Admittedly, the idea of an animated snail delivering intergalactic packages sounds like a goofy premise for a racing game, but Snail Mail, by Sandlot Games, deserves some attention. Snail Mail is a racing adventure game that features Turbo the Snail, who you must guide through an interplanetary obstacle course to make package deliveries. Through a combination of cell-shaded and 3D graphics, solid control responses, and terrific replay value, Snail Mail delivers big gaming fun.

Snail Mail features three different modes of play — postal adventure, time trial, and challenge mode. The objective is to guide Turbo the Snail along a racecourse from start to finish, picking up as many packages as possible before reaching the end. Of course Turbo must face obstacles along the way, including spiky slug enemies and salt blobs and enemy fire that will injure Turbo. Playing in postal adventure mode will take you through increasingly difficult levels, while time trial and challenge mode lets you revisit levels you’ve already played and attempt to beat the high score.

Snail Mail exhibits all the qualities of a great adventure game, including weapon power ups that Turbo can use to defend himself against enemy objects and health pickups to prolong his life. What’s great about Snail Mail is that solid game play is coupled with a strong replay value. The option to change control settings from tilt to touch appeases a wider variety of users and actually comes in handy for the more challenging courses. You also have the option of checking out the built-in tutorial, which thoroughly explains game play, or jumping right in on your own.

The colorful combination of cell shading and 3D graphics make Snail Mail visually appealing and the sound effects are pretty solid as well. Adding Snail Mail to your portable game library will ensure you’re never short of a good action adventure game to keep you (or the kids) entertained.

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category: Adventure, Games, Racing Games