Turrican is an action platformer game and first title in the Turrican series, originally developed by Factor 5 and published by Rainbow Arts in 1990 for the Commodore 64 personal computer. In the same year the game was ported to the Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC and Sinclair ZX Spectrum. The subsequent year the game was ported to the NEC TurboGrafX-16, Sega Mega Drive and Nintendo Game Boy by Accolade.
Story
The manuals of the computer and console versions of the game give different, conflicting storylines, with the console versions being more in line with the science fiction theme of the game and the rest of the series. As of Turrican Anthology/Flashback, the revised console version storyline is treated as the canonical story of the game.
Computer versions
A story of times long gone by, tells us of the three-headed Morgul, who lives a secluded life in his kingdom. This Morgul is the cause of all the fears and nightmares of mankind. It is furthermore said that in ancient times he was banished to an unknown dimension by the hero Devolon. Fear and sleepless nights disappeared out of the people's lives.
For some time now people have again been tormented by nightmares and suffer from a serious state of dread and fear. Hardly anybody dares to set a foot onto the streets at night and a dreadful fear that Morgul has returned to his kingdom is alive in the people's minds again. As the only man on Earth whose courage has not yet deserted him, you are sent off, once again to free human kind from its burden of fear. You have been armed with the latest weapons and technical equipment for this mission. Find Morgul in his kingdom, and destroy him for once and for all.
Console versions
The story of Turrican begins in the lost colony of Alterra, a completely man-made "lifeworld" abandoned long ago in a nearby galaxy. Alterra is actually five colonies in one. Each self-contained habitat has been separately bio-engineered by a powerful ecosystem generation network known as Multiple Organism Unit Link - M.O.R.G.U.L. for short. Early colonists used M.O.R.G.U.L. to render Alterra inhabitable. But a cataclysmic quake severed all system interface functions... and M.O.R.G.U.L. murderously "rebelled". Those few colonists lucky enough to escape told a grim tale of a higher intelligence gone berserk.
For generations, mankind sought a return to Alterra. Finally, genetic science created a "savior": Turrican, a mutant warrior, bio-engineered for the task of planetary reclamation. In the meantime, M.O.R.G.U.L. has diligently twisted Alterran lifeforms to his brutal, destructive purposes. Thus, Turrican's Challenge: One, Eliminate hostile organisms from Alterra's five multi-level worlds. Two, Destroy the three faces of M.O.R.G.U.L.
Gameplay
Turrican is a run 'n gun style platformer, with a focus on fighting enemies and exploration. Each world contains two or three distinct areas, each of them being wide open areas or large mazes with various secret areas hiding stashes of items and especially extra lives. The player character is equipped with a forward firing gun and a lightning whip which is activated by holding the fire button, allowing the player to fire in all directions at the cost of being unable to move while the weapon is active. The player also carries limited use special weapons which can be activated by pressing its corresponding button on the computer versions or cycled through in the console versions. By crouching and pressing the special weapon button the player character will transform into a buzzsaw, moving forward continuously while causing damage to any enemy it touches; this maneuver can only be used three times for each life and cannot be replenished.
Items
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
 
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Collecting 300 of these gives the player an extra life. |
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Replenishes the player's health gauge. |
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Equips the "Multiple" weapon, which fires a spread of bullets. |
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Equips the "Laser" weapon, which fires a strong, piercing laser forward. |
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Increases the length of the Lightning Whip. |
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Makes the player invulnerable for a brief period of time. |
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Adds ammo for the Power Line, which fires two shockwaves in opposite directions. |
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Adds ammo for the Mine, which drops mines on the ground, hitting any enemy nearby. |
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Adds ammo for the Grenade, which fires a grenade which destroys all enemies on the screen when it hits a solid surface. |
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Gives the player an extra life. |
Stages
| World | Name | Boss 1 | Boss 2 | Area BGM | Boss BGM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thunder Plains | Gauntlet | Dead Head | Mountain Madness Thunder Plains Outpost |
Fistful of Steel |
| 2 | Techno Dungeon | Mother Fish | Trash Master | Enemy Mine Techno Dungeon |
Piranha Shredder |
| 3 | Central Factory | Big Ship* | Jet Pack Attack Base Invader Flightmare |
||
| 4 | Alien Labyrinth | Monolith | Queen Mother | Alien Labyrinth | |
| 5 | Tower of M.O.R.G.U.L. | M.O.R.G.U.L. | Pathfinder Tower of Morgul |
Faces of Terror | |
* Unofficial name. Only appears in the Commodore 64 version of the game.
Enemies
Gallery
Videos
Trivia
- Turrican was originally developed under the title Hurrican. The Turrican title is based after the Italian surname "Turricano", which Manfred Trenz reportedly choose after seeing it on a phone book.[1]