Zuru is making a big push with the Royale Edition blasters, even having their own shelf space in the “Seen on TV” section of Walmart. However, there’s one blaster that isn’t as well advertised. The Turbo Advance (only online at Sam’s Club for now) is already one of Xshot’s better blasters. Now, you can just get a prettier one!
Capacity is the Name
The main draw of the Turbo Advance has always been the forty dart drum. Two rows of twenty darts, with the ability to switch between the two, allows for outstanding battlefield endurance. You can reload one row while firing from the other. And, if you have spare drums on hand, you can remove the old drum and install the new one in seconds. Replacing drums is something that other companies adopted soon after (like Dart Zone, with the Villainator and Savage Spin).
This pack also comes with 96 darts. Granted, they aren’t the most accurate. At all. But for stock games and close ranges, starting with enough darts to refill the massive drum (and then some) is a good thing, especially for the younger kids.
There are two clip-on shields for the drum slot, but they aren’t needed for function. I personally prefer keeping them off to open up more space for reloading.
Of course, the main draw is going to be the gold paint. On the Turbo Advance…it looks good. With how long the blaster is, that extra $5 covers a lot of real estate. It’s certainly more “gold” than on the Omega.
Performance
The blaster specs are in line with other recent versions of the Turbo Advance; I averaged 87fps and two darts per second. There was a slight hiccup in operation, though I only came across it when purposefully trying to do things “wrong”. If you prime the blaster with some force, like normal, the drum fully rotates. If you do it softly (i.e. just enough to make it happen), the drum can potentially not rotate all the way, leading to a weaker shot. Even so, I had to deliberately make that happen – normal blaster use shouldn’t see that occur.
Internals
Let’s be honest. They’re the same as before. If you really need to see them, check out the older reviews down below.
Final Opinion
The Turbo Advance has grown on me, even as other giant cylinder blasters have entered the market. It comes with tons of darts, even if they’re inferior to other types. The blaster hits hard out of the box (and the box will provide hours of entertainment for your cats). And now, with the massive amount of gold paint on the blaster, you can tag enemies in style.
The Royale Edition Turbo Advance may not have “As Seen on TV” on the box, but it might be the best bang for your buck out of the available options if you just want a stock primary that lasts.
