Video Game Review: Turrican Anthology Vol. I & II

Developer: Factor 5

Publisher: ININ Games

Genre: Action

Reviewed For: Nintendo Switch

Also Available On: PlayStation 4

Turrican is a series that has been available fairly consistenly accross many platforms. Despite this, it has never soared to massive mainstream success, just enough to keep this fairly franchise going through the SNES era. Now, the majority of the franchise can be played on the Nintendo Switch. Unfortunately, the entire package still isn’t bundled together. Fans who want to experience Turrican will need to do so by purchasing both Turrican Anthology Vol. I and Turrican Anthology Vol. II.

Turrican can be experienced through both the Amiga and the Super Nintendo port (Known as Super Turrican. Super Turrican enthusiasts can also enjoy the director’s cut version that was later released on the Sega Genesis. All of these ports work exceptionally well, with crisp framerates and responsive inputs. The action is enjoyable and still holds up to this day. The level design is solid, with interesting stages and nice visuals. The entire Turrican package is complete with a banger soundtrack. Super Turrican is probably the lesser of these games, while the Director’s Cut has so much more content that it can be seen as the definitive version.

Turrican 2 by its lonesome can be found in Volume I as well. The decision to seperate the Turrican 2 releases into both volume 1 and volume 2 is certainly perplexing. Owners of just Volume 1 will only be playing the Amiga version of Turrican 2. Fortunately, this might be the better version, so this might not be a big deal for most players. If players want more, they can find Super Turrican 2 in Volume 2. Super Turrican 2 certainly looks bettern than Turrican 2, but it doesn’t feel quite as crisp.

Turrican 3 does a solid job at enhancing almost every feature that makes the franchise enjoyable. Players will only find one version of this, and it’s on Volume 2. Volume 2 also features Mega Turrican and its director’s cut. Both of these entries are more of the same, but still play quite well.

In total, each volume contains 2 unique games, with various ports and enhanced versions scattered throughout. In total, there are 10 games here, but it doesn’t really feel like there are that many. There are many customization options to tweak the experience, adding to the experience and enhancing the longevity of these packages. It’s hard to justify the steep price for both volumes, but any enthusiasts will likely find plenty to love here.