Turrican
Encyclopedia
Turrican is a 1989
video game programmed
and designed by Manfred Trenz
. It was first developed for the Commodore 64
by Rainbow Arts
, but was ported
to other systems later. In addition to concept design
and character creation, Trenz personally programmed Turrican on the Commodore 64. A sequel, Turrican II, followed 1991
for the Commodore 64 and other platforms.
For generations, mankind sought a return to Alterra. Finally, genetic science created a saviour: Turrican, a mutant warrior, bio-engineered for the task of planetary reclamation. In the meantime, MORGUL has diligently twisted Alterran life forms to his brutal, destructive purposes. Thus, Turrican's challenges consist in eliminating hostile organisms from Alterra's five multi-level worlds and, finally, destroying the three faces of MORGUL.
Turrican was developed mainly by Manfred Trenz and published by Rainbow Arts
. A later Amiga conversion was produced by Factor 5
.
Turrican was also released for the Atari ST
, Amiga
, CDTV
, Mega Drive/Genesis
, Game Boy
, PC Engine, ZX Spectrum
and Amstrad CPC
. The console ports were handled by The Code Monkeys and published by Accolade.
"Subsong 2" from Turrican, arranged by Ramiro Vaca, is actually the song "Escape" from The Transformers: The Movie soundtrack.
Chris Hülsbeck
composed for the Amiga conversions of Turrican, Turrican II and Turrican 3, as well as Super Turrican (SNES), Mega Turrican and Super Turrican 2.
The title screen for Turrican is based upon the Manowar
album cover Kings of Metal
.
The Turrican series are well known for the quality of their soundtracks. The most notable is the Turrican 2 soundtrack for Amiga
, composed by Chris Hülsbeck
. Music from Turrican II was performed live by a full orchestra at the second Symphonic Game Music Concert
in 2004. The event took place in Leipzig
, Germany
.
and Psycho-Nics Oscar. While the huge levels and the morph-ball function were inspired by Metroid, the overall graphics design and weapons were inspired by Psycho-Nics Oscar. Unlike many other action games of its time, Turrican did not force the player to complete a linear level. Instead, the player can explore each level and uncover secrets.
, was finished before the C64 version, but Manfred Trenz cites the C64 version as the original design. The game was also released for the CDTV, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum and PC (MS-DOS
).
game initially designed for the Mega Drive/Genesis, and later followed by an Amiga
port under the title of Turrican 3: Payment Day. A PC (MS-DOS) and Amiga CD32
version was also planned and developed, but it was never released and only some enemy sprite designs have surfaced . Turrican 3 for the C64 is a fan-game and was released on August 28, 2004 at the Demoparty
Evoke
by the group Smash Designs.
, this Turrican game was created by Manfred Trenz alone. It is based roughly on the levels of the first two Turrican games.
, done by Factor 5. They were released in both 1993 and 1995, and are endorsed on an own and unrelated chronology to the previous Turrican games.
, but was never released because publisher THQ
stopped development. The game was intended for PC (Windows
) and Dreamcast . Screenshots and videos show how the world of Turrican would have looked . In an interview, Manfred Trenz, creator of Turrican, Turrican II, Super Turrican (NES) and co-developer of Turrican 3D, stated that many members of the project were far too profit-oriented, and the project failed as a result.
Thornado is another never-released Turrican spin-off. Handled by the US branch of Factor 5, they did not use the name Turrican because of legal issues. It was developed first for the Nintendo 64
and later for the GameCube
. All that is available from this game is a piece of preliminary music composed by Chris Hülsbeck
and some art assets that were reused in Star Wars: Rebel Strike, such as the Golden Gate-like looking bridge. The "Thornado Demo" track which was released as a teaser for the upcoming GameCube game, was in fact running on the older Nintendo 64 sound hardware using Factor 5's new proprietary MusyX software sound engine. The Thornado demo, although not available on Factor 5's website anymore, can still be found on Chris Hülsbeck's page at GarageBand.com
.
Next-gen Turrican; in April 2007, a Gamasutra
article revealed that Factor 5 was working on concepts for a new Next-gen Turrican game. Since the game was being planned once again by the US branch of Factor 5 and this went bankrupt not long after, this game was never released either.
freeware
sequel released for Windows
in 2007. In the past there were already several other more or less ambitious fanmade remakes of Turrican including T2002, T4 Funeral and even a Turrican table for Visual Pinball
, but Hurrican is particularly notable for its 2nd place in the 2008 Indie Game Showcase contest.
1989 in video gaming
-Notable releases:* October 3, Brøderbund releases the Prince of Persia game, the first in a series of games, noted for its advancements in animation....
video game programmed
Game programming
Game programming, a subset of game development, is the programming of computer, console or arcade games. Though often engaged in by professional game programmers, many novices may program games as a hobby...
and designed by Manfred Trenz
Manfred Trenz
Manfred Trenz is a German computer game developer. He was the developer of the popular Turrican video game series, the Commodore 64 version of the game R-Type and also The Great Giana Sisters. Several of his games have achieved cult status...
. It was first developed for the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
by Rainbow Arts
Rainbow Arts
Rainbow Arts is a German game developer company founded in 1984 in Gütersloh by Marc Ulrich which was later bought by Funsoft, and eventually absorbed by THQ in 1999...
, but was ported
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
to other systems later. In addition to concept design
Game design
Game design, a subset of game development, is the process of designing the content and rules of a game in the pre-production stage and design of gameplay, environment, storyline, and characters during production stage. The term is also used to describe both the game design embodied in a game as...
and character creation, Trenz personally programmed Turrican on the Commodore 64. A sequel, Turrican II, followed 1991
1991 in video gaming
-Notable releases:*Microprose creates Civilization, Sid Meier's most successful game .*Electronic Arts releases James Pond 2 and Road Rash for Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, starting a series of games that were popular in the 1990s....
for the Commodore 64 and other platforms.
Story
The lost colony of Alterra is 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 a Multiple Organism Unit Link. MORGUL, for short. Early colonists used MORGUL to render Alterra inhabitable. But a cataclysmic quake severed all system interface functions, and MORGUL murderously rebelled. The 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 saviour: Turrican, a mutant warrior, bio-engineered for the task of planetary reclamation. In the meantime, MORGUL has diligently twisted Alterran life forms to his brutal, destructive purposes. Thus, Turrican's challenges consist in eliminating hostile organisms from Alterra's five multi-level worlds and, finally, destroying the three faces of MORGUL.
History
The series started in 1989 on the Commodore 64 with a demo level of the full game which was released in 1990. Turrican became very popular due to its high technical achievements, demonstrating graphics which many did not believe to be possible on a C64.Turrican was developed mainly by Manfred Trenz and published by Rainbow Arts
Rainbow Arts
Rainbow Arts is a German game developer company founded in 1984 in Gütersloh by Marc Ulrich which was later bought by Funsoft, and eventually absorbed by THQ in 1999...
. A later Amiga conversion was produced by Factor 5
Factor 5
Factor 5 GmbH is an independent software and video game developer. The company was originally co-founded by five former Rainbow Arts employees in 1987 in Cologne, Germany, which served as the inspiration behind the studio's name....
.
Turrican was also released for the Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
, Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, CDTV
CDTV
The CDTV was a multimedia platform developed by Commodore International and launched in 1991. On a technological level it was essentially a Commodore Amiga 500 home computer in a Hi-Fi style case with a single-speed CD-ROM drive. Commodore marketed the machine as an all-in-one home multimedia...
, Mega Drive/Genesis
Sega Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...
, Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
, PC Engine, ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
and Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
. The console ports were handled by The Code Monkeys and published by Accolade.
"Subsong 2" from Turrican, arranged by Ramiro Vaca, is actually the song "Escape" from The Transformers: The Movie soundtrack.
Chris Hülsbeck
Chris Hülsbeck
Chris Hülsbeck is a video game music composer from Germany.He has written soundtracks for more than 70 titles, the latest being Star Wars: Rebel Strike for Nintendo GameCube. Many of his scores for the Commodore 64 are regarded as classics among enthusiasts today, most notably The Great Giana...
composed for the Amiga conversions of Turrican, Turrican II and Turrican 3, as well as Super Turrican (SNES), Mega Turrican and Super Turrican 2.
The title screen for Turrican is based upon the Manowar
Manowar (band)
Manowar is an American heavy metal band from Auburn, New York. Formed in 1980 the group is known for its lyrics based on fantasy and mythological topics along with their "loud and bombastic" sound...
album cover Kings of Metal
Kings of Metal
Kings of Metal is the sixth album by heavy metal band Manowar. Released in 1988 by Atlantic Records, it is thought by many to be among their very best releases....
.
The Turrican series are well known for the quality of their soundtracks. The most notable is the Turrican 2 soundtrack for Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, composed by Chris Hülsbeck
Chris Hülsbeck
Chris Hülsbeck is a video game music composer from Germany.He has written soundtracks for more than 70 titles, the latest being Star Wars: Rebel Strike for Nintendo GameCube. Many of his scores for the Commodore 64 are regarded as classics among enthusiasts today, most notably The Great Giana...
. Music from Turrican II was performed live by a full orchestra at the second Symphonic Game Music Concert
Symphonic Game Music Concert
The Symphonic Game Music Concerts are a series of award-winning, annual German video game music concerts initiated in 2003, notable for being the longest running and the first of their kind outside of Japan...
in 2004. The event took place in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Gameplay
Turrican can be described as a cross between MetroidMetroid
is an action-adventure video game, and the first entry in the Metroid series. It was co-developed by Nintendo's Research and Development 1 division and Intelligent Systems, and was released in Japan in August 1986, in North America in August 1987, and in Europe in January 1988...
and Psycho-Nics Oscar. While the huge levels and the morph-ball function were inspired by Metroid, the overall graphics design and weapons were inspired by Psycho-Nics Oscar. Unlike many other action games of its time, Turrican did not force the player to complete a linear level. Instead, the player can explore each level and uncover secrets.
Turrican II: The Final Fight
Turrican II: The Final Fight was released in 1991. The Amiga version, done by Factor 5Factor 5
Factor 5 GmbH is an independent software and video game developer. The company was originally co-founded by five former Rainbow Arts employees in 1987 in Cologne, Germany, which served as the inspiration behind the studio's name....
, was finished before the C64 version, but Manfred Trenz cites the C64 version as the original design. The game was also released for the CDTV, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum and PC (MS-DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
).
Mega Turrican/Turrican 3: Payment Day
Mega Turrican was an original Factor 5Factor 5
Factor 5 GmbH is an independent software and video game developer. The company was originally co-founded by five former Rainbow Arts employees in 1987 in Cologne, Germany, which served as the inspiration behind the studio's name....
game initially designed for the Mega Drive/Genesis, and later followed by an Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
port under the title of Turrican 3: Payment Day. A PC (MS-DOS) and Amiga CD32
Amiga CD32
The Amiga CD32, styled "CD32" , was the first 32-bit CD-ROM based video game console released in western Europe, Australia, Canada and Brazil. It was first announced at the Science Museum in London, United Kingdom on 16 July 1993, and was released in September of the same year...
version was also planned and developed, but it was never released and only some enemy sprite designs have surfaced . Turrican 3 for the C64 is a fan-game and was released on August 28, 2004 at the Demoparty
Demoparty
A demoparty is an event that gathers demosceners and other computer enthusiasts to compete in competitions. A typical demoparty is a non-stop event lasting over a weekend, providing the visitors a lot of time to socialize. The competing works, at least those in the most important competitions, are...
Evoke
Evoke (demo party)
Evoke is the largest demoparty held annually in Germany .Since 1997, Evoke takes place in the region of Cologne and is organized by Digitale Kultur e.V. Each year this computer festival attracts visitors from around the world and is known for high-quality entries in their competitions...
by the group Smash Designs.
Super Turrican (Manfred Trenz)
Released for the NESNintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
, this Turrican game was created by Manfred Trenz alone. It is based roughly on the levels of the first two Turrican games.
Super Turrican and Super Turrican 2 (Factor 5)
The Super Turrican games were independent developments for the SNESSuper Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
, done by Factor 5. They were released in both 1993 and 1995, and are endorsed on an own and unrelated chronology to the previous Turrican games.
Never released
Turrican 3D was intended to bring Turrican into the third dimensionDimension
In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a space or object is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus a line has a dimension of one because only one coordinate is needed to specify a point on it...
, but was never released because publisher THQ
THQ
THQ Inc. is an American developer and publisher of video games. Founded in 1989 in the United States, the company develops products for video game consoles, handheld game systems, as well as for personal computers and wireless devices...
stopped development. The game was intended for PC (Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
) and Dreamcast . Screenshots and videos show how the world of Turrican would have looked . In an interview, Manfred Trenz, creator of Turrican, Turrican II, Super Turrican (NES) and co-developer of Turrican 3D, stated that many members of the project were far too profit-oriented, and the project failed as a result.
Thornado is another never-released Turrican spin-off. Handled by the US branch of Factor 5, they did not use the name Turrican because of legal issues. It was developed first for the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
and later for the GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
. All that is available from this game is a piece of preliminary music composed by Chris Hülsbeck
Chris Hülsbeck
Chris Hülsbeck is a video game music composer from Germany.He has written soundtracks for more than 70 titles, the latest being Star Wars: Rebel Strike for Nintendo GameCube. Many of his scores for the Commodore 64 are regarded as classics among enthusiasts today, most notably The Great Giana...
and some art assets that were reused in Star Wars: Rebel Strike, such as the Golden Gate-like looking bridge. The "Thornado Demo" track which was released as a teaser for the upcoming GameCube game, was in fact running on the older Nintendo 64 sound hardware using Factor 5's new proprietary MusyX software sound engine. The Thornado demo, although not available on Factor 5's website anymore, can still be found on Chris Hülsbeck's page at GarageBand.com
GarageBand.com
GarageBand.com was a large online community of independent musicians and music fans. Founded in 1999, the site was used by musicians who were seeking greater exposure and critical insight provided by an audience of their peers. The site was also used by music fans to discover new independent...
.
Next-gen Turrican; in April 2007, a Gamasutra
Gamasutra
Gamasutra is a website founded in 1997 for video game developers. It is owned and operated by UBM TechWeb , a division of United Business Media, and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine Game Developer...
article revealed that Factor 5 was working on concepts for a new Next-gen Turrican game. Since the game was being planned once again by the US branch of Factor 5 and this went bankrupt not long after, this game was never released either.
Fan projects
Hurrican is an independentIndependent video game development
Independent video game development is the process of creating video games without the financial support of a video game publisher. While large firms can create independent games, they are usually designed by an individual or a small team of as many as ten people, depending on the complexity of the...
freeware
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
sequel released for Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
in 2007. In the past there were already several other more or less ambitious fanmade remakes of Turrican including T2002, T4 Funeral and even a Turrican table for Visual Pinball
Visual Pinball
Visual Pinball is a freeware video game engine for pinball tables and similar games e.g. pachinko machines. The software is composed of an editor and the simulator part itself. It runs on Microsoft Windows...
, but Hurrican is particularly notable for its 2nd place in the 2008 Indie Game Showcase contest.
External links
- Turrican on thelegacy.de
- Turrican 1-3 Download Backups by Factor 5 for UAE
- (Download - Turrican 2 PC Windows Setup) based on DosboxDOSBoxDOSBox is emulator software that emulates an IBM PC compatible computer running MS-DOS. It is intended especially for use with old PC games. DOSBox is free software....