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O, Retro 2: The Awakening

Published: Sat 11 Oct, 2008 | 11 Comments
Tags: N64, Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, Turok 2, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, Majora's Mask, Perfect Dark, Crash Bandicoot, Acclaim

Last week - was it last week? I wrote this blog about buying games for my N64, long since forgotten in the myriad consoles and gaming delight to be had since. I talked about a whole bunch of 64bit beauties, but the only one I wound up settling on since was Turok 2: Seeds of Evil.

 

I've managed to find time to boot the game up only twice since I got it a few days ago, but each time I have been freshly and wonderfully surprised at how fantastic this game is - and how narrow minded I was trading it in.

 

Okay, sure, like I said, had no money when titans like Perfect Dark and Majora's Mask hit the shelves, so it was as much neccessity as anything. But as I sit there now, watching the cartoonish lifeblood of the Dinosoids summoned forth by my wild and panicked gunshots, I feel like I've missed out during these long seven years.

 

Turok 2 came out in 1998, following on from the only-slightly-lesser "Acclaimed" (do you see what I did there!? This is entertainment) Turok: Dinosaur Hunter. So the game's ten years old, and it shows. Of course it shows. To draw some fatuous parable is never advisable, but in genuine fear that some of the young 'uns among you might think I mean it shows its age as Crash Bandicoot shows his, I need to say this:

 

Turok 2 wears its age the way dapper WWII vets wear theirs. Turok hasn't gone grey - it's gone smoky silver. Turok isn't sitting among hoards of yellow newspapers watching Trackside and eating cat food - it's got its pocket watch on, three-piece buttoned the hell down, a pipe in its hand and people to see.

 

Some elements are almost laughable now: 2D fires that follow you around, enemies that are smart enough to hide when they see you, but don't bother if you shoot them from somewhere far away in the fog. And, oh yes, the fog.

 

But, tiny little annoyances don't mean much when the rest of the game is timeless and timelessly beautiful. The controls were (and are) a little hard to find your way around if you were used to the simple arcade style of Goldeneye, but afforded you much greater ability to fully watch your surroundings as you ran. And now, I run.

 

I've a long day ahead, of explosive shot gun shells, and if I want to cheat (because I'm not quite there yet...) the delicious Cerebral Bore.

 

I paid $15 for Turok 2, and it was money extremely well spent. I know about the Virtual Console, and the various emulators, but, for me anyway, nothing really compares to the real thing.

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