Turrican II - The Final Fight Released for Amiga AGA Machines

Turrican II remains one of my favourite platform games on the Amiga, so I was quite excited when I learned of the project to create an enhanced version for the AGA chipset. Essentially a conversion of the 1994 PC DOS release, the principle developer behind the endeavour is Alastair Murray (AKA Sonic Sloth). Various demos and pre-release versions have been available, but I wanted to wait until the final release before trying it for myself.

The obvious change between this new AGA version and the OCS release is the graphics. It incorporates the art assets from the PC DOS release which, being a VGA title, supported more colours and higher detail. The redesigned player sprite, with it's bulbous helmet and wedge-shaped boots, represents one of the more divisive changes from that version, so it's cool to see Alastair also included an option allowing players to choose between the PC and Amiga versions of the Turrican suit.

Of course, looks aren't everything, so I'm pleased to report that the game plays exactly as I would expect. I don't know how much of the original code was used, or to what degree of re-engineering was required to get this running, but it plays exactly like Turrican II should. I used an A1200 WinUAE config to play this and, aside from a few occasions where the framerate dips when things get really busy, it's pretty much flawless. There are also some quality-of-life improvements, including the ability to look down (reduce the need for blind jumps), sound enhancements and optional control tweaks

Perhaps my favourite addition is the inclusion of new secrets. Each of the platforming levels contains three special crystals, which can only be retrieved by finding hidden drones. The little blighters are invisible and only appear when shot, although they do emit a noise when you're in the vicinity. This is gives seasoned Turrican II players who already know the game inside out another reason to revisit the game and do battle with The Machine and it's space-faring minions.

Overall, Turrican II: AGA Edition is a great release. The strapline for the game over on Alastair's itch.io bills the game as "The best way to play the PC version of Turrican 2 is on the Amiga", and I couldn't agree more!

The download includes standard ADF disk images, a WHDLOAD package, plus a version compatible with the recently released A500 Mini console.

Leatherneck - Commodore Amiga (1988)

One of the longplays I recorded a few years back and never got around to publishing, Leatherneck is a top-down shooter created by the late Steve Bak. It's a weird hybrid in these sense that, despite looking like a clone of Commando or Ikari Warriors, it's actually closer in design to pattern-based vertically scrolling shoot 'em ups.

The game is a "score attack" affair featuring a single level which eventually loops back on itself, and the sole objective is to earn as many points as possible until you eventually run out of lives. Enemy troops appear in pre-determined formations and move in series of patterns, shooting bullets and lobbing grenades as they move around. You have at your disposal a series of weapons with varying rates of fire and effectiveness, but these all have limited ammunition. You'll need to be extremely precise with your shots, making sure not to waste bullets and to replenish supplies at every available opportunity from the blue ammo crates left dotted around the screen.

It took me a few attempts to figure out that rushing in guns blazing, as you might feel inclined to do in military-themed arcade game, will result in almost instantaneous death. Enemy spawns are triggered as the screen scrolls, so the only way to avoid being hopelessly overwhelmed is to creep forward and ensure the screen scrolls only when the previous wave has been dealt with and you're in an advantageous position -- if such a thing exists -- to deal with the next.

I can't say this was Steve Bak's best endeavour; he'd go on to program and design far better games than this; it's punishingly difficult and often infuriating, and not a game that ever feels gratifying to play. That said, the wave-based approach to enemies does means Leatherneck isn't just another mindless button-bashing blaster - you need to take a far more cautious approach if you want to survive, which, if nothing else, makes it a somewhat interesting proposition.

Developer: Steve Bak
Publisher: Microdeal
Year of Release: 1988