Neon Retro Arcade

Toobin'

1988

Atari

Toobin is one of Atari's lesser-known late 80s games. Using an upgraded monitor, Toobin has nice, colorful graphics that have become a staple of Atari styling, and the sense of goofy humor that can be found in many of their games. This one has no joysticks, instead using 5 buttons to control your paddling directions. Toobin features a cool animated waterfall effect in the marquee- by using three rotating drums with wave patterns, it looks as though water in the marquee is flowing. Pretty neat effect for a game at the time. While this game is certainly not as famous as other Atari titles like Centipede or Asteroids, Toobin is a fun game with a bit of challenge and a lot of heart.

Story

You play as Bif & Jet, two adventurous kids toobin down numerous rivers avoiding obstacles and picking up treasures and power-ups. This isn't entirely a race, though- you are really trying to outscore each other, which takes more finesse than pure speed. Float through gates first for the best scores, and you can even bump gates before your opponent clears them to reduce their score. Progress through 15 different rivers, from the easygoing Colorado and Okeefenokee, all the way to the Canals of Mars, River Styx, and many more.

Tips & Strategies

The marquee has rotating drums that give the illusion that the water is actually flowing.

Clear gates to boost your score multiplier (up to 5x).

Use cans to slow your opponent, clear obstacles, etc.