Toobin' is an arcade title from Atari Games released in 1988, in which the player neither sits behind a steering wheel nor holds a hero's weapon, but instead floats down a river on an inner tube. Two players can compete or cooperate, each controlling their own character floating with the current, and the goal is to get as far as possible along a winding river full of obstacles without the tube bursting or the character falling into the water.
The controls were unusual for their time – the game used two levers, one for the left paddle and one for the right, so the player had to coordinate the movement of both hands to keep direction and avoid rocks, logs, and predatory fish. Besides paddling, it was possible to throw soda cans at enemies, collect bonuses floating on the surface, and pass through gates that awarded extra points. The speed of the current gradually increased, and the courses offered varied environments, from calm stretches to wild rapids.
Thanks to its fresh graphics and unusual premise, Toobin' became a popular arcade attraction and later received home ports for the Commodore 64, NES, and Amiga. Today it is prized more as a curiosity and a nostalgic memory of the arcade than as a technical milestone, but its original gameplay earned it a place among the cult arcade titles of the late 1980s.
Why play it: It offers refreshing and unusual cooperative fun that you won't find elsewhere in the sea of space shooters and brawlers on arcade machines.
Game 148 of 258 for Arcade
