Super Turrican (SNES, 1993)
Graphics-7 Sound-8 Control-7.5 Challenge-7.5
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-8.5 Fun-7 Originality-5.5
Overall Score-7
+
Decent weapon system (has the 360 degree beam from the previous games (here it petrifies enemies for two seconds))
Some fun enemies (mammoths pushing snowballs, mini-walkers that make a sound when you jump on them)
Hidden items
Some nice effects (weather, rotation, "pulsating" backgrounds)
Good variety (weather effects on gameplay, use item containers as platforms to reach optional areas)
Satisfying SFX overall
Knockback (minor) and invincibility time after taking a hit
Shows you how many diamonds and lives you’ve collected and missed after each beaten level
Shield power up (lasts for ~5 seconds – ~3 seconds less than the Mega Turrican one)
Move while firing
Respawn on the spot (vs bosses) or close to it (during levels)
Smart bomb (wall beam to each side, less efficient than in Mega Turrican though)
+/
Vertical-based jumps without momentum (similar to Contra)
Time limit (usually pretty long at 400+ seconds though it goes against the exploration aspect of the levels)
Invincibility while in ball form (overpowered since it doesn’t cost that much energy to use)
Can’t move while crouching
Pretty easy to rack up extra lives
A bit harder than Mega Turrican on default settings
Beaten enemies don’t respawn
Rehashed bosses and backgrounds from Mega Turrican
-
Trial & error (pixel perfect jumps, some leaps of faith (can’t look up/down), some traps in the factory level, ice level, the parachute enemies in the ice level can be used as platforms, alien train, hand boss isn’t always solid, revealed platforms disappear if you move to where they’re off screen), loose scrolling – similar to Earthworm Jim or Aladdin for MD)
No boss in the ice level
Hit detection problems (snowballs aren't always solid, some objects lose solidity when moving at a decent speed in ball form, there's an invisible roof in the sky at the edge of the screen)
Tedious and frustrating ice level (slippery ground, tough jumps, trial & error, wind effects)
Slow alien nest level (there’s a hidden shortcut in the first sub stage though)
Most backgrounds and all items look pretty generic (even the alien nest from Mega Turrican/Turrican 3 looks kind of plastic here)
It's easy to accidentally pick a weapon you don't want because the power ups hover so close to each other and there’s no weapon inventory (not that it matters much)
Short (4 stages divided into 12 sub stages on Normal, don’t get to fight ‘the machine’ as the game ends after the alien boss)
Easy bosses
Some distracting backgrounds (garish colors, detail overload)
Some cheap hits (lightning strikes in stage 1)
Two parts where if you fall down you’ll have to replay a large segment
No item name announcer (see Mega Turrican)
Can't use the roll move to jump further (like in Mega Turrican or DKC)
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-8.5 Fun-7 Originality-5.5
Overall Score-7
+
Decent weapon system (has the 360 degree beam from the previous games (here it petrifies enemies for two seconds))
Some fun enemies (mammoths pushing snowballs, mini-walkers that make a sound when you jump on them)
Hidden items
Some nice effects (weather, rotation, "pulsating" backgrounds)
Good variety (weather effects on gameplay, use item containers as platforms to reach optional areas)
Satisfying SFX overall
Knockback (minor) and invincibility time after taking a hit
Shows you how many diamonds and lives you’ve collected and missed after each beaten level
Shield power up (lasts for ~5 seconds – ~3 seconds less than the Mega Turrican one)
Move while firing
Respawn on the spot (vs bosses) or close to it (during levels)
Smart bomb (wall beam to each side, less efficient than in Mega Turrican though)
+/
Vertical-based jumps without momentum (similar to Contra)
Time limit (usually pretty long at 400+ seconds though it goes against the exploration aspect of the levels)
Invincibility while in ball form (overpowered since it doesn’t cost that much energy to use)
Can’t move while crouching
Pretty easy to rack up extra lives
A bit harder than Mega Turrican on default settings
Beaten enemies don’t respawn
Rehashed bosses and backgrounds from Mega Turrican
-
Trial & error (pixel perfect jumps, some leaps of faith (can’t look up/down), some traps in the factory level, ice level, the parachute enemies in the ice level can be used as platforms, alien train, hand boss isn’t always solid, revealed platforms disappear if you move to where they’re off screen), loose scrolling – similar to Earthworm Jim or Aladdin for MD)
No boss in the ice level
Hit detection problems (snowballs aren't always solid, some objects lose solidity when moving at a decent speed in ball form, there's an invisible roof in the sky at the edge of the screen)
Tedious and frustrating ice level (slippery ground, tough jumps, trial & error, wind effects)
Slow alien nest level (there’s a hidden shortcut in the first sub stage though)
Most backgrounds and all items look pretty generic (even the alien nest from Mega Turrican/Turrican 3 looks kind of plastic here)
It's easy to accidentally pick a weapon you don't want because the power ups hover so close to each other and there’s no weapon inventory (not that it matters much)
Short (4 stages divided into 12 sub stages on Normal, don’t get to fight ‘the machine’ as the game ends after the alien boss)
Easy bosses
Some distracting backgrounds (garish colors, detail overload)
Some cheap hits (lightning strikes in stage 1)
Two parts where if you fall down you’ll have to replay a large segment
No item name announcer (see Mega Turrican)
Can't use the roll move to jump further (like in Mega Turrican or DKC)