Turrican Flashback

When I think of my favorite run 'n gun shooters growing up, I of course picture Contra, Gunstar Heroes and even the arcade version of Midnight Resistance with the rotary joystick. But if you grew up in Europe, there's another name that defined this exciting genre -- Turrican. This was the 1990 action game that played like a mash-up of Contra and Metroid, offering massive stages to explore and tons of aliens to annihilate. The franchise bounced from the Commodore 64 to Amiga before eventually landing on both the Super NES and Genesis. And while it was never a huge hit in the United States, Turrican inspired countless developers and is even partially responsible for Duke Nukem.

Now, three decades after the iconic game was first released, the series returns with Turrican Flashback, a fantastic new compilation that includes four of the franchise's best games. We see it go from a humble yet impressive computer game to a confident console powerhouse, complete with an improved control scheme, a much-needed rewind button and all the cheats intact. It's a must-own for anybody who grew up loving the over-the-top action of Turrican. But can an American with relatively little nostalgia for the franchise still get into it? That's what I want to find out.

In case you've never heard of Turrican, it was a run 'n gun shooter developed by Manfred Trenz that originally came out on Commodore 64 before getting an updated port on Amiga computers. This led to a number of popular sequels, including a second Amiga game (which was reworked for America to be a Universal Soldier tie-in), as well as Mega Turrican on the Genesis and two Super Turrican games on the Super NES. Many of these games were developed by Factor 5, the German developer that would later go on to port Contra: The Alien Wars to the Game Boy before finding worldwide success with Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.

Unlike most run 'n gun shooters, Turrican has always been more about the exploration than simply running from left to right shooting bad guys. All four of the games included in this compilation features massive stages to investigate, often to the point where it's not always clear where you're supposed to be going. Many of these stages are as vertical as they are horizontal, having us platform our way up into the sky and swim down below the surface. They are filled with multiple paths, secret areas and ugly boss creatures. It all leads to surprisingly long adventures that you can play and replay in many different ways.

The four games we get in this collection include the 16-bit version of the original Turrican, the 1991 hit Turrican II: The Final Fight, the Genesis spin-off Mega Turrican and the Super NES classic Super Turrican. These are four exciting shooters that shows a growing franchise not only learn from their mistakes, but experiment every step of the way. Mega Turrican, for example, mixes things up with a helpful grappling hook straight out of Bionic Commando, while Super Turrican offers its own spin on things by giving our hero the ability to freeze enemies. None of these games radically change-up the formula, but each offers something unique that allows them to stand out individually.

As an American who came to the Turrican franchise late, I was happy to finally have a chance to go back to the start and play through the original game. As expected, this was the hardest installment to go back to. It's a punishingly difficult platformer that definitely shows its age, especially when it comes to the unexpected hits and cheap deaths. Enemies will fly out of nowhere and give you only a second to react, zapping our hero of all (or, at least, most) of his health.

Click For the Full Picture Archive

Thankfully, this collection makes all four games more accessible by adding a new rewind button that allows us to undo every mistake. Now, look, I know that the very thought of a rewind button will annoy life-long fans and Turrican purists, but as far as I'm concerned, this simple addition fixes a lot of the more outdated design decisions found in the first couple games. It allowed me to explore the well-crafted worlds without the fear of cheap and unfair deaths. For those of us who haven't memorized every level and enemy location, this is a great feature that makes the series a whole lot more accessible for newcomers. And if you're a purist who can't wait to tell me to "git gud," then take a breath and remember that the rewind button is completely optional. You don't need to push it if you don't want to.

Many of the cheap deaths and questionable design decisions found in the first game were remedied in the sequel, Turrican II: The Final Fight. This follow-up has better level designs, cooler bosses and even a fun shoot 'em up section. It's an all-around better game that deserves the praise it received back in the day. Sure, it's still punishing and doesn't really add much to the formula beyond polish, but it's great to finally be able to play this game without seeing Jean-Claude Van Damme's undead face.

The third game in the collection is Mega Turrican, which was also my introduction to the franchise as a kid. It was originally released on the Genesis in 1994, and this port doesn't miss a beat. This is a ferociously exciting action game with great sprite designs and a cool new gimmick. By giving our hero a Bionic Commando-style grappling hook, we're able to traverse the massive stages like never before. It adds a lot of skill to the gameplay and really shakes the series up in a fun way. It may just be nostalgia talking, but Mega Turrican remains my favorite game in the series.

That's not to take anything away from the final game in the package -- Super Turrican. This Super NES installment ditches the grappling hook and replaces it with a freeze ray. It's easily the best looking of the four games in the collection and it's fun seeing some of the iconic bosses recreated with Mode 7 effects, but the freeze ray isn't all that interesting and the level designs rely too much on narrow corridors and bottomless pits.

Click For the Full Picture Archive

Although I ended up liking Mega Turrican and The Final Fight the most, all four games are worth playing. This is one of the rare video game collections where every single entry demands your attention. And thanks to a brand-new control scheme that utilizes every button on the pad, controlling the game has never been easier and more intuitive. From firing secondary weapons to dropping bombs to rolling up into a tiny ball just like Samus, a lot is being asked of the controller. Once you play the games this way, you'll never want to go back.

As a compilation, Turrican Flashback gets so much right. It has a slick menu that's easy to use, as well as enough customization for the display to make almost anybody happy. It doesn't go into the history or give us any context, but the developers have included everything else. They've even printed out the cheat codes and added save states, and that's on top of the rewind button we've already talked about. This package does an excellent job of giving the hardcore fans what they want, while also being inviting enough to get a whole new generation of gamers addicted to Turrican.

The only real downside of this compilation is that it's not as comprehensive as it should be. It features four great games, but where's Super Turrican 2? Or what the Nintendo Entertainment System version of Super Turrican that mashed the first two installments into one explosive action game? It also would have been fun to play some of the alternate versions, such as switching between the Commodore 64 and Amiga versions of the original 1990 game. There are so many ports and versions of Turrican, it's a shame that only four of them show up in this compilation.

But even though it may not be comprehensive, Turrican Flashback makes a strong case for this classic franchise. All four games not only look and play great, but they are also filled with some of the best video game music you'll ever hear. It's worth buying the collection just for Chris Huelsbeck's brilliant score, it's that good. This collection will make you yearn for a new Turrican game, if only so that we can get more incredible music.

By combining the best elements from Contra and Metroid, Turrican won over an entire generation of run 'n gun fans in the 1990s. Now it's back, thanks to Turrican Flashback, an exciting new compilation that features the iconic original, as well as Turrican II: The Final Fight, Mega Turrican and Super Turrican. This is a slick package that has thought of just about everything, including a rewind button, cheat codes and save states. Sure, it's missing some games and the difficulty can be punishing at times, but Turrican Flashback is a fantastic collection that shows us why this franchise is beloved by so many people. If you love run 'n gun shooters, then Turrican is for you.