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Without doubt a milestone in C64 software, Manfred Trenz's masterpiece takes the Turrican hero on a journey through five worlds with a total of thirteen sections and an incredible 1,300 screens. Turrican boasts an incredible range of weaponry including his trusty lightning bolt, which is activated by holding down fire and can be rotated 360 degrees around hs body by moving left/right.

He also has a machine gun, energy lines (smart bomb), grenades to throw and mines to lay - the latter when he transforms into a rolling gyroscope! Icons, found inside stone blocks or left by aliens, can be collected for extra lives, extended lightning bolt, various gun power-ups and extra energy lines, grenades and gyroscopes.

All this destructive power is needed to fend off the attacks of fifty different types of alien, not to mention the *huge* end-of-level superbaddies, including a massive screen-high piranha and huge clenched fist which tries to splat you. Most of the levels involve exploring multi-directional scrolling, platform-filled caverns, but there's also a vertically scrolling shoot-'em-up level with Turrican zooming around on a jetpack.

When the game first arrived in Issue 61, it was greeted by gleeful astonishment and a 97% rating. No-one could quite believe how huge the levels were and how the gargantuan superbaddies zipped around the screen - an ecstatic Robin exclaimed, "The fish is massive and moves as smoothly as you'd expect of an Amiga - if it wasn't our very own C64 I saw it on, I'd be convinced the host machine has a bitter on it!"

Even the normally staid Scorelord was stirred by the gorgeous, varied scenery with "waterfalls, the beautifully swirling water pools, the fearsome lightning weapon, shimmering diamonds, and ever more impressive backgrounds." Phil also loved the graphics but discovered that "Turrican isn't deficient in the gameplay department either. The various weapons add an extra twist to the excellent arcade action: learning how to use them best is a fascinating process." He also awarded it the ultimate accolade: "Good enough to eat".

If you missed it first time around, then you must be mad - restore your sanity and get it today!