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Armchair Arcade -> Forums -> General Discussion

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Discussion - "Turrican vs. Metroid: A Complexity Issue"

Moderators: Bill Loguidice, David Torre, crcasey, Mark1970, deshrill

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Author

Post

Bill Loguidice

Wed Jan 14 2004, 10:57AM

Armchair Arcade Co-Founder and Editor

Location: Central New Jersey, USA
posts 4817

Let us know what you think of this article. Comments are appreciated!

Bill Loguidice - Armchair Arcade Editor
www.billandchristina.com (includes videogame & computer collection)
www.mythcore.com (creative development company)
www.armchairarcade.com (soliciting articles NOW!)

number6

Fri Jan 16 2004, 04:43PM

Registered Member #15
Joined: Fri Jan 16 2004, 05:33AM
Location: The Village
posts 205

This was one of the shorter articles so I read through it pretty quickly, plus I am a huge metroid fan. I agree with a lot that Matt said in his comparison. I would only argue with his point that the power ups in Metroid make the game more challenging as they are acquired. I think it is more of a liberating feeling when you get Space Jump boots and now realize "hey I can go back to that other area where I could not get to and now can!" By making new areas available the game becomes more and more addicting to the point you end up playing for hours on end. The only problem I see with metroid, for the casual players anyway, is the complexity. You have to remember what all the items do and quickly switch between them a lot and that can be daunting to some. So I guess I agree with Matt's statement for casual players, but not hardcore gamers I guess. Great article Matt!

ryuhayabusa

Sun Jan 18 2004, 05:33PM

Registered Member #66
Joined: Sun Jan 18 2004, 05:26PM
Location: Louisville, KY
posts 307

I agree with your statement, number6. It was rewarding to find a power up and think back about certain areas that you were previously unable to reach and realize that you can now do it. Turrican is a very arcade-like shooter that while fun, is a bunch of button mashing trying to blow everything up. Nothing wrong with that at all, but I like Metroid because it made you think.

"Pick a game. I'm good at all of them. I have 97 of them.":)

jperry1

Sun Jan 18 2004, 06:09PM

Registered Member #68
Joined: Sun Jan 18 2004, 05:47PM
Location: Upstate New York
posts 3

Metroid is a wonderful game and a true classic. It combines a great side scrolling atmosphere with a complexity and challenge that makes it a must for all gamers. In an age of First Person Shooters and games with amazing graphic detail I still prefer the classic Metroid. The power ups made it so you had to think on your feet with all the choices you had in your 'arsenal' and also makes the replay value amazing. The fact that you can go back to certain areas and explore with your new found toys is amazing. This will always be a 5-Star game in my book. (p.s. Thanks for the review and comparison.. I only played Turrican once or twice and though it is a good side scroller it lacks the replay value and complexity of Metroid.)

Matt Barton

Sun Jan 18 2004, 09:14PM

Location: Tampa, Florida
posts 2680

What I thought was interesting about this comparison was the communities involved. The NES/SNES community will of course be intimately familiar with the Metroid series; it was one of the stars in any NES anthology. I'm sure it'd make most hardcore NES players' shortlist.

Well, Turrican was like that for the Amiga community. This series (I think there were three; maybe four?) were all exquisitely done games with fantastic music, excellent graphics, and quality gameplay. Even nearly a decade later, when I first installed WINUAE, the first games I booted up to show my non-Amiga friends what they had been missing were the Turrican series.

What's fascinating about the comparison, though, is that while Metroid and Turrican are so similar, the communities were (and are!) so well segregated that I doubt many people have had the pleasure of trying both titles. "Amigans" would never "waste their time" with the console game; they'd just assume an NES owner didn't know what he was missing, etc.

The first time I played Super Metroid on the SNES, I knew the Amiga's reign was over. They started off with such a huge advantage in the graphics and sound capabilities of their machine, but then rested on their laurels until a humble $100 box from Wal-Mart could hold its own.

Matt Barton

gamemasta

Sun Jan 18 2004, 11:39PM

Registered Member #71
Joined: Sun Jan 18 2004, 11:28PM
posts 1

METROID ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Matt Barton

Mon Jan 19 2004, 07:35AM

Location: Tampa, Florida
posts 2680

Let's compare:

http://turrican.emucamp.com/skin/standard/

There's a link with the Turrican sound tracks..Awesome stuff.

http://www.ocremix.org/alpha.php?alpha=S

http://www.ocremix.org/alpha.php?alpha=M

Scroll down for Original Metroid

Scroll down there to catch some Super Metroid remixes...I'm still looking for the original Metroid soundtracks in MP3 format.
[ Edited Mon Jan 19 2004, 08:38AM ]

Matt Barton

Mon Jan 19 2004, 07:42AM

Location: Tampa, Florida
posts 2680

BTW, my favorite metroid remix so far is this one:

http://www.ocremix.org/songs/Metroid_Brinstar_Theme_(Ben_Lewis_Mix)_OC_ReMix.mp3

Matt Barton

Lord Rinja

Mon Jan 19 2004, 09:49AM

Registered Member #75
Joined: Mon Jan 19 2004, 09:28AM
Location: The Dojo of Illusions
posts 20

Metroid is one of the best Side Scrollers out there. I'm really stoked for Zero Mission [The Metroid Remake] thats going to be released on February 9th. Also, another game quite similar to Metroid is the Castlevania series. Maybe the original and Metorid didn't have that many similarities but since Symphony of the Night and all of the GBA Castlevanias, a lot of the power-up collecting and game altering traits that Bill talks about in this article are also apparent in that series.

Lord Rinja's Dojo of Illusions

Bill Loguidice

Mon Jan 19 2004, 09:53AM

Armchair Arcade Co-Founder and Editor

Location: Central New Jersey, USA
posts 4817

Lord Rinja wrote: ...
Metroid is one of the best Side Scrollers out there. I'm really stoked for Zero Mission [The Metroid Remake] thats going to be released on February 9th. Also, another game quite similar to Metroid is the Castlevania series. Maybe the original and Metorid didn't have that many similarities but since Symphony of the Night and all of the GBA Castlevanias, a lot of the power-up collecting and game altering traits that Bill talks about in this article are also apparent in that series.

Actually, Matt wrote it (nice job too). I just had editing duties. I know it gets a little confusing who writes or does what since the site tags who POSTS what, but you can always tell by the article header at the top of the first page of every article. Thanks for the comments.

Lord Rinja

Mon Jan 19 2004, 10:28AM

Registered Member #75
Joined: Mon Jan 19 2004, 09:28AM
Location: The Dojo of Illusions
posts 20

Bill Loguidice wrote: ...

Sorry for the miscredit. Matt, good job on the article. It's definately a good descriprion of the side scrolling genere and it made me see it in a whole different way than I normally do.

Lord Rinja's Dojo of Illusions

bkdevart

Mon Jan 19 2004, 02:09PM

Registered Member #77
Joined: Mon Jan 19 2004, 01:45PM
Location: Chandler, AZ (United States)
posts 14

Okay... I'm starting to wonder what I'm missing. Is Super Turrican on the SNES very faithful to the AMIGA versions?

ryuhayabusa

Mon Jan 19 2004, 05:55PM

Registered Member #66
Joined: Sun Jan 18 2004, 05:26PM
Location: Louisville, KY
posts 307

Gameplay wise, they are very much alike. I think the SNES versions have a lot of different levels though. Check out Mega Turrican for the Genesis. It is very close to either Turrican 2 or 3 for the Amiga(can't remember which it is).

"Pick a game. I'm good at all of them. I have 97 of them.":)

Matt Barton

Mon Jan 19 2004, 06:41PM

Location: Tampa, Florida
posts 2680

Mega Turrican? Now, that's a new one to me. I'll have to find an emu and try that one out.

Matt Barton

number6

Tue Jan 20 2004, 01:12AM

Registered Member #15
Joined: Fri Jan 16 2004, 05:33AM
Location: The Village
posts 205

Matt Barton wrote: ...
BTW, my favorite metroid remix so far is this one:

http://www.ocremix.org/songs/Metroid_Brinstar_Theme_(Ben_Lewis_Mix)_OC_ReMix.mp3</div>

That's a pretty good remix of the original Metroid theme. I love video game music and here is a link to my favorite track from the SNES Metroid 3 game:

http://w3.mivlmd.cablespeed.com/~number6/cgi-bin/metroid_brinstar.mp3

I don't know about the NES metroid, but Winamp has a plugin that allows you to convert SNES audio files (.spc) to .wav format. From there you can convert to mp3's with your favorite encoder. That's how I made the mp3 above. Enjoy!

Update:

Helll, even Turrican has great music. Here is the opening theme from the Amiga version of Turrican:

http://w3.mivlmd.cablespeed.com/~number6/cgi-bin/Turrican.mp3

Enjoy!

[ Edited Tue Jan 20 2004, 02:49AM ]

Matt Barton

Tue Jan 20 2004, 09:12AM

Location: Tampa, Florida
posts 2680

Thanks, #6, for these tunes. I have to admit, I love all the music from the Metroid, S Metroid, and Turrican games. These are epic scores for epic games!

Matt Barton

number6

Tue Jan 20 2004, 10:32AM

Registered Member #15
Joined: Fri Jan 16 2004, 05:33AM
Location: The Village
posts 205

Your welcome. Super Turrican for the SNES also has an awesome soundtrack.

ryuhayabusa

Tue Jan 20 2004, 08:21PM

Registered Member #66
Joined: Sun Jan 18 2004, 05:26PM
Location: Louisville, KY
posts 307

http://www.nemmelheim.de/turrican/other/

Here's a very cool Turrican page I found. It has tons of pics and info about all the various incarnations of the series over the different platforms. It also has some info on the Factor 5 guys who made the games. Matt, Mega Turrican for the Genesis is a near-direct port of the Amiga Turrican 3. I couldn't remember if it was 2 or 3. I highly suggest giving Super Turrican 2 for the SNES a try. It's a very cool game, perhaps the best of the series.

Interestingly enough, according to a Factor 5 interview on that website that was taken from Amiga Future magazine, Turrican was inspired by Metroid, along with Mario and some other game called Psycho-Nics Oscar. It's in the facts section on the site.
[ Edited Tue Jan 20 2004, 09:33PM ]

"Pick a game. I'm good at all of them. I have 97 of them.":)

bkdevart

Tue Jan 20 2004, 09:22PM

Registered Member #77
Joined: Mon Jan 19 2004, 01:45PM
Location: Chandler, AZ (United States)
posts 14

Wow... thanks for the info... you did all the research for me! Time to get into some Turrican!

Matt Barton

Wed Jan 21 2004, 06:09AM

Location: Tampa, Florida
posts 2680

I wonder if the guy who wrote this would like to draft an article? We seem to love all things Turrican here!

Matt Barton

DaBj

Thu Jan 22 2004, 02:03PM

Registered Member #60
Joined: Sun Jan 18 2004, 10:20AM
Location: Blekinge, Sweden
posts 18

Matt Barton wrote: ...
I'm still looking for the original Metroid soundtracks in MP3 format.

(plug) Even though it isn't quite what you are looking for, beeing streamed, I recommend www.kohina.com, excellent webradio that only plays "old school game and demo music". I know I have heard the Metroid theme there a couple of times.
(end of plug)

You fight like a dairy farmer!

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