DoctorSpuds Reviews Things - Turmoil (20th Century Fox)

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I wasn't very happy with my original Turmoil review so i decided to go back and give it a bit more of an in-depth look.

2600 games aren’t known for being all too complex, and that’s for a very good reason, the controller simply wouldn’t allow for it. There were a few enterprising games that came with alternate controllers or addons to make things a bit easier, the Booster Grip for Omega Race, the dual controller thingy for Spy Hunter, basically the entirety of Amiga’s offerings were going to have some sort of unique and wacky controller and let’s not forget about Milton Bradley. Some games just need a special or specific controller to be played properly; many people in the Atari sphere will agree that the lack of a Track-ball controller and compatible games on the 2600 is a great loss for the system, especially since many of Atari’s great Track-Ball games were ported to the system. If there was a game that should have been ported onto the system but never was it should have been tempest, well Atari did make a version but it was never released due to the fact that it sucked. Thankfully for Atari owners TCF showed up on the scene and released their own take of the classic arcade game, but it was different enough to avoid a lawsuit thankfully. Fox released Turmoil, and it is generally regarded as being one of the best Tempest-like games on the 2600, well actually it’s one of the only Tempest-like games on the 2600 so the bar is admittedly pretty low, but they did well regardless.

The graphics don’t matter with this game, even though I will say that they are done quite well, the main focus is entirely on the gameplay. This game is fun, it’s fast, it’s addicting, its everything you want from a shooter. You are stuck between seven horizontal corridors; enemies will approach from either side and your goal is to simply destroy them, before they destroy you at least. There are five different types of enemy ship, they all move at slightly different speeds but don’t really pose too much of a challenge. The arrows you need to look out for, if they make it to the other side of the screen they’ll turn into a tank that can only be destroyed from behind so it’s best if you get them before they can get around to doing that. Then there are the prizes, these things are tricky. You’ll see a flashing object at the end of one of the corridors, you can go down and collect it if you so desire, this is the only time you can move down the corridors in the game. When you collect the prize an enemy ship will immediately appear at the opposite end of the corridor and approach you, this ship is indestructible and if you get stuck at the end of the corridor then that’s one life gone. You could also reasonably say “Screw that, I’m not grabbing the prize,” the game has prepared for that as well, if you take too long in getting a prize it will turn into the fastest moving enemy in the game, which means you’ll have to watch your step when trying to shoot it or even avoid it. The game may seem too easy to start off with but thankfully you’re able to choose your starting level when you begin the game with the Select switch, all the way up to level nine.

Turmoil is just a fun game, and it keeps making you flick that reset switch for just one more game. Prices for Turmoil vary wildly, it doesn’t help that there is a Zellers version thrown into the mix. Loose carts will cost you anything from 7-20 dollars, some listings have the manual thrown in as well. Boxed copies are sitting around 25-40 dollars and Zellers copies are listed from 35-110 dollars, all loose. If you can get a cheap enough loose copy then this game is way worth it!

http://atariage.com/forums/blog/729/entry-15835-turmoil-20th-century-fox/