Product placement is good for getting the brand out there. Slap the name on some merch, buy some billboard space, run some ads on TV. Video games aren't foreign or uncommon of this practice, corporations stick their commercial properties on such 8 and 16-bit works like McKids, Cool Spot & The Quest for Cool, and Yo, Noid!. So how's about a sporting goods store based out of Hawaii that specializes in surfing gear? 

Town & Country Surf Designs is a surfing shop company founded in 1971 by Craig Sugihara. Over 50 years, they've branched out expanded to Japan, New Zealand, Brazil, Australia, and Indonesia. Why is this important? It technically isn't, I just have a knack for including pointless, weird trivia in my editorials. Frankly, anything that prolongs me from talking about this stupid game...that I decided to review...Who developed this game? *flips pages* Atlus?? Goddamnit...

Released in 1987 and published by LJN, T&C Surf Designs: Wood & Water Rage is a recreational sports game where the player attempts completing rounds in skateboarding and surfing. And that's pretty much it. It's pretty messed up when Skate of Die trounces you in the depth department. As far as games under the LJN banner, it looks alright on the surface, but there isn't much beyond that. You select between the aforementioned two activities and the respective T&C Hawaii characters, who are based on popular surfers. Thrilla Gorilla is Dane Kealoha, Joe Cool represents Shaun Thomson, to name a few. 

The controls, they feel completely delayed and clumsy. The skateboarding, called "Street Skate Session" is more or less an obstacle course where you have a minute to clear with either Tiki-Man or Joe Cool. There's ways to perform ollies by holding left on the D-pad and jumping, grind rails, and clear ramps.

Holding right on the D-pad stands you on the board, and up and down steers. It seems simple enough, but very little about it feels natural. Standing on the board keeps you moving fast, but it takes a while to remember to pull back on the pad to clear barrels when jumping. Neutral jumping just makes you leap off the board, which gets you over the roadblocks just fine, but you have a split decision to re-acclimate yourself. It doesn't help that your character has a large and inconsistent hurt-box, a barrel will wipe you out. Doesn't help that you'll barely have enough time to dodge any of the random objects that are likely in the way of any jump you clear.

With enough practice, I can partially get the hang of the skateboarding and clear a couple of rounds. I'll still argue with myself over the functionality of the jumping, but for grasping how skateboarding works, it's not bad for the NES. I'm spoiled and live in a post-Tony Hawk world.

The surfing "Big Wave Encounter", drives me nuts. There doesn't seem to be anything to rely on, besides intricately rocking the D-pad to keep the wave from washing you away. Aside from attempting to ride it, which I haven't figured out how to do, the water starts throwing shit at you and swimmers on inner tubes get in the way and knock you over. I'll reach the goal, but never really feel satisfied with how I did it. There's ways to complete jumps and land safely without wiping out, but after three decades, I've never figured out how to do it twice in a row on purpose. There's a balance between work and entertainment when it comes to learning how a game works, and T&C Surf nails it about as well as learning to do your own dentistry. Is actual surfing this hard?

Visually, it's not bad. The Steve Nazar character designs resemble their likeness well. For that matter, I think they're a little memorable. If you choose between Joe Cool or Tiki-Man, the time of day changes from afternoon to before sunset. I'll give credit to games that do transitions like that, though it technically isn't a transition. It's colorful and has a cartoony vibe to it, and I think that's why it's maintained some notoriety for a little while.

This game kinda sucks, but it's one of those NES titles I find myself going back to because it's a hurdle from my childhood that I must leap. The controls are a little awkward, especially with the surfing. I like the graphics, and while there isn't a wide variety of tunes and sound effects, I don't mind the music. It's too bad that approximately one half of the game feels even remotely playable. The surfing is either too high a concept to convey on the NES, or the developers tried programming it with a severe concussion.

Even of you wanted to go toe-to-toe with a human opponent for top score, it's probably more fun to turn on Karate Champ. Town & Country Surf Designs: Wood & Water Rage is pretty middle of the road, but it's hard to be incredibly harsh to it.