67| Super Turrican

Released: May 1993 (Exact date unknown)

Definitive Version: Super Nintendo; Also on: Virtual Console for Wii

People tend to forget that during the 1980s and the early 1990s PC gaming dominated Europe. Consoles like the NES were virtually absent in the country. This resulted in a handful of European developers creating a lot of clones of popular NES games. The most infamous of these is The Great Giana Sisters. Essentially a Super Mario Bros. reskin, the game was one of the most popular titles on the Commodore 64. Obviously it led to a lawsuit from Nintendo which they later lost but the series left somewhat of a legacy. It was directed by Manfred Trenz who was part of the development team Rainbow Arts. They later developed Katakis, a R-Type clone, that was so good that they were approached by Konami to do a port of R-Type for the Commodore 64 and Amiga.Wanting to do something more original, Rainbow Arts created Turrican, a game that is best described as a little bit of Contra and a little bit of Metroid.

The games are part of the run and gun genre as the player controls a humanoid robot character as they shoot down enemy aliens and machines with various lasers, bullets, and bomb which can all be upgraded by collecting powerups. Throughout the game the player find themselves gunning much more so than running, due to the fact that the levels aren't designed to go one simple direction. They are a bit maze-like as they need to be fully explored. The  character will travel left, right, up, and down through the map until they get to the end destination. It was pretty ambitious project for its time.

Seeing the rise of consoles the series eventually moved from the desktop to the floortop. With the exception of the NES entry, the console titles weren't developed by the Rainbow Arts, but by the infamous developer Factor 5; yes the same Factor 5 that was behind Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II and Lair. They worked on the Turrican games for both the Sega MegaDrive and Super Nintendo, appropriately titled Mega Turrican and Super Turrican respectably. The superior version was the Super Nintendo entry. While part of this was due to the usual better graphics and sound found on the system, it was mostly due to the game design just being superior. The gameplay mix of Contra and Metroid had the series feel right at home on the system. As described before the game is a run and gun game which has the player explore the map in a variety of directions while they shoot down enemies as they collect a variety of powerups. These powerups can be separated into traditional bullets, a wave of lasers, a stream of lighting, and bouncing bullets. Each of these powerups are useful in different situations as there is a huge variety to the enemies and level design, thus there is no "one size fits all" approach.

The levels aren't quite Super Metroid complexity, but they do require a bit of navigation. Throughout each level the player will encounter multiple paths. These typically involve the player jumping on a series of platforms or falling down various pits to reach the next checkpoint. To be fair most of the game still requires the player going to the right side of the screen, but it often throws a few curveballs at the player which results in a first clear run rarely occurring. You will often be required to explore every nook and cranny of the map to find the exit. At the end of stage is typically a boss. These bosses tend to be huge sprites, at times taking up the entire screen. Unfortunately while they may look intimidating they aren't too difficult to beat. It typically takes only a few tries before you are greeted with the sound of multiple explosions that are more present in MegaDrive games.

Factor 5 became so well known due them being so well attuned to presentation. Super Turrican is no exception. The graphics are detailed, the sprites are large, and there are multiple enemies and projectiles on screen all without slowdown. The sound quality of the game is also very impressive and is amongst the Super Nintendo's best. The problem is that while these things are technically impressive they aren't impressive by merit. The graphics may be detailed but the art style merely gets the job done. While there are often a lot of things going on the screen at once the game isn't intense as more well known 16-bit run and gun games. Super Turrican sounds great but it isn't particularly that great to listen to. Just like the art, the music is merely serviceable. It's all still very fun to play, but I can't help but feel to wonder what a developer like say Treasure would be able to do if they had such talent.

Regardless, even though it isn't the most intense game or the most easy on the eyes, Super Turrican is still one of the best run and gun games of its generation. Its not so linear maps coupled with quality level design and shooting mechanics make for a solid game. It is unfortunate that the series was eclipsed by other well known franchises as Rainbow Arts and Factor 5 seemed to have stumbled upon something special.