Stumbled on this article on Readretro.
Link
I find articles like this to be a good read, particularly because I have so many memories tied into this game. That said, I completely disagree with the article.
I had the game as a child. I still remember when I got it -- It was Christmas eve, and in those days we always went over to my grandmother's house and opened some gifts there on Christmas Eve. My grandmother had a sense of humor, and decided to give me a wrapped box of socks. Underneath all the socks, though, was a mouser toy and this game. She knew I was a TMNT fan, like any 8 year old circa 1990, and I was ecstatic.
So ecstatic was I that many particular individual memories from that night are still emblazoned in my head. I remember staring at the box on the way home, wondering why all the turtles had red headbands (like many people my age, I mainly just knew TMNT from the cartoon series and the toys). I remember running to the NES. I remember falling in the water a lot.
In the days and years to come, this game was played a lot before it was eventually beaten. That's just how things were back then. Games were tough, games were obtuse, and resources and information to make it easier weren't always readily available. So, yeah, I did the seaweed thing trying to get to the bombs. I remember that. Most guys my age seem to remember that! I even remember AVGN's single tile jump you have to *walk* over. I remember all of it.
But I never hated the game. I was never even angry at it. I never considered it a bad game. Whenever this game is examined now, it seems to always be a foregone conclusion that it's bad. That the arcade game was better.
I was excited to play the arcade game, sure, like anyone else. Ultimately, though, it didn't take me long to realize that it just wasn't as engaging. It didn't have the same ups and downs, the same challenge. It was fun to bash badguys with your friends, but beating the shit out of rocksteady or shredder never elicited from me the same highs as finding a pizza for my lowest health turtle and bringing him back from the brink, or finding the passage that led to the technodrome, or, yeah, getting to the bombs in time.
Welcome to RETRO Regrets, where we take a look at classic games that had potential but, for one reason or another, fell just a bit short of glory. The goal here is to look over what the featured title did wrong, what it could have been, and some alternatives that are worth checking out.
Link
I find articles like this to be a good read, particularly because I have so many memories tied into this game. That said, I completely disagree with the article.
I had the game as a child. I still remember when I got it -- It was Christmas eve, and in those days we always went over to my grandmother's house and opened some gifts there on Christmas Eve. My grandmother had a sense of humor, and decided to give me a wrapped box of socks. Underneath all the socks, though, was a mouser toy and this game. She knew I was a TMNT fan, like any 8 year old circa 1990, and I was ecstatic.
So ecstatic was I that many particular individual memories from that night are still emblazoned in my head. I remember staring at the box on the way home, wondering why all the turtles had red headbands (like many people my age, I mainly just knew TMNT from the cartoon series and the toys). I remember running to the NES. I remember falling in the water a lot.
In the days and years to come, this game was played a lot before it was eventually beaten. That's just how things were back then. Games were tough, games were obtuse, and resources and information to make it easier weren't always readily available. So, yeah, I did the seaweed thing trying to get to the bombs. I remember that. Most guys my age seem to remember that! I even remember AVGN's single tile jump you have to *walk* over. I remember all of it.
But I never hated the game. I was never even angry at it. I never considered it a bad game. Whenever this game is examined now, it seems to always be a foregone conclusion that it's bad. That the arcade game was better.
I was excited to play the arcade game, sure, like anyone else. Ultimately, though, it didn't take me long to realize that it just wasn't as engaging. It didn't have the same ups and downs, the same challenge. It was fun to bash badguys with your friends, but beating the shit out of rocksteady or shredder never elicited from me the same highs as finding a pizza for my lowest health turtle and bringing him back from the brink, or finding the passage that led to the technodrome, or, yeah, getting to the bombs in time.