Giant war turtles? Bombs, armor, and other heavy artillery? Any of this sound anything other than fan-freaking-tastic to you? This is the kind of idea for a game that almost designs itself. The concept is strong enough that you don’t need to do much more than not mess it up, and developer Slick Entertainment delivered nicely. They went with a fun, over-the-top animated look, befitting the extremely fantastic setting of Shellrazer. Enemy characters are built to be appropriately ominous, while at the same time retaining enough whimsy to elicit a laugh when you blow them away. Your war turtle is in the same category, menacing enemies throughout a level, but then rubbing itself against the finish-line marker like some cute kitty.

There is a lot of variety across Shellrazer, in the levels you traverse, the enemies you come up against, and the items you use to outfit your turtle. Every few levels, you’ll be introduced to some new element that keeps you interested in moving forward. New weapons’ platforms and battle animations likewise help to keep players engaged, to the point that you’ll be looking for more content when the final credits roll. The music and sound effects are well matched to the visuals, keeping things light and staying out of the way. The appropriately awesome explosive visuals are matched with great sound effects, especially when you use some of the power-ups available for your turtle.

By now, you’re wondering how the heck giant war turtles translate into a playable mobile game. Or, you just take on faith that no game featuring giant war turtles can be anything but amazing... Surely, Shellrazer won’t be accused of imitation anytime soon. If you wanted to break it down to its most basic elements, it is a side-scrolling action game that plays like a hybrid between endless-running games like Canabalt and action/shooting titles. Once a level starts, your turtle is on the move, and all you can do is speed it up. What you really spend time doing is arming your turtle ahead of each level, and using the weapons you select to wipe out enemy opposition.

Enemies come in land or air varieties, plus there are buildings and other obstacles to charge through. If you lose ground, your turtle may pause and you’ll start taking major damage. You routinely take hits that cause your three gun platforms to lose health, and once all the guns are gone, your turtle is done. This creates the need to not only choose your loadout carefully as you begin a level, but to skillfully manage how you use your weapons. At least one gun type is actually a way to restore health, and each gun has its own upgrade path that often includes self-healing properties. Other than gathering items, there’s not a whole lot to motivate replay, so it stands to reason that Shellrazer will be seeing expansion content through in-app purchases.

Getting used to the controls can take a bit of time, and the easiest way of controlling your weapons is also the least effective one in terms of dealing damage. Younger players can at least follow the on-screen instructions during the first level to grasp how to shoot, but once multiple weapons are available, things get complicated. In some ways, tapping to shoot all weapons simultaneously isn’t hard to grasp, but most games don’t use this kind of mechanic. Enemies ramp up in difficulty dramatically about 25% through the game, which will leave you replaying some levels in order to move past them to the next objective. There are branching paths and special missions players can tackle, usually to unlock new characters. The key point that isn’t addressed well in the game’s instructions are that some weapons work better against specific enemy types. If you aren’t careful, you’ll end up outfitted well against air units, but exposed to ground units. Upgrading weapons is critical, and probably the best incentive to replay earlier levels. A normal play-through grants you enough money to max out 2-3 gun platforms. but you’ll need to grind a bit more if you want to upgrade all the platforms.

This is probably the best use of multi-touch controls we’ve seen in a game. Sure, it’s like Twister for your fingers, but that’s all part of the learning curve. Basically, Option 1 for controlling your turtle’s weapons is to tap and drag in the direction of oncoming enemies. This sends a stream of bullets (or whatever your weapon does) toward a fixed point on the screen. Tapping and dragging again allows you to adjust the focal point for your weapon. Option 2, which we much prefer, is to tap and hold your weapon, while using your other hand to aim. This gives much more precise control. In both cases, remember that you have up to three gun platforms stacked on top of this turtle. Either you’re going to be doing lots of tapping, or you’re going to have at least four fingers on the screen at all times. If you select the Mechanic platform, that heals one of the other weapons over time, you’ll even have to use sliding motions to instruct him on which gun to heal!

Unique controls, solid gameplay, and good production values make Shellrazer a treat to play. We like that it brings a unique concept to the platform, matched with great execution. Even though the controls take a bit of getting used to, Shellrazer is accessible to gamers at almost any level, and across a pretty wide range of gaming experience. It’s not epic, but we’d rather have concentrated fun than a long slog through a mediocre game. Fork over your dollar and get ready to raise some shell...