Obscure Games You May Not Have Heard Of - Episode 15, Tryrush Deppy
What Cars wishes it was
Hey! Are you a nerd who likes retro games? You follow me, so the chances are likely. Are you a nerd who likes retro games but hasn’t explored the Saturn library? Well, looking at the sales of the Saturn, the chances are also highly likely. Well, why don’t you Try(rush) Tryrush Deppy? :D
whispers whispers
glances at Ebay listing
Why don’t you Try(rush) emulating Tryrush Deppy? :D
Tryrush Deppy is a 1996 game for the Saturn made by Nihon Create and System Supply N-Tech, who mostly made 3x3 Eyes games in the mid 90s and not much else. But between their run of 3x3 Eyes licensed games, they created a little game called Tryrush Deppy, which I feel showcases what the Saturn can do in a BIG way.
This game is, aesthetically, quite nice. And very interesting visually! First, let’s talk about the design, before I get to its showcasing capabilities. In this game, you play as sentient cars, which feel like something out of Brave Little Toaster, and other classic animations. Sure, the lady cars have tits, and there are some… very racist caricatures (there’s a car from Mexico who’s defining features are maracas and sombreros, and a car from Africa that just… no…). But for the most part, aesthetically, cool concepts and designs. The characters are very expressive, for just being cars.
Which brings us to Deppy himself. Deppy is a little cab who’s entered a cross-country race across the US! He’s a cute little guy, in a kind of “engine that could” kinda way, the underdog in this race. And this is what I mean by showcasing the Saturn’s capabilities. You see, the Saturn is a console that’s made for 2D. And with 2D, it can do some fucking fantastic things. Games like this, or Astal, some of the most beautiful 2D games of the early to mid 90s. But 2D was on the outs. People didn’t WANT 2D, so the president of Sega of America intentionally tried to stop localizations of 2D games from coming over to America. A few thankfully snuck through, but sadly not Deppy. Instead we got a lot of ugly 3D that barely worked.
So yes, aesthetically, this game is a knock in the park. Large expressive sprites, lots of bright colors that make everything pop, cute silly designs. But how does it… PLAY? …well, it’s not BAD. It’s a 2D platformer, with an emphasis on speed. Think a Sonic the Hedgehog. But Deppy is a bit slippery, and the game has a health mechanic in the form of your oil, which constantly drains. If it runs out, that’s it for you, so you need to explore every nook and cranny to find oil. The game feels kinda fun when you’re using Deppy’s charge mechanic to just barrel through everything like you’re Wario, but that uses oil, so you have to either memorize level layouts and plan out routes, or take it slow and careful. Thankfully it has infinite continues and a save feature.
Look at this fucking sprite. This is your crouch sprite. Deppy just kinda falls apart into a pile. This isn’t just a silly for show thing though, when Deppy is crouching he doesn’t use up oil! This is nice on autoscroller segments like this one, leading up to the first boss. Each world has two levels, and then a small level that leads to a boss. Some of the bosses are REAL tough, this game honestly isn’t a slouch. But it’s also pretty short, like 30 minutes long if you know what you’re doing, so I guess it has to be, right?
As I mentioned, there’s a colorful cast of characters you can run into. Many levels have one of the racers you can find, and they’ll be in trouble! Like this one, who’s drowning in a pool of water! You can rescue these characters, to get different endings and maybe get some help from them down the road… or, for this one, you can bounce on him for a quick easy way across the water. As he drowns, he screams out “NO!” and its really funny. He’s dead now.
One thing I love about Tryrush Deppy is that it’s ostensibly about a trek across the United States. We start in NYC, which is kinda accurate, and has a giant statue of liberty holding a flaming oil can. That’s cute. Then, these two pictures. That first one is like, Detroit, and that second one is Chicago. I didn’t know Chicago was a lush Magical Mushroom Forest.
The game is silly, and it doesn’t hold that back. One of the bosses explodes, and when the smoke clears, he has an afro. Why? I dunno, silliness!
All in all, Tryrush Deppy is a fun, but maybe a little stressful game. It’s not AMAZING but I think it showcases a cool part of what the Saturn could do super great. Though maybe check out Astal as well. But yeah, it’s also very easily playable! It’s entirely in English. Some of the ending screens gives me the vibe that the main designer behind this game was really really into American culture. Is there a term for that? Ameriboo? Those same ending screens also imply there’ll be a sequel, which is laughable in hindsight, and also kinda sad.
If you want this game, it is unfortunately one of the most expensive Saturn games. Not quite, y’know, Panzer Dragoon Saga or Magic Knight Rayearth levels, but for a Japanese import, I think it’s the most expensive I can think of, the copies on Ebay ranging from 300 to 500 dollars. Ah, Saturn collecting sure does fucking blow.