Mega Turrican

There are platformers, and then there are games where movement itself becomes a drug. Mega Turrican belongs to the latter category. A few minutes with the energy whip in hand and you suddenly realize you are not playing the level but dancing with it.

The Turrican series originated on home computers, where it made its name with huge, semi-open levels crammed with secret passages and brutal firepower. Mega Turrican carries this philosophy over to the SEGA Mega Drive and does so in full style. The hero in a robotic suit wields an arsenal that begs for experimentation: a spread beam that covers the whole screen, homing missiles, and above all that cult-favorite energy rope you can whirl around yourself to mow down enemies from every direction. Add to that the ability to turn into a deadly sphere that burns its way through narrow passages.

What sets Turrican apart from most run-and-gun platformers is its emphasis on exploration. The levels are not corridors from point A to point B but sprawling mazes full of hidden bonuses, where it pays to comb every nook. The game alternates its pace between exploratory passages and purely action-focused sections where the design leans toward hectic run and gun. The bosses are enormous, mechanical, and designed to fill half the screen.

Visually it is one of the technically polished games on the console. Detailed backgrounds, smooth scrolling, and the elaborate animation of the main character show what the Mega Drive could do in the hands of experienced creators. The music was composed by Chris Hulsbeck, whose name is inseparably tied to the Turrican series; his soundtracks are among the most acclaimed in the genre's history and have become the subject of concert performances in their own right.

Mega Turrican also has an interesting fate on the market. The version came out in different regions in a different order, and the sibling title Universal Soldier shares the same engine. For collectors it is now a sought-after piece that built its reputation slowly but surely, until it took its place among the respected gems of the Mega Drive library.

Why play it: For the feeling of total freedom of movement and shooting across beautifully designed levels, backed by one of the finest soundtracks of its time.