Ever wondered what happens when a Western developer takes inspiration from the Japanese and decides to create a ‘run and gun’ game with flashy graphics, amazing special effects and killer gameplay? Well wonder no more, because Super Turrican is one such game.
Originally released on the C64, the first Turrican game was a masterpiece of skilful programming and brilliant gameplay. 16-bit conversions soon followed, culminating in the impressive Megadrive/Genesis Mega Turrican and the superlative Super Turrican 1 & 2 for Nintendo’s SNES, the first of which is obviously the subject of this review. These games were developed by Factor 5, which is the same Factor 5 that coded the ‘Rogue Squadron’ Star Wars titles for the N64/GameCube.
To sum up Super Turrican in simple terms, it plays like the bastard child of Konami’s Contra and Nintendo’s Metroid. Usually, when a company tries to pay tribute/rip off the ideas found in other great games, the result is fairly messy and unfocused; other imitators of classic titles fail to get the end product to gel effectively, but Factor 5 was unquestionably successful.
Graphically, it’s a real delight to behold, with appealing futuristic design and a smattering of Mode 7 effects to remind you just what the SNES is capable of. You could argue that although the developers obviously harbour an admiration of Japanese game design, Super Turrican is still not quite as polished as Contra III, but this comment could be purely down to personal taste. As far as aesthetics go, the game is a winner no matter how you look at it.
Sonically, things are slightly less assured, but again personal preference may creep into the equation here – if you’re a fan of cheesy electro-rock then you should be fairly happy with what greets your ears as Super Turrican boots up.
The gameplay is what really shines though, and as was mentioned before, the giddy mixture of classic titles makes for a particularly arresting gaming experience. One moment you’re blasting chunks out of enemies with your wide range of weaponry. Then, to top things off, you discover the ability to morph into a destructive ball – Samus-fashion – and take on the malevolent hordes with super-powerful explosives. It’s a joyfully chaotic combination of ideas, yet it works brilliantly and is lots of fun to boot.
For a game that pays homage to the tough-as-old-boots classic Contra, a steep difficultly level should be expected. Super Turrican gives a tremendous degree of challenge, but doesn’t feel quite as unforgiving as Konami’s sadistic epic – you can decide for yourself if that’s a good or bad thing. In conclusion, Super Turrican is an awesome release and should be downloaded by blaster fans everywhere.
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1. Mart
27 Jun 2007, 12:08 GMT
A classic, this one has to be released pretty soon if they've announced the sequal at the same time. Never played the sequal but the original played sort of like a side scrolling metroid, music to this one was great aswell.
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2. Harthacnut
27 Jun 2007, 22:45 GMT
Looking forward to getting my hands on this, had the original Turrican and its sequel on my old Atari St and they were awesome, if its anywhere as good as those were onto a winner
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3. deggs
29 Jun 2007, 06:22 GMT
if this is actually meant to be, it's amazing but me thinks it may be wrong...
Factor 5 is an exclusive developer for sony at the moment. these turrican games could very well be for the Sony ps3 download service...
i honestly am putting this in the "i'll believe it when i see it" catagory of wii vc titles...
but yeah, the game is amazing... both of them... abslutely excellent games. top notch. i had the c64 version growing up. when these came out, i was in heaven...
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4. Abras
06 Jul 2007, 06:23 GMT
I'm pretty sure it's coming. The most recent issue of Nintendo Power has it included in the "this month's vc games" article. It's not concrete evidence. but print magazines tend to be more reliable, not to mention it's straight from the horse's mouth.
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5. Delay
04 Oct 2007, 17:26 GMT
Actually it is not that great as the second game. It lacks the final level and thus ends with a fight against some generic alien head. That felt so uncomplete
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6. 90's Gamer
17 Jan 2008, 22:48 GMT
Still an amazing game, i love the music!
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7. Deadeyerobbie
28 Jan 2008, 19:16 GMT
I still play both Turrican 1 and 2 on my amiga. If this is half as good, it will be a must download. Please big N, release this and super turrican 2 soon.
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8. Master Chief53
06 Feb 2008, 00:55 GMT
When are we gona get this game. Its been ESRB rated for like 4 months now...
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9. CobraCommander
22 Feb 2008, 08:34 GMT
Turrican is still the best german video game Export. Everyone remember Super Turrican on the NES? It has the same name but its a different game. I like the NES Version a little bit more because it was closer to the original on C 64.
But the SNES Parts are excellent too.
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10. SepticLemon
29 Feb 2008, 01:18 GMT
I just downloaded this game, and good damn is this awesome!
BTW I've been having a retro fest, been playing a lot of ActRaiser and BlasterMaster, awesome stuff, I wish new games were more like this...
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11. CobraCommander
29 Feb 2008, 04:13 GMT
Great ! Fantastic release for europe .
Hopefully the C- 64 originals,The NES Version, the SNES Sequel and Mega Turrican are coming soon.
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12. Villain
29 Feb 2008, 08:50 GMT
@CobraCommander: Agreed. Germans should be proud if this game. Might not be 100% original, but remember that Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is not very original either, and it still kicks ass! I need this game soon!
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13. Kelvin
29 Feb 2008, 12:06 GMT
I'm hoping for the C64 versions myself. They don't look as pretty as this, but the gameplay is a bit more balanced and the music is much less cheesy!
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14. CobraCommander
29 Feb 2008, 19:10 GMT
Yes kelvingreen, I 'am hoping for the c64 vers. too. They are the originals Turricans from Manfred Trenz the "Father of Turrican".
I think if the c64 starts on WII we have a good chance to play them soon. The both Turricans are still two of the most popular games from the BIG C64 Games Catalogue
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15. That Guy from Faxanadu
29 Feb 2008, 21:31 GMT
Super Turrican is a bit of a remake of Turrican II for AMIGA. The Amiga games had elements of exploration, while this is a bit more direct arcade-action. Turrican meets Super Probotector. Super Turrican never shines as much as Turrican II, but in the end it´s a great game in its own right. Levels are fun (some enviroments never seen in the AMIGA games), music´s superb as always, and the challenge is near perfect!
The sequel Super Turrican 2 is not as good as this game. It contains even less exploration, and levels are not that inspired. Pretty fun bosses and a Battletoads-like stage where you jump from the backs of giant worms make it a worthy play anyway.
Kelvin & Cobra... I hope for C64 Turricans as much as you do! Can we have ém please...?
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16. Kelvin
29 Feb 2008, 22:12 GMT
Yes, I would be very surprised if we get C64 on Wii, but we don't get Turrican and Turrican II. As you say, Cobra Commander, they're among the best games on the system, so chances must be good!
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17. Jon
02 Mar 2008, 11:08 GMT
A very good game indeed, but a little hard (I know I suck). As stated above the versions on the C64 are one level above this version though. I don't think we will see the C64 versions though as Nintendo probably will settle for one version on each game (excluding the very popular SF2 series). On the other hand, Nintendo wants those dollars bad, so who knows?
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18. ICEknight
03 Mar 2008, 18:16 GMT
The C64 version isn't "the" original... The Amiga version was also developed and released at the same time, and it's better in every aspect, so let's hope they release that one instead. Super Turrican is a different game, so they wouldn't have any problems releasing the original Amiga game.
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19. SmaMan 03 Mar 2008, 20:10 GMT
Is the Surround sound still in this one?
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20. Jockolantern
04 Mar 2008, 09:37 GMT
Wow... been nearly 15 years since I played this game on the SNES and it STILL rocks. The music is still awesome, the graphics are still exceptional, the difficulty is spot on, and the gameplay is fun and frenetic. This game has aged very, very well.
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21. D00M
05 Mar 2008, 10:46 GMT
Yup, great music if you can hear it above the sound of the carnage
Awesome game all round though, The 2nd one is too on rails for me so I'm sticking with this one and waiting for the Amiga versions.
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22. CobraCommander
06 Mar 2008, 09:35 GMT
ICEknight !. The both Turricans are developed first for the C 64 by Manfred Trenz. The Amiga Version are converted from the C64 vers.. So the Commodore 64 Parts are the only originals Turricans!
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23. GameGod3008
21 Mar 2008, 08:41 GMT
Goetting this alongside Mega Turrican
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24. Mr 64
23 Apr 2008, 11:30 GMT
I have to be honest, this game isn't half as good as I remember it being. Compared with the original Turrican games released on the home computer formats of the era, this game suffers from bland level designs, more linear gameplay and less catchy music. The difficulty curve is also far steeper and the weapons aren't as good either.
Still, all said and done, it's a great contra-style scrolling shoot 'em up, it just suffers from being a sequel to two of the greatest games of the early 1990s.
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25. Shortay-01
05 May 2008, 13:46 GMT
Can you choose difficulties in this game?
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