Released for the
Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987 by
LJN Ltd. and
Enteractive, Inc.,
T & C Surf Designs: Wood and Water Rage is, as the title suggests, two games in one.
The '"
Wood" in the title is, of course, referring to the
Street Skate Session, where you choose either
Joe Cool or
Tiki Man and ride your
skateboard down the street, jumping over and ducking under
hazards such as rolling oil drums, bouncing baseballs, speeding cars, and
huge gaping holes in the sidewalk. You can gain
bonuses by jumping and landing your board on turtles, beach balls, toy cars, and other small things that generally do not belong in the middle of a busy road. If you fall into the ocean, crash, or otherwise fail, you lose a
life symbol. The pressure to finish mounts as the clock ticks down. When you run out of life symbols or time, its
Game Over for you.
The "
Water" refers to the
Big Wave Encounter. In this mode of play you
surf as either
Thrilla Gorilla or
Kool Kat down a hazardous
pipeline. The longer you stay up, the more turns you make the more bananas you collect, etc, the higher your score will be. The game is over when you lose all your
life symbols or, of course, when the clock reaches zero.
There is a third option, entitled
Wood & Water Rage, but it is simply a combination of the first two modes of play.
T & C Surf Designs is a moderately difficult game, generally recommended for younger children or at the oldest early teens because of its simplicity. The
Big Wave Encounter mode is for the most part a waste of time, as it quickly gets dull and monotonous. Young children or
surfer dudes who aren't bothered by
sub-par gaming might find this fun, but I found it to be lacking, even when I myself was a young child (unfortunately, I was never a
surfer dude, although I longed to be one. I also wanted to be
Skeletor...).
The
Street Skate Session, however, is pretty
cool. While not incredible or amazing by any stretch, it is a legitimately enjoyable and challenging gaming experience. Because of the variety of obstacles to jump over and avoid, you are forced to stay on your toes at all times, especially when going fast. The controls are very simple, and you can easily pull some
gnarly tricks on your board such as
grinding the guardrails, jumping while holding your skateboard, and jumping while the skateboard stays rolling along the street (All
totally bodacious). The only real drawback is the repetition of the background, which gets sort of annoying after a while. The designers of this game really weren't too interested in
the details, apparently.