Mega Turrican

1994 · Run and Gun · Genesis

About Mega Turrican

Mega Turrican (1994) is Factor 5's Mega Drive run and gun, in which Bren McGuire dons the Turrican suit once more to destroy the returning Machine, now with a grappling hook.

Mega Turrican in Depth

Years after Bren McGuire, sole survivor of the starship Avalon 1, destroyed The Machine on the planet Landorin, its dark forces are gathering again, devastating planets and enslaving their people. Hearing a young girl's plea for help as her world is invaded, Bren, now leader of the United Planets Freedom Forces, puts on his Turrican assault suit and vows to finish The Machine for good. The player works through large levels, searching for secrets and shooting enemies along the way.

Three upgradeable weapons can be collected: the Multiple spread gun, a more powerful single-direction Laser, and the Rebound, which fires up and down along floors and ceilings while making the forward shot weaker. Pressing jump while holding down, provided there is enough special energy, turns Bren into a wheel, which is nearly invincible, can lay mines and can reach otherwise inaccessible places, a mechanic compared to Metroid's Morph Ball and Sonic's Spin Dash. For the first time in the series, Bren also has a grappling hook, and he can use a rope as well. Despite its long wait for a publisher, the Mega Drive version was later ranked 36th on GamesRadar+'s 2017 list of the best Mega Drive games.

Making Mega Turrican

Factor 5 began Turrican III for the Amiga right after Turrican II in 1991 and had a working demo, but with the Amiga market declining, it and Rainbow Arts moved the game to the Mega Drive. It was completely redesigned for the console and co-developed by Factor 5 and members of Kaiko. Work finished in spring 1993, but because Rainbow Arts did not operate directly in the console business, Factor 5 had to pitch the game to Mega Drive publishers, a process that ended a full year later when Data East signed it. Kaiko then converted the Mega Drive game back to the Amiga as Turrican 3, published by Rainbow Arts in Germany and Renegade elsewhere in Europe. Both versions were generally well received, and the Mega Drive version came to the Wii Virtual Console in 2008.

Mega Turrican Trivia

The Amiga conversion, Turrican 3: Payment Day, was released first, in 1993.
Finished in spring 1993, the Mega Drive version waited a year for a publisher.
Data East released it in North America and contracted Sony Imagesoft for Europe.
German magazine Amiga Games ran a six-part development diary in 1992.
A Mega Turrican: Director's Cut cartridge with restored content appeared in 2022.