Intentionally awkward controls. Name a more Marmite gameplay mechanic. I am going to sit on the fence for the discussion because a well-defined set of awkward controls can turn a good game into a great one, and I’d argue that is exactly what has happened with Turnip Mountain. Playable in co-op or single-player mode, players control a turnip with giant, muscular arms, ascending a mountain to get back to its rightful patch. Be prepared to scream at your screen in repeated frustration, and then feel extremely smug when things go your way. This is a hard to master 2D platformer.
The beauty of Turnip Mountain is found in its control scheme. Each analogue stick on the controller controls a singular arm, and the arms move like cam toys with elbow joints. This means that moving from left to right as you climb along a cliff edge requires feeding arms back and forth, passing your body between the two arms, because as the arm extends, the elbow joint will mean you’ll need to press left to push your body right. Turnip can hold on with just a one-hand grip, allowing you to reach something higher, and you can use flicks to throw your turnip around, leaping across gaps between a lower and upper climbing wall. You can use this to swing between vines, too, although swinging became my skill issue. I never got on top of momentum swinging and leaping between vines, and when it worked, I didn’t quite know why. When on the ground, Turnip can roll, and that is used for momentum bounces over chasms and gaps, usually off of bounce pads.
The platforming feels like a mixture of pinball chain reactions and a hardcore mountaineering game, and it works a treat. Each of the nine levels in the game introduces a new mechanic to consider. Moving platforms and mechanical cogs, water (you can swim) and waterfalls washing you off the walls, or icy mountains that need a bomb to create handholds, and for you to move quickly before you slip off. The difficulty curve has a massive jump between levels 2 and 3, and it took me a long time to be able to pass that level and then feel prepared for the challenges that follow. This is largely because, from the third level, increasing elements of your climb become timing-based. Spikes appear, combo swings and jumps are required, and the game shifts from wrestling with the controls to having to master them. Nine levels doesn’t sound like a lot, but the learning curve is steep. Most levels also have multiple routes and are well worth replaying at least twice to see what the other route has in store for you. I restarted a couple of levels to try the other route to see if it worked better with my skill set.
Along the way, you’ll collect colour palettes that change the entire game, and coins to unlock hats for your turnip in the shop. These are lovely additions, with the colour palettes often requiring a stunt to be completed to grab the collectable. The longterm replayability for Turnip Mountain is firmly in the speedrunning camp. Each level, and the entire game, has a timer. If you are a speedrunner, you’ll love this, as you can use skills learned later in the game earlier to shortcut platforming challenges. Mastering the controls will improve your game time, although I wish an online leaderboard existed for the total time taken.
What does exist are two other ways to play. Firstly, 2-player co-op is available, giving each player an arm to control. I can only see this ending in pure hatred for each other. Turnip Mountain has a high skill requirement, so you cannot carry the other player along. It’s not a challenge for the faint of heart. The other mode is two-mice mode. Instead of a controller, you can use two mice, one per arm, to make the game feel more tactile and parkour-ish. Getting this to work takes a bit of fiddling with disconnecting active controllers in Steam, so you can attach two mice that don’t override each other, but it is a very innovative and playful way to play. I’ve only tried it briefly, and it’s surprising how well it mimics a reach-and-grab feel. I do wonder, so long as you have a decent playing area, if the two-mouse approach is actually the fastest and easiest way to play. One for me to explore in a future video, I think.
Aside from the gameplay itself, I need to shout out that the graphics are pixel excellence, and the soundtrack is sublime. The music is a mixture of chiptune and Vocaloid-esque samples from IsabelleChiming. It was so good, I bought the soundtrack separately. Whilst frustrating and arduous to pass at times, Turnip Mountain always ensured the reward I got for clearing an obstacle, or raising the level clear flag, was well worth the pain and time taken to learn the craft of its awkward controls. This is a great title, honed and shaped by a solo dev with a vision. Turnip Mountain is a memorable challenge that deserves your investment. What a gem.
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