Review Mazinkaiser 2/5 · Nov 9, 2019
Turrican: Polished Jank
Turrican is a game that looks good and sounds great. However, there's a lot of rough spots in this supposed gem that make it very difficult to enjoy.
Seeking to reclaim a man-made world from an evil bio-engineering computer, the titular character must jump and shoot his way through about five worlds containing 13 levels. Turrican can jump, shoot, and …
Turrican is a game that looks good and sounds great. However, there's a lot of rough spots in this supposed gem that make it very difficult to enjoy.
Seeking to reclaim a man-made world from an evil bio-engineering computer, the titular character must jump and shoot his way through about five worlds containing 13 levels. Turrican can jump, shoot, and crouch, along with fire an all-directional laser by holding the shoot button down and a variety of subweapons including mines, grenades, shockwaves, and forming a spiked morph ball. Powerups often spring out of a lot of invisible blocks and waving enemies, having the player explore every nook and cranny to stay afloat.
They'll need all they can get to stay afloat, as this game can be nasty. Enemies/obstacles that mercilessly drain health with no knockback if they lightly touch you, janky platforming that will often have the player knock their head into the ceiling after repeating many jumps (think of the large vertical sections), and strategies that mostly involve knowing all the secrets in levels that are usually too big for their time limits to fully explore and hoping you get a spread shot and enough invulnerability to rush the level.
That said, the game isn't without merit, and plenty are fans of the way it looks and sounds. The soundtrack is gorgeous (that loader theme is an exceptional standout) and the animations on Turrican and his world are simply jaw-dropping, with smooth character animation, water splashes, lightning strikes, and some ghastly creatures midway through the game. It's the least the game can do for frustrating the player.
Turrican isn't quite as fun as it looks, which is a shame given that it has such a reputation for being one of the finest Amiga games.
