Turbo Turtle Adventure is a puzzle adventure game similar to Marble Madness where the player guides a rolling turtle through different platform like mazes. Played from a top down perspective, the player has to control his turtle throughout the levels without falling over the edge. There's seven different levels in total and includes a jungle, volcano and a space station.
There's a number of power ups or items available that are necessary to complete a challenge. First of all the player ha to fins keys to unlock doors. These come in different colors that have to match. Some tiles have arrows on them which force the player in the direction they face. To overcome this the player can use his turbo speed. Some of the ground is weak and can collapse when rolling over it. Often the player will come across gaps. For this there's a build item and a jump item. There's also gravity and wind which drag or push the the player. The turtle's shell can be upgraded in three ways. There's a glide shell which allows the player to go faster over slow ground, the panzer shell which allows the player to pass through force fields and the spike shell which allows the player to get a better grip on slippery ground such as ice.