Turrican

Turrican is an action platformer created for the Amiga by studio Factor 5 under the Rainbow Arts label, which quickly became one of the platform's technical showcases. The player controls a fighter in a robotic suit who shoots, jumps, and cuts their way through intricate sci-fi levels full of enemies, traps, and giant bosses. A key feature is the character's transformation into a spinning circular form, which can be placed like a mine or used to squeeze through narrow spaces, setting the game apart from ordinary run-and-gun titles of its time. Gameplay is further enriched by sequences with a laser rope, which can grab hooks on ceilings and let the player climb upward, giving the level design a vertical dimension unusual for the genre at the time.

In terms of gameplay, Turrican combines smooth jumping and aiming in all directions with collecting power-ups that gradually expand the weapon arsenal all the way up to a devastating area-of-effect super weapon that floods the screen with explosions. The level design alternates spacious outdoor passages with claustrophobic underground corridors, and the pace is heightened by the constant need to judge when to attack and when to dodge. On the Amiga the game showed remarkably smooth scrolling and a large number of moving objects on screen, which was by no means a given at the time, and more than one observer compared it more to console performance than to a home computer's.

The music was composed by Chris Hülsbeck, and his tracks remain among the most cited demonstrations of what the Amiga's sound chip could do, while the atmosphere is completed by an industrial visual style inspired by sci-fi and Japanese pop culture. Turrican was received by the contemporary press as one of the most ambitious action games on the platform and launched a successful series of sequels that significantly shaped the run-and-gun genre on home computers. Even today the game serves as proof of what 16-bit hardware was capable of in the hands of skilled programmers, and it remains a favorite target for retro players and speedrunners alike.

Why play it: Anyone who wants to experience what 16-bit hardware was capable of in the hands of skilled programmers will appreciate Turrican's iconic Chris Hülsbeck soundtrack and industrial style, which still draws in retro players and speedrunners today.