Turrican Reviews

Zzap! 64's August 1990 review awarded Turrican the "Sizzler" rating - reserved for games reaching 90% and above - with a score of 94%. The Zzap! team praised the game's extraordinary graphical achievement on C64 hardware, noting that screenshots were initially mistaken for Amiga output - a testament to Manfred Trenz's programming genius.

The review highlighted the revolutionary power-up system, the enormous and non-linear world design, and Chris Hülsbeck's SID chip soundtrack as standout achievements.

CU Amiga's June 1990 review awarded Turrican the "CU Screen Star" with a final score of 91%. Reviewer Mark Patterson praised the Amiga port for its enhanced colour palette and the richness of Hülsbeck's expanded soundtrack, highlighting the smooth scrolling and impressive sprite work.

CU Amiga awarded Turrican II the "CU Super Star" - reserved for games scoring 93% and above - with a score of 94%. The review praised the game's extraordinary visual quality, the exceptional Hülsbeck soundtrack, and the landmark "The Wall" shoot-'em-up sequence.

Zzap! awarded Turrican II a remarkable 96% in Issue 70, February 1991 - one of the highest-scoring games in the magazine's history. At 96%, Turrican II placed in an elite tier of Zzap!-reviewed games.

The One's March 1991 review awarded Turrican II 91% in Issue 30. The One was known for measured, detailed assessments, and a 91% from this publication carried particular weight.

Amiga Format's review gave Turrican II 80%. Amiga Format was known for a more conservative approach to scoring. The 80% still represented a positive recommendation.

The German publication Amiga Joker awarded Turrican II 89% in its March 1991 issue. Given the game's origins as a German production, the German press response was of particular cultural significance.

GamesMaster awarded Super Turrican 90% upon its 1993 SNES release, confirming Factor 5's successful console adaptation of the Turrican formula. Reviewers praised the freeze ray as the standout new mechanic.

GameFan's four-reviewer panel produced scores of 85%, 92%, 93%, and 80% (average 88%). The spread reflects individual perspectives - high scores from Turrican fans, lower from those who found the SNES version's linearity a step back from the more exploratory Amiga originals.

C+VG scored Super Turrican 83 out of 100. C+VG was known for meticulous platform-by-platform assessments. An 83 represented a solid positive recommendation.

Mean Machines Sega - the UK's leading Mega Drive-specialist magazine - awarded Mega Turrican 92% upon its April 1994 release. The review was enthusiastic about Factor 5's technical prowess on the Mega Drive hardware, praising the vibrant parallax scrolling, the inventive grappling hook mechanic, and Chris Hülsbeck's powerful FM synthesis soundtrack. The magazine highlighted the grappling hook as the single most interesting addition to the Turrican formula and found the overall level design among the best in the Mega Drive action genre.

Mean Machines Sega was known for detailed technical assessments and fair multi-platform comparisons. A 92% confirmed Mega Turrican as one of the Mega Drive's premier action games.

Sega-16 awarded Mega Turrican 8 out of 10 (80%) in its 2004 retrospective review. The assessment praised Factor 5's technical achievement and Chris Hülsbeck's Yamaha FM soundtrack. GamesRadar subsequently ranked Mega Turrican 36th in their list of the best Mega Drive games of all time (2017).

Amiga Power's November 1993 review awarded the game 62% - a score that stood in sharp contrast to the near-unanimous acclaim the series had previously received. Amiga Power was notoriously the most stringent magazine of the Amiga era; a 62% in Amiga Power was broadly equivalent to a positive-to-neutral recommendation in competitor publications with more inflationary scoring.

GamesMaster awarded Super Turrican 2 86% upon its 1995 SNES release. The review praised the game's spectacular set-piece boss encounters and Factor 5's impressive technical delivery on SNES hardware. Reviewers noted that the linear level design sacrificed some of the series' signature exploration, but found the cinematic presentation and Hülsbeck's SNES soundtrack among the best on the platform.

GameFan's four-reviewer panel gave Super Turrican 2 scores ranging from 82% to 88% (average approximately 85%). The panel praised the cinematic boss encounters and the audio quality while noting that the game felt somewhat shorter than ideal. The SNES sound chip's rendition of Hülsbeck's new compositions was specifically called out as a highlight across multiple reviewer assessments.