Turrican 30th birthday edition

[Foebane]

Originally Posted by lilwshu

When I refer to the scrolling mechanic I mean the fact that your guy is positioned far too close to the edge of the screen when it push scrolls rather than being in the middle, which means when the fast moving enemies run at you you have almost zero chance of avoiding them first time round.

I've had experience of this with the original Boulder Dash on Atari 800: Depending on the increasing difficulty level, Rockford would move at faster speeds, but the scrolling playfield would always move at the same speed, meaning that it was possible for Rockford to run off the edge of the screen and for it to have to catch up, forcing the player to stop regularly.

The best possible design is to have the player character stay rock-steady in the middle of the screen and for everything else to move around them, but I don't know why programmers don't always do this.

[Galahad/FLT]

I think the reason it was probably done was because if the character was in the centre, it gave you too much time to react to enemies and as a result, the game ceased to be a challenge.

So they probably adjusted the position until they felt it was difficult without being stupidly difficult.

Brian the Lion gets it completely wrong by being far to close to the edge of the screen that you're heading toward, Turrican at least feels better than that.

The problem is, is what are you comparing Turrican to?

[lilwshu]

Originally Posted by Galahad/FLT

I think the reason it was probably done was because if the character was in the centre, it gave you too much time to react to enemies and as a result, the game ceased to be a challenge.

So they probably adjusted the position until they felt it was difficult without being stupidly difficult.

Brian the Lion gets it completely wrong by being far to close to the edge of the screen that you're heading toward, Turrican at least feels better than that.

The problem is, is what are you comparing Turrican to?

I’m comparing it to games that aren’t made artificially difficult by making it mostly impossible to avoid taking damage through no fault of the player - reducing the visible screen area is a crap way of increasing difficulty. Something like Metroid would be a good comparison I suppose, or indeed any good push scrolling game.

[Sgt Jack V]

I'd say a good deal of the actual difficulty comes from the lack of invincibility frames in 1 and 2. I don't have a problem with it, but I see how it could turn off newer players

[Galahad/FLT]

Originally Posted by lilwshu

I’m comparing it to games that aren’t made artificially difficult by making it mostly impossible to avoid taking damage through no fault of the player - reducing the visible screen area is a crap way of increasing difficulty. Something like Metroid would be a good comparison I suppose, or indeed any good push scrolling game.

Personally I think the difficulty is fine. Even on a first time play, you can make decent progress.

And just to correct you, it is not push scrolling, that is what a lot of Atari ST games do where the scrolling leaps 150pixels at a time.

[-Acid-]

Originally Posted by Retro-Nerd

Maybe. But i don't do pre-orders. I only buy games when they are actually available.

The whole point is you pre-order them so they know how many to manufacture, that is the whole reason they are called limited runs. And no you didn't have to pirate Ultracore, you can buy it digitally for modern platforms.

[Retro-Nerd]

Yes, i had too. I wanted the original Mega Drive version in 2019. The digital downloads were available one year later, and i don't have (or want) a PS4 or Switch. So, at the end i'm not getting the new Turrican anyway. Maybe via emulator later, we'll see.

[Konrad]

In Turrican, especially 1 and 2 IMO, there's a lot going on the screen.
I would be rather annoyed when the screen would scroll directly and exactly every pixel the player moves left/right/up/down. The little delay makes it much smoother and I prefer that.

As Galahad said, the difficulty of the game is perfectly fine. As a child I found the game challeging in the later stages, but without frustration. Especially the first levels are very easy.

[roondar]

Originally Posted by Konrad

In Turrican, especially 1 and 2 IMO, there's a lot going on the screen.
I would be rather annoyed when the screen would scroll directly and exactly every pixel the player moves left/right/up/down. The little delay makes it much smoother and I prefer that.

As Galahad said, the difficulty of the game is perfectly fine. As a child I found the game challeging in the later stages, but without frustration. Especially the first levels are very easy.

This is how I think about it as well. The scrolling as it is has pro's and con's, but that goes for all kinds of scrolling. For these games, I personally think it works well - it fits the more exploration based playstyle.

As for difficulty, I remember finishing both T1 and T2 within about four or five attempts back in the day.

[gimbal]

Originally Posted by Konrad

As Galahad said, the difficulty of the game is perfectly fine. As a child I found the game challeging in the later stages, but without frustration. Especially the first levels are very easy.

What Turrican does quite well is that when you die, your progress does not get reset. Enemies that were killed stay dead. I very much like this for games which have a lives system; the loss of the life is enough punishment. In fact when you die that acts as an extra F-bomb weapon; you get put back where you died instead of back at the beginning or at some checkpoint which requires minutes of backtracking and as a bonus the screen will be wiped off of all enemies in one go. There are not many games which are so forgiving when they kill you. Besides that if you know where to look the game throws piles of extra lives at you.

... I'm not a fan of the pretty strict time limit though. It's not strict of you follow the main path and gun it directly for the end/boss, but it is if you let yourself be invited by the large sprawling levels and explore to find things like extra lives and secrets you hadn't found before... Thank god for trainers.

[lilwshu]

I’m not saying the game is especially difficult, I am saying it increases its difficulty through unfair means.

I had forgotten about the time limit, which in a game based on exploration, with loads of secrets and little guidance on where to go, is another bit of poor design.

[roondar]

Originally Posted by lilwshu

I’m not saying the game is especially difficult, I am saying it increases its difficulty through unfair means.

I had forgotten about the time limit, which in a game based on exploration, with loads of secrets and little guidance on where to go, is another bit of poor design.

It's not more unfair than any other memory based game, of which there are many. In fact, it's less unfair because Turrican 1 & 2 give you a generous amount of energy per life and plenty of power-ups to recover lost energy.

As for the time limit, you can actually run through every level finding all the secrets and still finish with plenty of time to spare. If you just run straight to the exit you normally have rather large amounts of time left. It's fairly generous that way. Having a time limit in a game where the environment can be somewhat maze-like is actually a good thing - it increases tension and forces you to try and figure it out faster.

[dreadnought]

Originally Posted by roondar

Having a time limit in a game where the environment can be somewhat maze-like is actually a good thing - it increases tension and forces you to try and figure it out faster.

It's only a good thing for those who like this sort of thing. Me, I hate timers in games with exploration element.

Actually, I think I hate timers in most kinds of games

[Retro-Nerd]

Timers are obsolet in computer/console action games, they were useful for Arcade manufacturer to maximize the profit. Look at Lionheart, it's much better in that way.

[Gerry]

So it's just a port of:

Turrican Anthology Vol. 1

Turrican (Amiga)
Turrican 2 (Amiga)
Super Turrican (SNES)
Super Turrican Director’s Cut (SNES)
Mega Turrican Score Attack (Mega Drive)

Turrican Anthology Vol. 2

Turrican 3 (Amiga)
Mega Turrican (Mega Drive)
Mega Turrican Director’s Cut (Mega Drive)
Super Turrican 2 (SNES)
Super Turrican 1 Score Attack (SNES)



Turrican Anthology:

For the first time in nearly 3 decades, Turrican returns to modern consoles in this ultimate anthology collection! Developed by legendary independent studio Factor 5 and scored by video game maestro Chris Huelsbeck, this action series redefined gaming and became one of the most acclaimed and celebrated fan-favorites on retro consoles, and now you can play them on your modern console!

The Collector’s Edition includes:

- Volume 1 & 2 for Nintendo Switch or PlayStation 4
- Large Poster
- Keychain
- Artbook
- Soundtrack Selection CD
- Sticker Sheet
- Making of Documentary Blu-ray
- …and more!

The Ultra Collector’s Edition also includes:
- Amiga style Big-Box!
- Acrylic diorama
- 4-CD Soundtrack Collection
- 20cm Turrican figurine
- Instructional Booklet with game facts and insight
- … and more!

[Predseda]

looool

[Amigajay]

6 roms spread across two collections, ah well some mugs will buy them!

[malko]

Originally Posted by dreadnought

[...] Actually, I think I hate timers in most kinds of games

I second that for most of the games, BUT not for Turrican as you can collect much enough lives (from the beginning of the game - as soon as you know where to get them) that the timer limit is no more an issue.
Then the timer limit becomes kind of "cherry on the cake" for gamers trying not to loose a life because of it.

[Retro-Nerd]

A boring collection of games we all have. Ok, nothing to see here.

[john4p]

Wonder how they'll make the Amiga Turricans work smoothly at 60Hz without changing the game speed.