There was a bit of a surprise on the latest Retro Spielen webcast with legendary composer Chris Huelsbeck - the show's special guest was none other than founding president and creative director of the defunct and very much missed Factor 5, Julian Eggebrecht. The stage was set for some nostalgic chatter regarding one of Europe's most talented studios - and a former Nintendo partner.
But what we were not expecting was a delicious insight into Super Turrican, the first of the series to be released on the Super Nintendo. At the one hour and twenty minutes mark Eggebrecht says that the version of Super Turrican we know and love was not the one that they wanted to release. Due to the publisher being unwilling or unable to pay up for the 6Mbit cartridge production costs, the game ended up being shipped on a smaller 4Mbit cartridge instead.
This was a well known fact for many years now, but Eggebrecht addressed what was left on that extra 33 percent of ROM memory. The whole final level was cut, including an extra boss. One of the level's unique gameplay gimmicks was that you had to use Turrican's freeze beam to "unfreeze" enemies in order to progress, a unique gameplay twist for this section of the game. If you ever had a feeling the game abruptly ends and feels like there was something else left to do, now you know why.
That was not the end of Eggebrecht's revelations. This definitive 6Mbit Super Turrican ROM was set to be released back in 2008 when both Super Turrican and Mega Turrican arrived on Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console service, as a special bonus download for people who purchased both titles. However, this never came to be due to Nintendo's refusal to publish anything that wasn't commercially available previously - something which was company policy back then.
As long time fans of the series we are sad to know that Nintendo refused to turn this wrong into a right using the Virtual Console service. We can only hope that one day that proper version will surface to the hardcore Turrican-loving audience - do you consider yourself to be part of that audience? Let us know with a comment.
[source twitch.tv]
Comments 45
Damn! Hope they can get that version available somehow sometime!
God Nintendo you have your morals fairly messed up at times. No reason whatsoever for that to be sitting somewhere never to see the light of day.
maybe on the New 3DS 😍 that'd be awesome
super turrican was my favorite snes game of them all. i still remember that windy level with fondness. i've never seen a game do that before or since. put it in the eshop!!!
I would have picked this up on the Eshop.
Nintendo can be a great and fun company...but they can also make some of the weirdest and possibly dumbest choices I've ever seen.
<--- Well, yes, I pretty much consider myself to be part of the hardcore Turrican-loving audience. I guess I would kill to get that definitive version of Super Turrican! Couldn't they just sell the ROM on their own for use with emulators? Or bundled with an emulator or whatever. Goddamnit, sell it on Steam! Or GOG.com would be appropriate!
This is why we can't have nice things. Y_Y
Just so you know Sony has the same policy for PSone classics.
Bring Super Turrican 2 back to the VC and all will be forgiven.
I only just found out about this game about a year ago, and played it for the first time.. what a gem! Too bad it's not the "full" release but still a great game.
@Smash_kirby Is that true if so then I guess they are not without some reason
Man this is depressing
@LiamR - no profanity, please.
@Smash_kirby - Yes but this is gaming in 2016, and we all know Nintendo is always wrong, and Sony is always right even when they engage in the same practices.
Hehe, just being snarky, relax people!
Of course Nintendo at it again with their dumb decisions!
Not good at all. I would have loved to play the original uncut version of Super Turrican. And yes it always did seem like the game ended abruptly and maybe the enhanced version would have fixed the Alien train level like Mega Turrican did.
Well, this is another shame that Factor 5 went under, since they could've released it on the Wii U VC now that the policy in question has changed.
Le'ts hope for a N3DS release!
I remember Turrican on Sega Genesis and I had so much fun with the game. The bosses felt very complex.
Come on, Nintendo. Releasing this will print you money! Do you guys not like money or is it because it isn't a Zelda or Pokemon game?
They ought to just release the definitive ROM on their website. That'll get in Nintendo's craw, and there's nothing they can do about it!
Heck, Factor5 owns that unreleased code, and they've already released the prototype of Targa/Rendering Ranger to the public. So why not go nuts?
This is one of the stupid flaws with Nintendo's VC service: Sometimes it actually makes sense to release a slightly different version of the original game. I mean, most of the time you obviously want these games to be just as you remembered them, but obviously there's rare times where it might be a good idea to have a little leeway just in case; this being one of those times.
Damn, I had no idea! Nintendo 16-bit Super Turrican wasn't exactly a favorite of mine on the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console back in 2008 but I did have fun playing it for what it was (also that awesome soundtrack was rockin'). Super Turrican 2 I liked as well on the Nintendo Wii VC but could not get very far in it (then again, it's been years since I last played them).
To each their own
I love the Turrican series as much as I do Landstalker, Shinobi 3, and some others. Man... Nintendo just has backwards thinking sometimes... I get WHY they had the "not previously released" rule but I mean.... Let's have some forward thinking here...
Can you ask him why Super Turrican 2 is deleted from VC?
@Turrican selling a ROM that requires an emulator they don't own rights to is questionable - Nintendo could likely pull a lawsuit on that, as it encourages piracy. Selling it WITH an emulator is definitely illegal, as they do not own the rights to sell the emulator. So sorry, those two options are not likely, as Nintendo could (and probably would) sue them for that. And they'd have every right to, as the SNES is their property.
Compare that to R4 Cards... People argued they could use them to run legal homebrew. Doesn't matter, it opens the door for and encouraged piracy.
Well that explains why Super Turrican ended so abruptly. Now I really want to see this complete version, though I still want to see the Amiga games more.
How about put the rom online so I could get a repro copy of it. I'm sure the repro people will find a way to turn that 4Mbit into 6Mbit so we could play that definitive version.
Why was it not released as a "WiiWare" title?
@MakeMyBiscuit
I was just going to post this, seems likean obvious work around unless Wiiware titles could not run on emulation.
Agreed. There were/are so many great WiiWare titles it is hard to believe this would have not been possible even with their 40 MB space limit. It actually seamed like a no brainer. The originals on VC and this enhanced version on WiiWare. Oh well
@The_Top_Loader Unfortunately your post was deemed as profane and required editing. Please avoid profanity, as per community rules. Thanks.
@gcunit It wasn't me, someone hacked some how
@The_Top_Loader We'd better consider deleting your account then if you can't ensure it's used appropriately.
Still sick because Super Turrican 2 never came out in EU Wii VC.
@gcunit Well actually I meant you guys hacked it, you may have missed my point. I think what you guys replaced it with was much worse than the very mild language that was there in the first place. If it can be used on TV in an episode of the simpsons I'm sure it can be used on a game forum that supports games like GTA 5
@The_Top_Loader I did miss the point, thanks for clarifying. Fact is, I don't make the rules and you tripped the profanity alarm. I assume you're joking about my edit, but even if you're not, nothing I wrote tripped the alarm - what words in particular did you think were problematic?
@gcunit None, it just sounds stupid when someone reads it - which can be offensive to me (yes that is a joke). Why didn't you just put expletive deleted itstead. Even though you don't make the rules and probably had nothing to do with it - do keep in mind that word is common language in other countries like my Native Australia it is mostly said with a humorous twist, even in Japan when you watch a DBZ episode it could almost be Vegeta's catch phrase he says it so much
@The_Top_Loader There are several words on NL's 'profanity' list that I would question, and I dislike the idea that any word needs to be avoided for risk of offending someone, but it's not my site and I've not been asked for input on the rules, I've just been asked to help ensure the existing rules are applied.
When it comes to editing profanity, I'm taken entirely by my mood at the time, but generally with a motive to get the attention of the OP in some way, which hopefully helps reduce the chance of further profanity in the future. Looks like I got your attention, but will it help you consider how you express yourself on this site in future...?
@gcunit Not really. But hey at least you tried right? If you hate my humour check out my videos since we've gone this far to get a real good laugh as I may as well try to shamelessly go plug myself
Still have both my c64 and amiga copies of Turrican and Turrican 2. Top top games.
I am reminded here of the 'original version' of Donkey Kong in the Virtual Console.
It's on the upcoming Super NT
@StarDust4Ever Unfortunately the so called Super Turrican: Director's Cut on Super NT is just the original version of the game
@LaytonPuzzle27 No it isn't.
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