Turrican 3

STORY / GAMEPLAY
The story-line follows the second installment of the Turrican series (aka Turrican II: The Final Fight). Apparently, centuries have passed since The Machine's last attack to mankind. But now, after so many generations around the Galaxy enjoyed their freedom and prosperity, the dark forces have assembled again! In a major sweep of terror, The Machine destroys dozens of planets and enslaves their inhabitants! You, as Bren McGuire, a USS Freedom Forces Marine, must fight against the evil alien hordes of The Machine! Much like its predecessors, Turrican III is a classic action shooter that offers great moments of fun. But apart from just shooting everything that moves (or flies), there are occasions when you do need to use your brain to figure out certain issues (i.e. which way to go in order to reach the exit or how to pass across various platforms). So Bren must defend himself, shoot the alien forces, pass across -or avoid- traps and confront a variety of end-level big bosses. And here's where the challenging story begins! Bren must also collect all tokens available since they grant him with energy, extra bombs and different ammunition. His main weapon is a rapid fire assault rifle and a gadget that throws a plasma-rope that helps to reach and climb to higher grounds (platforms). The rope is pretty useful but it also makes gameplay a bit frustrating, until you master its use that is! Other than that, the game is very playable since the difficulty level rises gradually and offers great fun with its impressive visuals, rapid action and awesome sound!

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The visuals are really nice, especially in the later levels. The game features 2.5MB on one disk only (!) of real-time 3D zooming and rotation, 50 frames per second parallax scrolling of variable speed! The game runs in EHB mode which supports up to 64 colors on-screen (39-60 colors depending on the level)! Every sprite moves fast and extremely smooth at all times. Soundwise, the game follows its predecessors and once more the sound package is exceptional, with a wide variety of in-game stereo soundtracks and there are a lot of sampled sound effects (a lot!). Note that the game also offers an awesome music during the game intro sequence.