Honourable Mention 7
Turrican II: The Final Fight
Despite being a popular and notable game at the time, Amiga Power completely missed out on Turrican II, as it was released shortly before the magazine came into existence. They did have the option of including it in the first Top 100 list regardless, but the original Turrican was chosen instead - perhaps the sequel was too new to be considered at the time. Indeed, it was included from the first issue in the Bottom Line index, rated, like Turrican, at three stars, and described as "better than the original". Quite why it never merited a full review, even after it was re-released, is a mystery, but I feel it deserves its place in my Honourable Mentions despite this.
At first glance, this sequel to Turrican may look like little more than a level pack for the first game, but there are subtle differences: now you can transform into a gyroscope as many times as you like, giving you greater freedom for exploring the large levels. In addition, there are modifications to the weapons you can collect, your laser beam is easier to control, and the platforming is broken up in the middle of the game by a shoot 'em up section. Turrican II takes the core of the first game and improves on it, and includes arguably a better soundtrack, too.
I debated with myself for a while about including this as an Honourable Mention, but the reality is that when you mention Turrican, more people think of this edition than any other (Commodore 64 owners may beg to differ). I bought it for my Atari ST back in the day based on a demo of the first level that I'd played, and although it was punishingly hard for me then, I can see it's a lot more playable for me now. Heck, I used to load up the game just to listen to the music on the sound test - and that was the inferior ST audio. It's a European platform classic, whichever way you look at it.
Recommended TOSEC disk(s):Turrican II - The Final Fight (1991)(Rainbow Arts)(Disk 1 of 2)[cr Defjam]
Turrican II - The Final Fight (1991)(Rainbow Arts)(Disk 2 of 2)[cr Defjam]
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