TMNT Arcade impressions: turtle power!


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TMNT Arcade impressions: turtle power!

Posted Mar 14th 2007 4:15PM by Richard Mitchell

Filed under: News, Fan stuff

Having had ample time to test out both the single player and multiplayer aspects of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for Xbox Live Arcade, we are ready to pass our stern and final judgment. The game is exactly what you remember from the arcades of yesteryear. From the cheesy dialogue to storyboard cutscenes, it's all there. The combat is as simple and addicting as it ever was. It's still pretty damned frustrating at times, too. Of course, players must keep in mind that this game was designed primarily to suck quarters directly from the pockets of children. Overall, the single player is completely intact, with nary a hitch to be seen. As an added bonus, you can continue as many times as you want (and you will be continuing ... a lot).

The multiplayer, on the other hand, is a different story. Now, the multiplayer isn't broken, but we ran into a few problems starting up a decent game. The first three matches we joined were so laggy that the game was unplayable. On our fourth try, though, we ran into a group of people with decent connections and enjoyed a game that was (mostly) lag free. The multiplayer game offers players 20 credits each (poetically, this is the equivalent of a $5 afternoon at the arcade). The difficulty scales based on how many players are in the game -- with four players it becomes hard to concentrate because of all the enemies on the screen. Getting to the end of the game in multiplayer will require some skilled players and some serious teamwork against the game's ruthless bosses.

All in all, TMNT Arcade provides a fun experience. As with most retro titles, your enjoyment of the game may be directly proportional to your nostalgia for it. Of course, the big question is always whether or not an Arcade game is worth the points it costs. In TMNT's case, that question is easily quantified. The game costs $5 worth of MS points. That's equal to 20 lives at a quarter each (10 lives if you grew up in $0.50 arcades). If you can beat the game without dying that many times, then it's not worth it. For the rest of us, 5 bucks is cheap for a full game of TMNT. Throw in Live multiplayer, leaderboards, and the fact that even your non-gaming friends will want to play it, and TMNT is an absolute bargain.

Source: http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2007/03/14/tm...s-turtle-power/

Man I can't wait for my 360 to get repaired so I can buy this game! :woot:

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Just downloaded the trial version, which reminded me, nostalgia aside, I never liked this game all that much. :rofl:

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Just downloaded the trial version, which reminded me, nostalgia aside, I never liked this game all that much. :rofl:

lol so no fighting mousers for you? lol :laugh:

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lol so no fighting mousers for you? lol :laugh:

LOL No way. And I know my boy is going to try and talk me into getting it for the CoOp to play with him, but no thanks, rather save the $5 and put it towards something else.

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My cousin beat it in like 20 minutes, if even. It seems really cheesy. No matter how many times you "die", you never die. There's no game over.

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I'd probably get it if they would have upgraded the graphics and sound. Some re-releases need to stay true to the original...others need a face lift.

Agree 110%

For example I think Paperboy looked just fine keeping it's graphics. This game looked absolutely horrible in all regards. Do not get me wrong, I never play a game just based on wether it looks good or not, but this truly looks horrible and was truly dying for a face lift.

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disagree about the cosmetics: classics shouldn't be tampered with, lest they cease being classics and become today's low-grade rush jobs. know what i mean? stuff like 360 Time Pilot, although very enjoyable, was an offender in that it had BOTH versions...after loading the new one you just couldn't bear the "original" so the effect was ruined.

but agree that this TMNT was never all that likable. the top-down view release from when the first movie came out was much more memorable.

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My cousin beat it in like 20 minutes, if even. It seems really cheesy. No matter how many times you "die", you never die. There's no game over.

unless you are playin co-op... in which case you get a total of 20 credits...

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disagree about the cosmetics: classics shouldn't be tampered with, lest they cease being classics and become today's low-grade rush jobs. know what i mean? stuff like 360 Time Pilot, although very enjoyable, was an offender in that it had BOTH versions...after loading the new one you just couldn't bear the "original" so the effect was ruined.

but agree that this TMNT was never all that likable. the top-down view release from when the first movie came out was much more memorable.

You know I am all about the classics too, but something about this one just screams absolutely terrible looking. Besides that...

I also think having both versions graphically is an absolutely must, and hear me out on this...

For people who played the games when they first came out, it is fine and dandy to keep the graphics the same for them. We are used to them and it will bring that nostalgic feeling back. However, since a damn good amount of kids never played the games, I think since the kids today are without a doubt for the most part graphic ######, you have to provide the enhanced version just to keep their interest.

What I mean is, I would much rather a game get enhanced visuals if that is what it takes to introduce the classic gameplay, which really is the key part of it all, to a new generation (and perhaps even generations).

The simple fact is kids that never played it will not appreciate the fact it looks like it did when it released, they will just say it looks blocky and really bad. It is a sad state of affairs, but the truth of the situation.

Plus it really just looks like absolute doo doo on my 40" Samsung LCD TV. :laugh:

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When Super Mario All-Stars came out for the SNES, the graphics and sound were all updated, and none of the gameplay was lost. However, these seem to be a little less polished.

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Agree 110%

For example I think Paperboy looked just fine keeping it's graphics. This game looked absolutely horrible in all regards. Do not get me wrong, I never play a game just based on wether it looks good or not, but this truly looks horrible and was truly dying for a face lift.

Man i so remember paperboy, some are just pure classics. With that said i'd love to see another pilotwings done for the Wii.

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Plus it really just looks like absolute doo doo on my 40" Samsung LCD TV. :laugh:

:laugh: Same here, man. I was almost shocked when I saw how it looked. Though I had lost most of my hope as soon as I saw how bad the Ubisoft logo looked, I still expected the game to look a little better.

I still might purchase it, but I went through the demo so quick that I'm a little hesitant now.

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now all they need is the simpson's arcade game

Was that not based on the same engine as the TMNT one? They were very similar.

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5 dollars for a game that I easily spent 50 dollars in the arcade is no biggie to me. I can remember the endless quarters I'd waste on this game and the simpsons game. even if its original graphics, and gameplay is rather easy, it's worth it.

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disagree about the cosmetics: classics shouldn't be tampered with, lest they cease being classics and become today's low-grade rush jobs. know what i mean? stuff like 360 Time Pilot, although very enjoyable, was an offender in that it had BOTH versions...after loading the new one you just couldn't bear the "original" so the effect was ruined.

but agree that this TMNT was never all that likable. the top-down view release from when the first movie came out was much more memorable.

I dunno about that. I think that Super Mario All Stars for the SNES was terrific. The upgraded graphics and sound were very much appreciated by me. The gameplay was still the exact same so I still believe that it was true to the original...just 16-bit instead of 8-bit. The only deviation was that you could save your game at each world instead of having to start all over at a power cycle.

The remakes of Super Mario Bros. that they released for the Gameboy advanced were horribly dumbed down. They tweaked the gameplay to make the games significantly easier. I didn't like that at all.

My point is: gameplay needs to stay true to the original and as long as that remains I'm not sure how you can say it will become a "low-grade rush job." These old graphics look horrid on my HDTV too ;).

I really like what they did w/ Worms for XBox Live Arcade. I appreciate the new graphics a lot there.

-Shad

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It'd be nice for the games to have a new graphics/old graphics toggle option. You know, so if they do upgrade the graphics, the choice is always there.

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Larry, Shadrack and Nega: yes, what you say makes sense but i still insist...they call it coin op CLASSICS. to me to invariably means having a release that's as faithful to the original as possible. no intentional improvements or mods.

if more recent gamers don't want these, then Live has a whole host of other titles for them to choose from, like the newer, PC-sourced games lately.

the coin op classics should come out unaltered, or else they're not classics anymore. i don't want MS and its partners to bankrupt themselves on dozens of oldies most people don't want...a couple every month will do. not asking much. i'll buy, for one.

re-doing old games results in a compromise: they're no longer the same old game, but they're certainly not on a par with full contemporary releases. hence the rush job comment.

in short, give me some Cabal lovin'.

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