Turrican II

Turrican II: The Final Fight is a run-and-gun game developed by Factor 5 and published by Rainbow Arts in 1991. The first version, designed by Manfred Trenz and Andreas Escher, was initially developed for the Commodore 64 by Rainbow Arts. Still, this release was published after the Amiga port made by Factor 5.

Factor5 curated all the other conversions, including CDTV, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, and ZX Spectrum. Later on, the game was released again, but this time by Accolade and under the name of Universal Soldier, for DOS, Genesis, and Game Boy.

Turrican II is the direct continuation of Turrican, developed a year earlier. After this title, the franchise continued with another 5 installments of the saga, not counting other parts that were canceled.

The story takes place in the year 3025, a time when peace and law reigned. Seeking to break the barriers of space, Avalon 1, The United Planets Ship, gathered the most qualified soldiers for this mission. While they were talking about the details of the operation, a mysterious ship materialized next to Avalon 1. After destroying its defenses, the mutants that were part of it break into it and start killing its crew. A few minutes later, the last invader enters the ship and presents himself as The Machine, the leader of the aliens. After celebrating the death of his enemies, the villain, half-robot, and half-human order his soldiers to return to the ship and leave the place. At the moment they obey the order to retreat, Bren McGuire, who faked his death, gets up and searches for the latest combat gear. So, at the cry of "Revenge!", the protagonist begins his journey to stop the evil emperor.

The gameplay is very similar to that of the Metroid. The players must explore maze-like levels by eliminating enemies everywhere. To do this, they will have several weapons to use. Among these is The Wheel, which the protagonist can transform into to wipe out small enemies and be invulnerable in the process. The adventure also has many hidden power-ups, used to improve the weapons or the shield, granting temporary defense.

The game's graphics present a constant conflict between the land and the background. The former is usually composed of warm colors, oversaturated structures, and lines everywhere, giving the impression of destruction and instability. The colors typically go according to the enemies or elements of the ground, so they mix and become part of the whole. In contrast, the sky is almost always clean and features a single cold color. This gives air to the overall picture and makes the player not feel overwhelmed with so much visual information.

The music is made by the famous video game composer Chris Huelsbeck, whose work on Turrican is considered one of the best of his career. The German musician took the trouble to create a song for each boss, where the futuristic action beats give a sense of adrenaline and threat to each rival.

Turrican 2 is a real masterpiece that made the history of videogames. For Amiga and Commodore 64 users, it represents more than a game, it represents a religion. For all the others, it's an excellent entry for the run and gun series, so if you want to have a good time going through hordes of classic enemies, you should give it a try.