Turrican

From Sega Retro

n/a

Turrican Title.png

Turrican
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Ballistic
Developer:
Genre: Action

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code

This short article is in need of work. You can help Sega Retro by adding to it.


Turrican is a run-and-gun game originally developed by Rainbow Arts for the Commodore 64. Rainbow Arts licensed Accolade to make console ports, one of them being an unlicensed Sega Mega Drive port released 1991.

The game is not region protected.

Gameplay

Both the C64 and Amiga version relied on various keyboard inputs for special weapons, which had to be remapped to a three button layout. This was done in a complicated way: A fires, B and Up jump, C cycles through special weapons. To activate a special weapon, A and Up need to be pushed simultaneously, which means the character will always jump while using special weapons.

While the Mega Drive port is faithful in terms of content, health depletes at a faster rate (aprox. 4x), making the game considerably harder.

Chris Hüllsbeck's famous musical score wasn't faithfully reproduced either, although this can be partially attributed to the hardware. He would personally program the music for Mega Turrican, which was highly praised.

In order to be played at the correct speed (using the Amiga version as a reference), the game needs to be played on 50Hz PAL setting.

History

Legacy

Rainbow Arts allowed Accolade to hold its console license for Turrican II, but the game was actually rebranded and released as Universal Soldier, a tie-in to the Jean-Claude Van Damme 1992 movie. After that, Factor 5, the developers of the Amiga versions which the Mega Drive versions were based on, went on and produced Mega Turrican on the Mega Drive by themselves.

Physical Scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
80 №27
87 №1, p28/29
86 №4, p46/55[1]
76 №1, p46/47[2]
81 №19, p172
59 №16, p87
73 №1, p81[3]
73 №13, p74/75[4]
78 №14, p84[5]
67 №23, p36/37
86 №18, p68
Sega Mega Drive
77
Based on
11 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
60
[6]
Console XS (UK) PAL
86
[7]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU)
60
[8]
Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK)
48
[9]
Game Power (IT)
89
[10]
Games-X (UK)
70
[11]
Game Zone (UK) PAL
87
[12]
Hobby Consolas (ES)
86
[13]
Joypad (FR) PAL
76
[2]
Joystick (FR) PAL
81
[14]
Mega (UK) PAL
59
[15]
Mega Play (US) NTSC-U
85
[16]
MegaTech (UK) PAL
73
[3]
Micromanía (segunda época) (ES)
70
[17]
Mean Machines (UK) PAL
73
[4]
Mean Machines Sega (UK)
73
[18]
Player One (FR)
78
[5]
Power Play (DE)
72
[19]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
67
[20]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
86
[21]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
67
[22]
User (GR) PAL
66
[23]
Video Games (DE)
69
[24]
Sega Mega Drive
73
Based on
23 reviews

Turrican

Mega Drive, US/EU
Turrican MD US Box Back.jpgNospine.pngTurrican MD US Box.jpg
Cover
Turrican md us cart.jpg
Cart
Turrican md us manual.pdf
Manual
Necretro-round.svg
NEC Retro has more information related to Turrican
  1. File:HobbyConsolas ES 004.pdf, page 46
  2. 2.0 2.1 File:Joypad FR 001.pdf, page 46 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Joypad FR 001.pdf_p46" defined multiple times with different content
  3. 3.0 3.1 File:MegaTech UK 01.pdf, page 81 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MegaTech UK 01.pdf_p81" defined multiple times with different content
  4. 4.0 4.1 File:MeanMachines UK 13.pdf, page 74 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachines UK 13.pdf_p74" defined multiple times with different content
  5. 5.0 5.1 File:PlayerOne FR 014.pdf, page 84 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:PlayerOne FR 014.pdf_p84" defined multiple times with different content
  6. 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 252
  7. Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 135
  8. Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 365
  9. Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 111
  10. Game Power, "Gennaio 1992" (IT; 199x-xx-xx), page 52
  11. Games-X, "17th-23rd October 1991" (UK; 1991-10-17), page 35
  12. Game Zone, "November 1991" (UK; 1991-10-08), page 28
  13. Hobby Consolas, "Enero 1992" (ES; 199x-xx-xx), page 54
  14. Joystick, "Septembre 1991" (FR; 1991-0x-xx), page 172
  15. Mega, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-12-16), page 87
  16. Mega Play, "July/August 1991" (US; 1991-0x-xx), page 64
  17. Micromanía (segunda época), "Marzo 1992" (ES; 1992-0x-xx), page 33
  18. Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 142
  19. Power Play, "11/91" (DE; 1991-10-11), page 168
  20. Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 36
  21. Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 68
  22. Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 27
  23. User, "Septémvrios 1992" (GR; 1992-0x-xx), page 85
  24. Video Games, "4/91" (DE; 1991-12-06), page 29