Hardcore gaming heaven! (Turrican 2)

Member Name: dididave

Product:	Turrican 2
Date:	19/02/06 (506 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Massive array of weapons, great level design, epic bosses. Cracking soundtrack.

Disadvantages: Graphically dated, sound very limited, poor collision detection.

Bren Mc Guire’s spaceship is boarded by a an evil alien force commanded by “The Machine”. Taken by surprise his crew are mercilessly slaughtered. Left for dead Mc Guire drags his tortured body into his “Turrican-Fighting-Suit” and pilots his ship to “The Machine’s” home planet. In a vengeful fury Mc Guire vows to wreak vengeance.

“Turrican” is a ground-breaking game from Manfred Tranz. An inspirational games programmer in the late 80’s and early 90’s he is the man behind classics such as “R-Type” and “Micro Machines”. However, I believe its sequel “Turrican 2” to be his greatest achievement in terms of scope and its influence on future games. Released simultaneously on the Commodore Amiga “Turrican 2” is a two-dimensional shooter. As with all action games of this type the plot is superfluous to the game play yet does provide a sense of purpose throughout the game. “Turrican 2” is one of the first action games to give you a genuine reason for playing. Certainly a bit deeper than the standard “alien invasion of earth” plot prevalent in other shooters in the genre.

Many things make “Turrican 2” a great game but the most important one is the central character. Mc Guire’s metallic fighting suit is one impressive piece of kit the like of which had never been seen before. This suit allows Mc Guire to jump to heights unseen in any platform-shooter , jump on smaller enemies and even roll into a spiked ball and destroy enemies and obstacles in his path. With the addition of a jet pack on some levels this suit can do it all and would be copied in the future in the “Metroid” series. The range and power of weaponry truly is immense. Starting with a basic gun you can upgrade by finding various tokens littered on the landscape or by shooting drones to weapons including bouncing lasers, spread shots and power beams. Even at his most basic powers Mc Guire is able to unleash “Power Lines” which destroy everything in their path!

Such a fantastic suit makes Mc Guire a seemingly invincible character and with a huge array of weapons and power ups you would think “Turrican 2” would be a walkthrough game. However, this is perhaps the most difficult game you will ever play. The learning curve is non-existent as you are thrown straight into the action and are assaulted by wave after wave of alien creatures from small walking robots to pesky flies and alien jets. There is no mercy for anyone with anything less than lightning quick reflexes. There are five sprawling worlds to negotiate with fiendish level design packed full of secret areas, traps and obstacles to bar your path and numerous dead ends to frustrate along the way. With Tranz’s trademark “screen-filling” end of level bosses with awesome firepower yet with the old faithful weak spot to find this is a game you get good at fast!

Although this game is fundamentally a shooter it is the platform elements that make it head and shoulders above the rest . Rarely before or since has a game mixed the skill and precision required in a platform game with the adrenaline-packed weapon firing of an all action shooter so well. As you take a leap of faith across up or down the alien landscape you simultaneously have to select which weapon to use to destroy the relentless hordes. It is this mixture of huge level design and non-stop thrills that make “Turrican 2” such a joy to play. In an inventive attempt to provide variety in game play you must also take to your ship in certain levels and blast through waves of aliens “R-Type” style. A refreshing aside to the jump and shoot sections of the game and it is this variety in game play that makes “Turrican 2” even better than the original.

Controls for McGuire are straightforward and responsive and they need to be! Weapons are changed and fired using the three largest keys on the keyboard so they can be hastily bashed when need be and Mc Guire can jump, walk or roll using either arrow keys or joystick. Graphically “Turrican 2” is obviously dated nowadays with little use of colour in our central character and very little imagination in the design of enemies other than the fantastical end of level bosses. However, even now though they are passable with Mc Guire in particular looking clean and crisp and the weapons still look impressive. The soundtrack throughout is still well-suited with a thumping bass line and rock overtones pumping the adrenaline through my trigger happy veins. Not surprisingly though the sound effects are very poor. Limited to the odd bang or explosion. Collision detection could also be said to be poor as you lose energy via enemies passing through you rather than colliding (although many modern games have yet to rectify this).

This is hardcore heaven, rather than one for the casual gamer. It is a non-stop thrill ride of a game which you will either find ridiculously addictive as you try and get that little bit further on a level or horrendously frustrating as you die for the hundredth time at the same section. Either way this game is a true classic in its genre and is still playable today. Fortunately, this a game still available in various guises either on mobile (not a patch on the original) or in numerous fan-made versions (T4 funeral being the most faithful conversion). I would suggest trying to get hold of the original if possible though as it is still the best.

Various clones available at:

http://turricanforever.de/frameset

Most likely to find the original on eBay or at a retro online store such as:

http://www.retro-games.co.uk/

If you like the sound of this but want to try something more modern you will love:

Metroid Prime Hunters on the Nintendo DS

Summary: Gameplay as it should be, hard and fast.