip Boy Robs a Bank is not a particularly long game and can be beaten in about an hour or two, depending on if you just wish to breeze through the game or are a completionist looking to do every side quest and collect every hat. I had a lot of fun playing the original game and I very much enjoyed the change of pace with this game. The change in genre was welcoming and while it can get on the repetitive side at times, the runs are short enough that you can pick it up and play for a short session and not have to worry about making and kind of real progress.

 

That said, it is far from flawless title. The gameplay and general feel of the game is a lot of fun but there are some performance issues that need to be looked into. The frame rate in certain areas that are high in enemies or obstacles gets dropped significantly to the point you are moving at a snail’s pace and disconnects you from enjoying the action. Some optimization is needed to help smoothen out these wrinkles as it is a very enjoyable game up until the frame rate drops to single digits.

 

On the whole though, Turnip Boy Robs a Bank is still a lot of fun and well worth the price of admission. I do hope it gets more content in the future as well because I just can’t get enough of Turnip Boy and his criminal exploits.

Turnip Boy Robs a Bank: (The Gameplay)

Game Specifications:

Developer: Snoozy Kazoo
Publisher: Graffiti Games
Platform: Nintendo Switch (eShop)
Category: Action, Adventure, Arcade
No. of Players: 1 player
Release Date: January 18, 2024 (EU & NA)
Price: $14.99
File Size: 1.2 GB
Nintendo.com Listing