Turrican II Celebrates 25th Anniversary with Kickstarter Campaign for Orchestral Album

Chris Huelsbeck is arguably one of the most well-known and respected videogame composers of the last 30 years. His work includes such classics as R-Type, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and, The Great Giana Sisters.  One of his personal favourites though, is the soundtrack that he created for 1991’s Turrican II. 25 years on from the release of that iconic Amiga game, Huelsbeck is attempting to revive the music with the addition of a full orchestral score.

The album is set to be launched to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the game, as well as Huelsbeck’s 30th anniversary as a game composer. Turrican II - The Orchestral Album takes one of the most remarkable soundtracks of 16-bit gaming and turns it into the ultimate video game tribute album.

It’s not the first time that the veteran composer has taken to Kickstsarter. He’s previously seen success with two other albums of his game music: Chris Huelsbeck Piano Collection and the four-disc Turrican Soundtrack Anthology. Huelsbeck Is hoping the success of those two campaigns will lend extra credence to this one.

The composer is hoping to be able to raise $75,000 to create the album. Among the benefits to backing the campaign are digital and physical tracks, as well as 1,000 individually numbered, special Collector’s Editions, featuring CD, art prints and two vinyl discs. One super-backer will experience one of the orchestra sessions live and receive the actual conductor’s baton used during the album recording as well.

The album will include almost an hour of newly arranged music for orchestra, and features some of Turrican II’s best-loved melodies, including The Final Fight, Freedom, The Great Bath, Concerto for Laser and Enemies and The Desert Rocks. The score is being arranged by Merregnon Studios’ Roger Wanamo and Jonne Valtonen, who previously worked with Huelsbeck on the Turrican Soundtrack Anthology and his tribute concert Symphonic Shades, as well as the award winning Final Symphony and Symphonic Fantasies video game concerts and albums, and will be recorded in Prague by the hugely talented FILMharmonic Orchestra Prague, pictured below.

“I have very many special memories throughout my 30-year career as a video game composer, but Turrican II will always be a highlight for me,” said Huelsbeck. “I’ve always wanted to produce a purely orchestral album of music from Turrican II and with its 25th anniversary upon us I’m so pleased that we can once again use Kickstarter’s crowd-funding platform to help make this possible. I’m thankful to all my fans who are just as keen to see this dream become a reality.”