General:

Date of Release: 1^st February 1982

Model Nr: TL-28
Acronym: TurtLe
Rating: DC3V 0.0002W
Battery: Alkali-Manganese batteries LR43 (or SR43) x 2
Manufactured: Japan
Sold: Between 250,000-1,000,000 Worldwide
Nr. of players: 1
Lives: 3
Modes: Game A & Game B
Controls: Left and Right Button
Other Buttons: Game A, Game B, Time, Alarm & ACL

Game-Play:

Your job is to bring parcels form one shore to the opposite. There are five turtles in the water between the two shores. You take one parcel, jump down on the first turtle and then on all the other turtles to reach the other shore. There you have give the parcel to another person. You have to go back to get a new parcel. Sometimes the turtles go down into the water to catch a fish, so you probably fall into the water and get a miss.

Game differences:

In Game B fishes rise from the centre of the screen. The moving speed of fishes also increase with score.

Trivia:

Maximum score is 9,999 and when the score reaches 200 & 500 (1,200, 1,500, ...... to 9,500) points all misses are cancelled. If there are no misses, game goes into 'Chance Time' for 20

 to 40 seconds when the turtles do not move and fish do not appear.

Cheats and tricks:

Remember if you don't move your character off the left bank within 8 seconds, he slips into the lake. Also in Game A, if you stand on the centre turtle for more than 2 minutes, fish begin rising from the centre also. Don't forget that you can only get back onto the left bank once you have delivered the baggage.
Number of fish increase with score. With each 100 points, they reduce in numbers, before increasing again. Here is your chance to take a small breather.

Points:

3 Points each time tourist hands over a piece of luggage. Extra points are scored each time tourist returns to the left bank. The faster you make the round trip the higher the score (Max 12 points, Min 2 points).

Misses:

You get one miss, if you are on or jumping to a turtle that dives. Three misses (shown as turtles on the screen) and the game ends.

Other notices:

If you hold in Game A or Game B key the highest previous score will be displayed. The highest score will disappear if the ACL switch is pressed or if the batteries are detached. If the unit is left as it is after game is over, time display will appear in about five minutes. A game is not interrupted even if TIME key or other game keys are depressed during game playing.

Issue Differences (click to enlarge pictures)

The table will show how to tell the different Issues that were made:

The battery covers seem to have a number on the back, but they seem to vary a lot and I won't even speculate what the difference is.

Box Variations (Click to enlarge):

Game Variations:

Shipping Box:

Fits 10 games

Instructions (English):

Instructions (Japanese):

Instruction Variations:

Other Paperwork: