Turok Dinosaur Hunter is a Nintendo 64 cult classic from the now defunct American studio Iguana Entertainment.

It was a hit back in 1997, so a sequel was guaranteed. We got that in 1998 with this humdinger of a thing.

Turok 2: Seeds of Evil

Nightdive Studios has stepped in to bring the game to the Nintendo Switch—the American team specialises in bringing classics back to modern consoles.

It launched this one on Friday for the Nintendo Switch. You can also pick it up on Steam and the Xbox One.

For now, we’re looking at the Nintendo 64 game from 1998. Despite the rave reviews it received (with N64 Magazine hailing it as better than Goldeneye 007) we didn’t make much of it to begin with.

On returning to Turok 2 in 2006, though, we found a meaty and punchy FPS that seriously improves on all the failings of its predecessor.

The game has a more cinematic feel to it than the first one. As Turok, you meet this alien thing woman called Adon who charges you with wiping out the Primagen. They’re evil aliens and monsters, basically.

Any old excuse to head out into the wilderness and blow stuff up, right? And right off the bat you get a pounding, tribal soundtrack to thunder it all along.

The big talking point in 1998 was the range of weapons Turok can help himself to.

There are some nasty blighters out there to wipe out. And he has a nifty bow and arrow, various shooty boom things, and this thing called the cerebral bore.

The latter bores into the skull of anyone you fire it at. N64 Magazine fussed about it big time back in the day and it’s inventive stuff indeed.

The gore factor is ramped up big time for Turok 2. Whilst its predecessor didn’t exactly shy away from it, the fountains of spurting blood weren’t excessive.

For the sequel, that’s gone in favour of total mayhem. Particularly with the aforementioned cerebal bore.

But the expansive level design remains, but with a greater sense of freedom and graphical detail. Largely gone is the notorious fog from the original, which was used to keep framerate speeds up.

The result is a much more spectacular, better looking, and involving title. As Goldeneye 007 has aged so poorly, you could make a strong claim Turok 2 is now the best FPS on the Nintendo 64.

It’s available right now if you want it for your Switch. It’s good old fun. An old school romp that downplays the endless cutscenes modern FPSs have.

And it’s a fun old call back to those ’90s gaming days of yore.

He… Is Turok!

With the remastering of the original Turok for Steam and then the Switch, the return of Turok 2 marks something of a revival for this 1990s series.

The indie game Turok: Escape From the Lost Valley was recently released. It looks very cute and charming, but unfortunately met with very negative reviews.

The normally reputable Destructoid slated it, for example, which is a real shame. Most disappointing.

But the title does indicate we may see more Turok in future. A brand new FPS adventure would certainly be rather dramatic in the hands of the right developer (Retro Studios, please).