The Game: You’re a water-skiing bikini babe who’s trying to stay above water; the problem is that the water’s full of rocks that can cause you to take a painful tumble if you hit them, and the even bigger problem is that the guy driving the boat that’s pulling you along seems to have it in for you! The boat seems to be deliberately trying to pull you into harm’s way, and only fast joystick work and a sharp eye will keep you from winding up on the rocks. (IREM, 1983)
Memories: Man, whoever’s pulling that boat is just a misanthropic jerk. If you imagine that there’s a Tron-like world beyond the screen, I can only hope that the bathing-suited honey in this game finds herself a better boat driver after the game’s over.
Tropical Angel is an attempt by Japan-based IREM to go it alone, in the wake of their success with games like Moon Patrol and Motorace USA, which were licensed for the North American market by Williams Electronics. It’s actually a nifty little game with an interesting theme and great – but actually quite simple – graphics. Water skiing just isn’t a sport that’s been mined to death by the video game industry, so Tropical Angel is still refreshing even to this day.
Despite its almost-first-person perspective and its subject matter, though, Tropical Angel almost is Moon Patrol – obstacles follow a set pattern, and failing to make it past them means you have to keep trying until you get it right. In many respects, the two games are much more alike than you might think.
IREM has repackaged some of its past hits in such forms as Playstation retro compilations, but Tropical Angel seems to be left off the list of games to revive. A pity, really, since this is a game that seems like it should’ve made more of a splash.
