Turrican

n/a

Turrican

System(s): Sega Mega Drive

Publisher: Ballistic

Developer: Rainbow Arts, Factor 5

The Code Monkeys

Genre: Action

Number of players: 1

Release	Date	RRP	Code
US	1991-07^[1]		ACLD004
EU	1991-09		ACLD004
UK	1991-09	£39.9939.99^[2]	ACLD004
AU	199x

Non-Sega versions
Amiga Amstrad CPC Atari ST CDTV Commodore 64 Game Boy PC Engine ZX Spectrum

This short article is in need of work. You can help Sega Retro by adding to it.

Turrican is a run-and-gun game originally developed by Rainbow Arts for the Commodore 64. Rainbow Arts licensed Accolade to make console ports, one of them being an unlicensed Sega Mega Drive port released 1991.

The game is not region protected.

Gameplay

Both the C64 and Amiga version relied on various keyboard inputs for special weapons, which had to be remapped to a three button layout. This was done in a complicated way: fires, and jump, cycles through special weapons. To activate a special weapon, and need to be pushed simultaneously, which means the character will always jump while using special weapons.

While the Mega Drive port is faithful in terms of content, health depletes at a faster rate (aprox. 4x), making the game considerably harder.

Chris Hülsbeck's famous musical score wasn't faithfully reproduced either, although this can be partially attributed to the hardware. He would personally program the music for Mega Turrican, which was highly praised.

In order to be played at the correct speed (using the Amiga version as a reference), the game needs to be played on 50Hz PAL setting.

Worlds

	World 1

	World 2

	World 3

	World 4

	World 5

History

Legacy

Rainbow Arts allowed Accolade to hold its console license for Turrican II, but the game was actually rebranded and released as Universal Soldier, a tie-in to the Jean-Claude Van Damme 1992 movie. After that, Factor 5, the developers of the Amiga versions which the Mega Drive versions were based on, went on and produced Mega Turrican on the Mega Drive by themselves.

Production credits

Produced by: Chris Bankston
Programmed by: The Code Monkeys
Programmers: Colin Hogg, Elliot Gay, Mark Kirkby
Graphics by: Joe Lewis and Manfred Trenz
Musicians: J.D. Rogers and Paul Kenny
Original Music and Sound Effects (uncredited): Chris Hülsbeck
Game Testers: David M. Friedland, Robert V. Daly, James R. Kucera
Game Design: Manfred Trenz
Technical Advice: Chris Bankston, Tim Wilson, Russell Shiffer, Dave Rogers, Natalie Healy

Source:

In-game credits

Designer: The Code Monkeys
Producer: Chris Bankston
Tester: David Friedland, Robert Daly, James Kucera
Manual: Larry Hall
Additional Thanks to: SoftGold GmbH, Rainbow Arts, Factor Five, Boris Vallejo, Al Miller, Peter Doctorow, Randy Oyler, Jeff Hoff, Shirley Sellers, and all others involved.

Source:

US manual^[3]

Magazine articles

Main article: Turrican/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in Computer & Video Games (UK) #118: "September 1991" (1991-08-15)

Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #27: "October 1991" (1991-xx-xx)
also published in:

Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #30: "January 1992" (199x-xx-xx)^[4]

Print advert in GamePro (US) #29: "December 1991" (1991-xx-xx)

Print advert in Game Players Sega Guide! (US) #0203: "Vol. 2, No. 3: June/July 1991" (1991-0x-xx)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average

Publication

Version

Score

1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)

60

^[5]

Console XS (UK)

PAL

86

^[6]

Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU)

60

^[7]

Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK)

48

^[8]

Game Power (IT)

89

^[9]

Games-X (UK)

70

^[10]

Game Zone (UK)

PAL

87

^[11]

Hobby Consolas (ES)

86

^[12]

Joypad (FR)

PAL

76

^[13]

Joystick (FR)

PAL

81

^[14]

Mega (UK)

PAL

59

^[15]

Mega Play (US)

NTSC-U

85

^[16]

MegaTech (UK)

PAL

73

^[17]

Micromanía (segunda época) (ES)

70

^[18]

Mean Machines (UK)

PAL

73

^[19]

Mean Machines Sega (UK)

73

^[20]

Player One (FR)

78

^[21]

Power Play (DE)

72

^[22]

Sega Power (UK)

PAL

67

^[2]

Sega Pro (UK)

PAL

86

^[23]

Tricks 16 bit (RU)

67

^[24]

User (GR)

PAL

66

^[25]

Video Games (DE)

69

^[26]

	73
Based on 23 reviews

Turrican

Mega Drive, US/EU
Cover
Cart Manual PCB

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, FR
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, DE

Technical information

ROM dump status

System

Hash

Size

Build Date

Source

Comments

✔

CRC32	634d67a6
MD5	ca0e4bd18f573d4f1166c5067c47594a
SHA-1	5a471a276909dcc428cd66c51047aa8a142c76a8

512kB

1991-06

Cartridge (US)

References

NEC Retro has more information related to Turrican

↑ GamePro, "June 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 42
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 36
↑ File:Turrican md us manual.pdf, page 3
↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "January 1992" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 76
↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 252
↑ Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 135
↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 365
↑ Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 111
↑ Game Power, "Gennaio 1992" (IT; 199x-xx-xx), page 52
↑ Games-X, "17th-23rd October 1991" (UK; 1991-10-17), page 35
↑ Game Zone, "November 1991" (UK; 1991-10-08), page 28
↑ Hobby Consolas, "Enero 1992" (ES; 199x-xx-xx), page 54
↑ Joypad, "Octobre 1991" (FR; 1991-09-17), page 46
↑ Joystick, "Septembre 1991" (FR; 1991-0x-xx), page 172
↑ Mega, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-12-16), page 87
↑ Mega Play, "July/August 1991" (US; 1991-0x-xx), page 64
↑ MegaTech, "Xmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-06), page 81
↑ Micromanía (segunda época), "Marzo 1992" (ES; 1992-0x-xx), page 33
↑ Mean Machines, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-27), page 74
↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 142
↑ Player One, "Novembre 1991" (FR; 1991-xx-xx), page 84
↑ Power Play, "11/91" (DE; 1991-10-11), page 168
↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 68
↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 27
↑ User, "Septémvrios 1992" (GR; 1992-0x-xx), page 85
↑ Video Games, "4/91" (DE; 1991-12-06), page 29

Turrican
	Main page \| Comparisons \| Maps \| Hidden content \| Magazine articles \| Reception \| Region coding \| Technical information \| Bootlegs No results

Turrican games for Sega systems
Turrican (1991) \| Universal Soldier (1992) \| Mega Turrican (Director's Cut) (1994)

[:File:GamePro_US_023.pdf_p42-1] GamePro, "June 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 42

[:File:SegaPower_UK_23.pdf_p36-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 36

[:File:Turrican_md_us_manual.pdf_p3-3] File:Turrican md us manual.pdf, page 3

[:File:EGM_US_030.pdf_p76-4] Electronic Gaming Monthly, "January 1992" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 76

[5] 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 252

[:File:Console_XS_UK_01.pdf_p135-6] Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 135

[7] Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 365

[:File:MeanMachinesEssentialSegaGuide_Book_UK.pdf_p111-8] Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 111

[:File:GamePower_IT_02.pdf_p52-9] Game Power, "Gennaio 1992" (IT; 199x-xx-xx), page 52

[:File:GamesX_UK_26.pdf_p35-10] Games-X, "17th-23rd October 1991" (UK; 1991-10-17), page 35

[:File:GameZone_UK_01.pdf_p28-11] Game Zone, "November 1991" (UK; 1991-10-08), page 28

[:File:HobbyConsolas_ES_004.pdf_p54-12] Hobby Consolas, "Enero 1992" (ES; 199x-xx-xx), page 54

[:File:Joypad_FR_001.pdf_p46-13] Joypad, "Octobre 1991" (FR; 1991-09-17), page 46

[:File:Joystick_FR_019.pdf_p172-14] Joystick, "Septembre 1991" (FR; 1991-0x-xx), page 172

[:File:Mega_UK_16.pdf_p87-15] Mega, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-12-16), page 87

[:File:MegaPlay_US_05.pdf_p64-16] Mega Play, "July/August 1991" (US; 1991-0x-xx), page 64

[:File:MegaTech_UK_01.pdf_p81-17] MegaTech, "Xmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-06), page 81

[:File:Micromania2_ES_046.pdf_p33-18] Micromanía (segunda época), "Marzo 1992" (ES; 1992-0x-xx), page 33

[:File:MeanMachines_UK_13.pdf_p74-19] Mean Machines, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-27), page 74

[:File:MeanMachinesSega01UK.pdf_p142-20] Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 142

[:File:PlayerOne_FR_014.pdf_p84-21] Player One, "Novembre 1991" (FR; 1991-xx-xx), page 84

[:File:PowerPlay_DE_1991-11.pdf_p168-22] Power Play, "11/91" (DE; 1991-10-11), page 168

[:File:SegaPro_UK_18.pdf_p68-23] Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 68

[24] Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 27

[:File:User_GR_28.pdf_p85-25] User, "Septémvrios 1992" (GR; 1992-0x-xx), page 85

[:File:VideoGames_DE_1991-04.pdf_p29-26] Video Games, "4/91" (DE; 1991-12-06), page 29

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Turrican

From Sega Retro

Contents

Gameplay

Worlds

History

Legacy

Production credits

Magazine articles

Promotional material

Physical scans

Technical information

ROM dump status

References