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Retro|Spective 082: Turrican

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    Retro|Spective 082: Turrican

    On the lost colony of Alterra a saviour arrives called...




    Mainline Entry 01 - Turrican
    Formats:
    Multiple
    The original Turrican started life on the Commodore 64 and quickly made a name for itself by exceeding the visual bar many thought possible on the hardware. Factor 5 was put to task on working on an Amiga port and the game then began a journey of being ported on platform to platform right up till the Mega Drive. Taking some inspiration from Metroid, Turrican worked through large sprawling levels in a non-linear manner accompanied by a well thought of soundtrack.



    Mainline Entry 02 - Turrican II: The Final Fight
    Formats:
    Multiple
    The sequel followed a similar set up to the original though on some formats it was rebranded as Universal Soldier. This was done to meet a deal that Accolade had made to create a spin-off game of the Van Damme movie of the same name. Some of the visuals were changed alongside some shooter stages so the game would more closely match the film but broadly most of the design remained the same as the versions branded under the Turrican II name.



    Mainline Entry 03 - Turrican 3: Payment Day / Mega Turrican
    Formats:
    Mega Drive and Amiga
    The third game was produced by Factor 5 initially and once again followed the same set up as the previous two entries though this time levels were slightly smaller and placed a greater emphasis on shooting. The game was never ported to the extent that the last two games had been so remains the least played of the three but it did receive a later rerelease on the Virtual Console platform.



    Remake Entry 01 - Super Turrican
    Formats:
    NES
    Franchise creator Manfred Trenz put this title together by combining and reworking the first two levels of the original Turrican game and adapting the set up around the general plot of Turrican II. The levels hadn't been used on NES before so Tranz used it as an opportunity to remake them into their own title.



    Mainline Entry 04 - Super Turrican
    Formats:
    Super NES
    Not to be confused with the NES title of the same name. This one was made by Factor 5 and used the same visual style as the third game but with four new large levels and a HR Giger inspired final boss in a new title.



    Mainline Entry 05 - Super Turrican 2
    Formats:
    Super NES
    Factor 5 enjoyed one last release in the series before its retirement with this further sequel that took place in a small solar system that faced the same threat as the previous games. This final game once again increased the focus on shooting enemies whilst this time deploying the systems ability to offer Mode 7 fuelled visual effects. The game became more straight laced than the previous games though, more akin to Contra and though it went down well enough, so did the franchise.



    Share your thoughts and memories of Turrican

    #2
    I remember being gobsmacked by the visuals of the original when I saw it running on my mate’s Speccy. Couldn’t believe the old rubber-keyed wonder could produce such arcade-quality (or so we thought at the time) graphics.

    When I borrowed it, I was a bit disappointed it didn’t support any 128k features such as AY sound and reduced multi-load. And the multi-load really did impact my enjoyment somewhat.

    Aside from that the only other Turrican game I played was the third iteration on the Amiga. It was decent, if not spectacular.

    Comment


      #3
      The two C64 games were given amazing reviews, but I don't think I ever really got into them.

      I remember borrowing the first game off someone from school, but I don't remember being particularly excited by it.

      A few years later I picked up the budget re-release of the second game. I'm sure the reviews said it was rock hard, but I think I completed it really quickly. I don't remember playing it very much.

      I'm not sure the exploration side of it ever really gripped me. I remember playing Midnight Resistance a lot more, which was much more linear.

      Maybe I'll re-visit it. I can appreciate that it was technically very strong.

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        #4
        I remember the buzz surrounding Turrican for the C64, but I didn't get to play it until a bit later. It's a very impressive C64 game that shows off the tech.

        Turrican 2 on the Amiga is my favourite game in the series. The graphics are nice and it runs really well. The music is absolutely amazing... Easily one of my favourite Amiga games.

        Super Turrican 2 is a great game. I really like the detailed graphics and how it feels really smooth to play. Definitely one of the best 'run-n-gun' games from the 16-bit era.

        I hope someone makes a new Turrican with Chris Huelsbeck taking care of the music.

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          #5
          Confused about which one I played on the c64. Think it was the first one, but anyway it was great fun. Played it to death.

          Also Gunlord on the Dreamcast is a decent clone

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            #6
            Originally posted by charlesr View Post
            Also Gunlord on the Dreamcast is a decent clone
            Yeah, I think it's a good game for the Dreamcast. Looks like a Psygnosis version of Turrican.

            Should have been called 'Shadow of the Turrican' and released for the A1200.
            Last edited by Leon Retro; 19-03-2019, 14:19.

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              #7
              Loved both the Turrican games on the C64, thought they were really something special indeed

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                #8
                Originally posted by Leon Retro View Post
                I hope someone makes a new Turrican with Chris Huelsbeck taking care of the music.
                Chris Huelsbeck already wrote the music!

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by ZipZap View Post
                  Chris Huelsbeck already wrote the music!

                  https://chrishuelsbeck.bandcamp.com/...of-the-machine
                  Just need a new Turrican game to go with it.

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                    #10
                    For gameplay Super Turrican II was nothig short of amazing and for me better than the likes of Gunstar Heroes, but for music the Amiga version was and is the best, this tune is out of this world

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                      #11
                      Have to post this

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                        #12
                        I have to say it...NG: Dev Team does Turrican better than Factor 5. I always loved Turrican but there was always something missing about the gameplay. Gunlord however felt like a refined product, Turrican finally taken to it's full potential. Even the music was to the same standard as Huelsbeck's soundtrack, Rafael Dyll did amazing things with the score. NG: Dev have been a bit hit and miss with their titles and the reason I think Gunlord worked is because it sticks close to the European heritage of Turrican.

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                          #13
                          Ultimately, I enjoyed the series more as uberslick gfx/sonix demonstrations rather than amazingly deep games (huge levels full of the same) but there's no doubt these were very slick games and I did play them all quite a bit.

                          I'd say the one that impressed me most was Turrican 2 on Amiga, the sidescrolling shooter bits were amazingly slick and arcade-like, reminded me of Aero Blasters/Air Buster at the time.

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                            #14
                            Clue for R|S 083: Time for the last battle...or three

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                              #15
                              Great games for the time not sure how well the earlier games have aged they were just insanely hard. However by Mega Turrican they had got the gameplay balance right and the two on the SNES are most own games. Chris Huelsbeck music is legendary and huge kudos to Manfred Trenz the creator of the series.

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