Turrican 2

Copyright : Rainbow Arts | Reviewed by : Malc Jennings

Now here is a game I did not think would ever get converted to the Amstrad or any other format than 16-bit because of it?s high-paced action and fluid gameplay.

It was converted though and by the people who created it too - not an unoffical version like we had expected to see. Turrican is a droid created by the future defense team to kill and destroy all hostile life and get the hell out of there before he too ends up as scrap metal.

Armed to the teath with fire-power and the latest armour you must run through level after level, zone after zone jumping over and killing the murderous droids before they get to you and soon the rest of the population, you are our last and best hope against the machine.

Well, something like that anyway.

Graphics

Turrican was claimed by many to be the King Of Shoot-Em-Ups and others said that the sequel is the replacement king of the Shmups, it?s easy to see why as this game is huge from start to finish and it has gameplay that in this genre is hard to beat.

Graphics in the CPC version of the game look amazing, it almost looks like the Amiga version of the game only with a few more blocks on the in-game characters and less colours. That being said the colour in the CPC version is awesome and I very much doubt that the game could have been converted with a better and more accurate scheme that this one. Turrican looks great and so do the level designs, I very much doubt you?ll find anything truly different about the colour, graphics or layout.

Sound

Sound is amazing, the theme from the Amiga/16-bit version has been ported across with ease and it still sounds great. All of the in-game sounds have been added, minus the in-game music but that?s not a major loss because what it lacks in the music department it more than makes up for in every other way. Obviously you won?t hear "Power Up" or any of the other sampled sounds in this game because converting those as well as the game would probably put a hefty load on the CPC.

Gameplay

Gameplay is amazing, no other shoot-em-up like this one has ever come close to the size of the game itself. It certainly is one of the largest and most impressive games of this genre, you can shoot in any direction, there is a constant variety in the design and you actually have to think about which direction to take and be strategic about your jumping. It may take time to get used to the game if you haven?t played the original but I am sure that you will love this game to bits - many others have before you.