Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle (2006) Review

Brian and Gina are back for another crazy romp. When a plane crash derails their vacation in Hawaii, Brian ends up alone in a jungle while Gina sinks to the bottom of a lake. Once again, it’s up to Brian to save the day while Gina is off helpless somewhere. While the dynamic is repetitive, among other things, there were enough new situations and people to keep things interesting. However, the sequel made the same mistakes of the first game, along with lasting a lot longer than it should have. Not to mention many of the puzzles required players to solve them wrong before solving them correctly, while others were just tedious.

I’ll admit, Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle is leaps and bounds ahead of the first game with its animation and backgrounds alone. Characters move much more fluidly and don’t seem like animatronics when there’s up close shots of their faces. The cartoony art style often has characters do wild movements similar to Loony Tunes, which does make for rather hilarious physical comedy. And the backgrounds are simply gorgeous, from the jungles of Hawaii all the way to snowy Alaska. Speaking of the comedy, the game did have some funny moments. Brian found a dog toy in the plane whose gimmick was urinating after being filled with water. It made me chuckle, but you have to admit it was kind of a weird toy. Other humorous moments included some fourth wall breaks, drunken lemurs and a well-meaning but rather dumb soldier, along with other interesting NPCs. Speaking of, there were a lot of new characters to keep track of. Some help Brian on his quest, while others try to stop him from succeeding.

These new allies include Lokelani, a bartender who’s had more boyfriends than you can keep track of; Knife, a slightly airheaded surfer who not only has a son but also has a knack for ignoring his problems; and Kai, an older surfer who lost his leg to a shark and perpetuates the ‘lazy mentor’ trope. They all ended up being involved in some of the game’s puzzles. Though I’ll admit that Lokelani’s was a bit annoying, as you had to remember some of her boyfriend’s names while talking to her. There are a lot of dialogue trees to get through with anybody, so you better bring a notepad to jot down the important stuff. There is some clever writing in there, but still. Lokelani was kind of a sore spot for me, given how Brian reacted around her. He basically lied saying Gina wasn’t his girlfriend and they even kissed at one point (and more, ugh). He didn’t even know if Gina was alive or dead (again). Way to make Brian a jerk, devs.

The bad guys in this game are none other than the military, led by one-eyed, cigar-smoking, Vietnam-loving Colonel Kordsmeier. A typical solider who yearns for war, he considers himself a man’s man and doesn’t tolerate any weakness from men. He’s harsh on his own son, Leslie, whom he calls Flowerpot and won’t acknowledge him in public as being related. Another villain is a woman called Tarantula, a deadly mercenary with her own small army. She has a few pet tarantulas that she only feeds decomposed flesh, usually from humans. Both she and the Colonel are people you definitely don’t want to run into. They’re following the classic ‘military trying to use alien technology for bad things’ trope because, apparently, Joshua was right. Trantor and the Trantorians exist (and they really have a thing for onion soup). Apparently, they’re a peaceful species whose technology ended up in the wrong hands due to a traitor in their ranks.

Speaking of Joshua, he’s back and he’s still a racist Japanese caricature. The developers didn’t even try to make him less offensive. And that’s not all. The word m/idget was used, along with the word r/etarded, which are both derogatory in their own right. A big insult was the use of blatant blackface on Brian. I don’t care if it was stage makeup, a white guy pretended to be a black guy for a significant part of the game. It was massively uncomfortable to watch. Besides the offensive stuff, the game itself lasted a lot longer than it should have. There are several cutscenes that could’ve been left on the cutting room floor, plus a few gameplay sections. And to top it all off, the game ends on the worst kind of cliffhanger. Brian and co. are prepared to take on the bad guys and save Gina, and then the game ends. All that work with no payoff. Who decided that was a good idea? No wonder Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle is considered the worst of the trilogy.