If you wanted the original Amiga classics Turrican I & II, you likely spent a pretty penny to obtain them in Turrican Anthology Vol. 1. But Mega Turrican, widely considered one of the series' finest, was held back in lieu of a limited single stage Score Attack mode.
Fortunately, Turrican Anthology Vol. 2 includes Mega Turrican (Mega Drive), and also Turrican 3 (Amiga). Back in 1991, shortly after the release of Turrican II, developer Factor 5 decided to switch to the Mega Drive in light of declining Amiga sales. But finding a publisher for Mega Turrican turned out to be such a lengthy process that, in the meantime, it was back-ported to the Amiga as Turrican 3.
Why is this important? Because, bar minor graphical differences and a few control shuffles, Mega Turrican and Turrican 3 are essentially the same game. That means, with Super Turrican 2 (Super Nintendo) on board, this compilation is only two unique games strong. The extras, Mega Turrican Director’s Cut and Super Turrican Score Attack Mode, marginally pad things out.
Mega Turrican is one of the best games in the series. The leap to Mega Drive was handled with style, offering three unique weapons, lots of Metroid-style morph ball rolling and bomb laying, and a speedy, explosive adventure full of heavy-duty enemies and climactic boss battles. Compared to Super Turrican, it feels like a true series sequel.
While its stages are purposely more linear than Turrican I & II, the levels are still fairly vast, with plenty of secrets to uncover and routes to open up via the new grappling hook, one of the series' most memorable mechanics. Your weaponry feels great to experiment with, and you typically carry a large arsenal of bomb types to unleash. Bosses are bigger, badder and regularly punctuate stages with impressive flair.
Turrican 3, the Amiga port, has a few graphical cutbacks and changes and is slightly less colourful, but it plays largely the same game as long as you switch to modern controls over the exasperating Amiga originals. Disappointingly, Mega Turrican Director’s Cut is almost exactly the same game (again), and simply unlocks a stage that’s hidden in the original, making it playable without requiring any special conditions. Since Turrican 3 also has this stage unlocked as standard, this ‘director’s cut’ feels like an insincere ploy to bolster this package's content.
Super Turrican 2 is, for lack of a better word, different. Here, Turrican ditches the labyrinthine structure for a straightforward left-to-right running and gunning. And, while not on the level of Contra III, there’s some novelty value to be had, with appeal for those who prefer their action in a more linear format. The Turrican visual style has evolved to SNES style with some great-looking bosses, apocalyptic landscapes, various vehicles to control, and a nice Mode 7 3D section. The grappling hook is finally present on the Super Nintendo, too, after being omitted from Super Turrican, which adds some dimensionality to proceedings and allows you to swing from platforms and reach overhead secrets.
Super Turrican Score Attack Mode follows the same rules as Mega Turrican Score Attack in Vol.1, providing an original level to dash through, collect power-ups, and aim for a higher end-of-stage rank.
Mega Turrican represents one of the series highlights, and there’s a certain amount of intrigue in Super Turrican 2’s adjustment of the formula. The rest is largely recycled. The package has all the same awesome, tweakable features and options featured in Vol. 1 as well as continued bonuses in the form of galleries, jukeboxes, and a remastered soundtrack option. But the price for what’s on offer is somewhat lofty. As we mentioned in our review of Turrican Anthology Vol.1, there’s no real need to split these titles between two releases except to wring more money out of consumers. While the titles herein and the quality of the ports are generally excellent, the lack of unique content leaves something to be desired.
Comments 26
Absolute disrespect to the publishers for splitting this anthology, but I did ultimately get Vol.1 and will probably get Vol.2 at some point.
Splitting it in half almost seems like a parody of cheapness. How do you do that without feeling embarrassed?
Putting these out as 2 anthologies rather than 1 was definitely a weird decision. I want the complete collection but never in a thousand years am I paying $70 so this makes me less likely to buy either.
Thank you for reviewing both volumes; when I saw the first review I had assumed we would be left guessing on this one.
Just waiting for my physical copy to arrive from Deutschland.
I've been a huge fan of the Turrican series since the original title on both the Amiga and the C64. But buying these will be a no-no. I may look like a sucker, but I'm not one.
I would like to know how it compares to the previously released Turrican collection. Informative journalism should cover that basic issue.
I'll have to stick to Turrican Flashback. It doesn't have Super Turrican 2 but I'd never pay the price they're asking for the anthologies. Maybe when they get a (considrably hefty) discount
@Bydlak Turrican Flashback:
Turrican (am)
Turrican II: The Final Fight (am)
Mega Turrican (MD)
Super Turrican (snes)
@John_Deacon
Thanks for help!
Urgh... I swear, so basically I've played all the Turricans except ST2 which has no equal/duplicate. Whelp... Guess I'll find another way to play it-- Can't justify the price other than a hard sale.
It's like a really good band from your youth getting back together for some shows, but charging crazy price for tickets. Gunlord X is a good alternative to try while the publisher hopefully learns not be so greedy.
@MeloMan Yeah, I don't think it would be worth getting this for Super Turrican 2. I have played Super Turrican 2, and I was disappointed. It plays fine, but I had issues with the stage design. The Mode 7 sections felt tedious and out of place. The music was not the energizing stuff I expected and wanted from Turrican. It's not what I wanted from Turrican after Super and Mega Turrican.
@sdelfin I almost wish I felt the same way about Turrican 2. At this price I won’t be getting this second anthology but I really loved it. The music I always found fantastic in all the games but 2 I may like a little more.
There's absolutely no reason they couldn't have put these games on one collection. That and I already got the previous Turrican collection, which felt like a better deal and a more complete/basic offering. These two volumes feel like they only exist for the super-fans who really care about minor differences.
@Bydlak Unfortunately I haven’t played Turrican Flashback so I’m not at liberty to comment. This is also a mini-review which meant there was very limited space. Please don’t hold it against me: I tried to include enough detail to give Flashback owners a clear picture.
@FishyS You’re very welcome, thanks for reading!
@gcunit And that's how they win.
Its 'gamers' like you who allow Developers/Publishers to do stuff like this, knowing they'll be rewarded for it.
❗️I can't wait for Volume 3...
I would have been interested at the right price/package. But splitting them in two is just a cheap move. HARD PASS!
Everything on this one should had been included on the first one.
Despite the games being good, split half dozen of 16bits games in two volumes isn't just cheap, it's dirty, a anti-consumer practice at all. It would be reasonable if each volume was sold at 5 bucks. But still, this splitting also means a waste of resources. Pitiful, dismal, evil.
A while ago I googled for lists of the best Sega Genesis games. I looked for long lists each at least 50 games long, that were ranked. I assigned points based on rank and added them all up. I was left with 16 lists, 396 unique games and 1,465 total entries.
Mega Turrican ended up the #27 best Sega Genesis game.
Super Turrican 2 was #93 on IGN's Top 100 SNES games.
@Serpenterror
"Everything on this one should had been included on the first one."
"first one"?
United Games Entertainment GmbH strikes again.
I have volumes 1 & 2, just wanted them for the collection. But I agree all content should have been on one anthology.
@Bydlak Unfortunately, this is gaming journalism, which is generally uninformative.
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