Town & Country II: Thrilla’s Surfari is a surprisingly ambitious follow-up to the original T&C Surf Designs, shifting from a collection of mini-games to a more cohesive side-scrolling adventure. Taking control of the shades-wearing Thrilla Gorilla, players embark on a journey across Africa to rescue his girlfriend from the clutches of a witch doctor. Developed by Atlus and published under the infamous LJN banner, the game trades the static screens of its predecessor for a multi-scrolling mix of skateboarding levels and surfing sections, attempting to capture the late-80s "extreme sports" aesthetic that defined the brand.
The gameplay is a curious hybrid that oscillates between rewarding and deeply frustrating. While the skateboarding segments offer a degree of verticality and choice in how you navigate obstacles, the isometric perspective and stiff controls often lead to unfair collisions and missed jumps. Unlike many NES platformers, momentum plays a massive role here, and mastering the board's physics is essential for survival. The surfing levels provide a change of pace but suffer from cluttered visuals and a lack of clear feedback, making the experience feel somewhat unpolished compared to contemporaries like Adventure Island or California Games.
Visually, Thrilla’s Surfari is a vibrant affair, utilizing a bright color palette that stands out against the more drab titles in the NES library. The character sprites are large and full of personality, capturing the "radical" spirit of the era perfectly. However, the soundtrack can become repetitive, and the steep difficulty curve—unforgiving even by 8-bit standards—means many players will never see the later stages. It remains a fascinating relic of LJN's tenure, showcasing a genuine attempt at genre-blending that, while flawed, manages to be significantly more memorable and mechanically complex than the bare-bones original.
