Super Turrican (NES, 1993)(Plus hack)
Graphics-7 Sound-7 Control-7 Challenge-8/9* Story-5?
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-8.5/9.5* Fun-7 Originality-6
Overall Score-7
*Final boss in the Plus romhack
+
Hidden and off the path items (usually rewarding to get with a bit of a challenge before them in the form of enemies or hazards)
360 degree laser
Smart bombs
Decent variety overall
Mini-bosses
Sometimes good art direction (some environments and bosses - transformers inspired)
Mixes in shoot 'em up-like vertical scrolling levels where you have a jetpack (where you still have a health bar)
Some interesting gimmicks like destructible walls
Some large and detailed sprites
Some cool bosses (the fist, in theory the "drill/antlion" machine boss/lvl 2 boss)
Shield power up (lasts longer than before)
Some nice visual details like the weather effects
Some hidden paths in walls? (mostly a case of trial & error if you find them or not though)
Diddy Kong/Mega Turrican style rolling ball jumps are possible here (and made use of in the level design)
Improved scrolling and resolution compared to the C64 version
Adds some invincibility time after taking a hit
Somewhat remixed levels (somewhat better at times (no more tedious destructible floor segments in the second area, replaced second boss)
Shorter loading between levels (~5 seconds)
No more issues with the camera scrolling too far up when jumping over large pits
Enemies and items no longer disappear as easily if they move off screen or you scroll the screen away from them (was annoying when you found an item and it disappeared because you jumped or had to avoid a hazard, could make some parts a lot easier if you just move back and forth to make things despawn)
Music + sfx throughout and you have mines in ball form (unlike on C64)
Features the bouncing laser shot (makes the 360 laser near redundant in tighter areas)
Temporary invincibility+screen covering attack (b+select, once per level?)
Shorter lvl 3-1 and they removed the wall builders from it (would've preferred a less cheap scrolling level though)
Better hit detection near roofs
Slight knockback after taking a hit was added (adds to the immersion)
New bosses in the final level (kind of easy though)
Plus hack:
Fxes the loose horizontal camera and rearranges the button layout (start to roll and jump to cancel, select to activate smart bomb, b+select to active temporary invincibility), somewhat improved player and gem sprites, keep your weapon's level if you die at the final boss, you can no longer stand on the final boss's head
+/-
Unlimited rolling ball
Invincibility while rolling (and no time limit?)
Can't move while crouching
Jump control takes some getting used to (immediately fall down after releasing the button)
Fairly large maze-like levels (some backtracking here and there)
Smart bombs get blocked by walls and platforms
Fewer and/or harder to find extra lives (it even seems like some where removed leaving those areas empty instead)
No overall time limit
Borrows gameplay elements from Contra (jump and spread shot)/Metroid (rolling ball and exploration)/Gradius (shooter levels)
No separate button for the 360 laser (not a problem in Nestopia)
No weapon inventory
Starts out pretty tough and is harder overall than T2
Smart bombs were nerfed but you now get several blasts per bomb (each is triggered manually) - makes it a bit easier to safely hit smaller flying enemies since you get more tries per bomb
Levels are a bit smaller than on Amiga and some mini-bosses are missing
Faster falling speed than on Amiga
Third area is no longer a scrolling jetpack level (worse since you now have to fall back down if you fall off the upwards only moving platforms and they can also despawn off screen but at least it's easier to react to some hazards)
Alien lair area looks and plays more like in Turrican 2 (4-3 is almost exactly like the finale in Turrican 2 on Amiga)
Life refills between levels
-
No more respawning on the spot and no checkpoints
Tedious platforming is still pretty common (jumps are more vertical based like in Contra and there are some very tight spaces to jump in, sometimes you can fall down and have to redo large segments of a level (especially in the last area), see upward scrolling)
Harder to hit the wall turrets with smart bombs?
Leaps of faith and somewhat loose upward scrolling (like on Amiga; can't look up/down - also means you sometimes can't use the 360 laser to shoot enemies below you) - worse than in Turrican 2
A few dead ends with nothing in them
The 360 laser forces you to to stand still and it takes a second to activate plus another to aim (breaks flow if you don't have the bouncing laser weapon)
Can't swim underwater and there's no change in the physics
Spike traps in the second sub level don't retract so it's much harder to reach the northeastern part
No boss health bars
Somewhat weak sound design for the music
Power ups still tend to spread out a lot when popping out of blocks (worse with gems since they don't float)
Somewhat basic boss patterns
Cheap hits/deaths here and there (the bombing planes and flying red mushrooms, some traps in tight spaces after falling)
Trial & error (can't do the dkc-style jump from a moving platform, finding some item stashes through leaps of faith, boss patterns, shoot 'em up/third level, some traps, leaps of faith)
Very short lvl 3-3
Some enemies in lvl 3-2 take too long to kill considering their patterns
Lvl 3 boss goes down a bit too fast
Somewhat unfitting music choice for the first alien lair area
Repeats stationary turrets a lot
So-so final boss (especially w/ the laser weapon)?
Red turret shots blend into the alien lair background
Somewhat bland and colorless environments overall (better on Amiga)
Lame ending (no escape sequence)
No voice samples
Plus hack:
The final boss is way too hard and since it's in its own new sub level you can't switch weapons once you've reached it
Can't be moving left or right when pressing start to roll or it won't register
Can't pause the game (less of a problem in emulation)
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-8.5/9.5* Fun-7 Originality-6
Overall Score-7
*Final boss in the Plus romhack
+
Hidden and off the path items (usually rewarding to get with a bit of a challenge before them in the form of enemies or hazards)
360 degree laser
Smart bombs
Decent variety overall
Mini-bosses
Sometimes good art direction (some environments and bosses - transformers inspired)
Mixes in shoot 'em up-like vertical scrolling levels where you have a jetpack (where you still have a health bar)
Some interesting gimmicks like destructible walls
Some large and detailed sprites
Some cool bosses (the fist, in theory the "drill/antlion" machine boss/lvl 2 boss)
Shield power up (lasts longer than before)
Some nice visual details like the weather effects
Some hidden paths in walls? (mostly a case of trial & error if you find them or not though)
Diddy Kong/Mega Turrican style rolling ball jumps are possible here (and made use of in the level design)
Improved scrolling and resolution compared to the C64 version
Adds some invincibility time after taking a hit
Somewhat remixed levels (somewhat better at times (no more tedious destructible floor segments in the second area, replaced second boss)
Shorter loading between levels (~5 seconds)
No more issues with the camera scrolling too far up when jumping over large pits
Enemies and items no longer disappear as easily if they move off screen or you scroll the screen away from them (was annoying when you found an item and it disappeared because you jumped or had to avoid a hazard, could make some parts a lot easier if you just move back and forth to make things despawn)
Music + sfx throughout and you have mines in ball form (unlike on C64)
Features the bouncing laser shot (makes the 360 laser near redundant in tighter areas)
Temporary invincibility+screen covering attack (b+select, once per level?)
Shorter lvl 3-1 and they removed the wall builders from it (would've preferred a less cheap scrolling level though)
Better hit detection near roofs
Slight knockback after taking a hit was added (adds to the immersion)
New bosses in the final level (kind of easy though)
Plus hack:
Fxes the loose horizontal camera and rearranges the button layout (start to roll and jump to cancel, select to activate smart bomb, b+select to active temporary invincibility), somewhat improved player and gem sprites, keep your weapon's level if you die at the final boss, you can no longer stand on the final boss's head
+/-
Unlimited rolling ball
Invincibility while rolling (and no time limit?)
Can't move while crouching
Jump control takes some getting used to (immediately fall down after releasing the button)
Fairly large maze-like levels (some backtracking here and there)
Smart bombs get blocked by walls and platforms
Fewer and/or harder to find extra lives (it even seems like some where removed leaving those areas empty instead)
No overall time limit
Borrows gameplay elements from Contra (jump and spread shot)/Metroid (rolling ball and exploration)/Gradius (shooter levels)
No separate button for the 360 laser (not a problem in Nestopia)
No weapon inventory
Starts out pretty tough and is harder overall than T2
Smart bombs were nerfed but you now get several blasts per bomb (each is triggered manually) - makes it a bit easier to safely hit smaller flying enemies since you get more tries per bomb
Levels are a bit smaller than on Amiga and some mini-bosses are missing
Faster falling speed than on Amiga
Third area is no longer a scrolling jetpack level (worse since you now have to fall back down if you fall off the upwards only moving platforms and they can also despawn off screen but at least it's easier to react to some hazards)
Alien lair area looks and plays more like in Turrican 2 (4-3 is almost exactly like the finale in Turrican 2 on Amiga)
Life refills between levels
-
No more respawning on the spot and no checkpoints
Tedious platforming is still pretty common (jumps are more vertical based like in Contra and there are some very tight spaces to jump in, sometimes you can fall down and have to redo large segments of a level (especially in the last area), see upward scrolling)
Harder to hit the wall turrets with smart bombs?
Leaps of faith and somewhat loose upward scrolling (like on Amiga; can't look up/down - also means you sometimes can't use the 360 laser to shoot enemies below you) - worse than in Turrican 2
A few dead ends with nothing in them
The 360 laser forces you to to stand still and it takes a second to activate plus another to aim (breaks flow if you don't have the bouncing laser weapon)
Can't swim underwater and there's no change in the physics
Spike traps in the second sub level don't retract so it's much harder to reach the northeastern part
No boss health bars
Somewhat weak sound design for the music
Power ups still tend to spread out a lot when popping out of blocks (worse with gems since they don't float)
Somewhat basic boss patterns
Cheap hits/deaths here and there (the bombing planes and flying red mushrooms, some traps in tight spaces after falling)
Trial & error (can't do the dkc-style jump from a moving platform, finding some item stashes through leaps of faith, boss patterns, shoot 'em up/third level, some traps, leaps of faith)
Very short lvl 3-3
Some enemies in lvl 3-2 take too long to kill considering their patterns
Lvl 3 boss goes down a bit too fast
Somewhat unfitting music choice for the first alien lair area
Repeats stationary turrets a lot
So-so final boss (especially w/ the laser weapon)?
Red turret shots blend into the alien lair background
Somewhat bland and colorless environments overall (better on Amiga)
Lame ending (no escape sequence)
No voice samples
Plus hack:
The final boss is way too hard and since it's in its own new sub level you can't switch weapons once you've reached it
Can't be moving left or right when pressing start to roll or it won't register
Can't pause the game (less of a problem in emulation)