Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist

"A good, fun title to play, and a worthy addition to the TMNT Series."

FOREWORD

I don't know about you, but I have always been something of a fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja/Hero Turtles - whether it's been in the cartoons, on the big screen, in video games, in RPGs, I've always just loved them to bits really ... so I was VERY keen on getting my hands on a copy of TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist for the Megadrive/Genesis.

What did I - a die-hard fan of the series - make of this offering ? Read on ...

OVERVIEW AND OBJECTIVE OF THE GAME

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist is a side-scrolling 1- or 2-player beat-em'up in which you take control of whichever of the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles you like the most, and undertake a series of missions to recover an item of great power called the Hyperstone from the Shredder, before he takes over the world.

Just your average day being a mutant turtle really !!

GRAPHICS - 8/10

Graphically-speaking, this is an impressive game - the sprites are big, well-drawn, well-animated and decently coloured (you also get the option of choosing between anime and cartoon colour-schemes to suit your pallet which is nice).

The vast majority of the turtles' enemies are in there from the Foot Clan to Roadkill Rodneys and beyond, and all of these have been equally well attended-to graphically.

The explosions are a BIT unexciting, but the variety of moves which each of the turtles employs in his arsenal of attacks are decent, and the developers have seen fit to give each of our boys some weapon-twirling or foot-tapping antics to do should they be left standing on their own for too long (more than just a few seconds really).

Sprite-flicker is not a big issue, and collision-detection is GENERALLY fine, although there are issues with lining-up attacks sometimes (by which I mean if an enemy is standing lower or higher than you, ORDINARILY you would expect their attack to go sailing past you, but in this game they still make contact with you, which is a bit irritating sometimes).

The warping effects of the Hyperstone are well done, and the title feels graphically well-loved and well-polished throughout.

SOUND - 6/10

Very often the downfall of graphically impressive Megadrive/Genesis titles is their respective sounds, and whilst TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist is not BAD in the sounds department, there is a definite imbalance between the two.

There are attempts at including digitised speech into the title, which is nice (things like "Let's Kick Shell !" and "Pizza Time !!"), but where they have been used they are rather grainy and low-quality, which is a pity. I'd still rather they were there than not though.

The most recurring sound-effects have been well-chosen so as not to be annoying (the sound of weapons hitting enemies, or enemies exploding when they die, for example), and many of the incidental sounds are nicely handled, such as the "chink !" noise when you strike a barrel with a weapon, and before it explodes, and so on.

The music is well done throughout the game, and very much in keeping with that used in the cartoon series, which is coolies.

CONTROLS - 8/10

The control method in the game is very good. Each turtle is slightly different than the others (and not just because they have different weapons which affects their respective reaches either). Raphael is like greased-lightning when attacking with his Sai, for example, whereas Michelangelo is markedly slower, but has longer reach.

Each turtle also has a different SPECIAL attack (achieved by pressing jump and attack together), and you should learn what these are, and which turtle you perform best with, as quickly as possible. Leonardo, for example, can take out attackers around him, whereas Michelangelo can leap forward and take out multiple attackers in front of him, and so on.

Jumping is fine, if a little floaty at times (although fortunately in-game this tends to manifest itself more as "I'm SO gonna hit you hard when I get down there" than "Tum tee tum, tra la la *looks at his watch*", which is good, otherwise there would be a definite imbalance in the mechanics of play.

There are also certain proximity-based attacks that you can pull off, depending on where you are standing in relation to your enemies, which can lead to both enjoyable and funny play.

There is an option to turn off "back attacks" in the options menu (basically this means you either can, or cannot kick enemies behind you) - I would suggest you always leave it ON as it's more realistic.

PLOT - 5/10

Ok, so it's new, but nothing NEW new if you catch my drift. Shredder - the Turtles' arch-nemesis, has hatched YET ANOTHER diabolical plan to take over the world, and YET AGAIN it's up to our beloved turtles to stop him before he succeeds.

Some of the levels you will be familiar with, some you will be VERY familiar with (like the first level), and some will be new to you - however the game does little to spark the imagination in terms of subjecting people with a knowledge of the series to massively new subject-matter, which is fine, but could have been done a bit better really.

The designers didn't really seem to give much thought to the fact that a great deal of the video games playing public might either own, or have ready access to, both Megadrives AND Super Nintendos, as there are definite similarities in some areas between this game and TMNT: Turtles in Time on the Super NES.

GAMEPLAY - 8/10

The game is great fun to play I must admit, from the subtle variations in each of the turtles' graphics and fighting-styles to their special moves, the feel good factor of playing a game where you can reasonably comfortably despatch DOZENS and dozens of enemies in a short space of time, and the fact that it's a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game that does the characters JUSTICE, so fans of the series are sure to enjoy it.

There are a number of well attended-to incidentals in each of the levels as well, from exploding barrels that can be hit to wipe out groups of enemies to manhole covers, fire hydrants, cars that try to run you over, and so on.

Additionally there are levels where you are forced to do things a little different, such as waterskiing rather than walking (making such levels more a platform-stylee experience than a side-scrolling beat-em'up thang).

All told, the developers have tried to make the game both varied AND enjoyable, and they have succeeded on both counts !!

REPLAY VALUE - 7/10

I think the short- to mid-term replay value of this title is good, considering it is quick and easy to get into, and quite mindless to play (which I mean in a GOOD way - you can just pick up your controller and off you go). The longer-term replay value of the game takes a hit UNLESS you are a big fan of the series, in which case it should remain pretty high.

The biggest drawback of this title is if you compare it with TMNT: Turtles in Time on the Super NES, as the two are quite similar in some ways, and if you own both titles then my gut tells me you are much more likely to play that than this, as it is the better of the two offerings (although not MASSIVELY it must be said !!).

VALUE FOR MONEY - 6/10

Considering the difficulties you are almost certain to experience in finding yourself a copy of this game to play these days, coupled with the inherent awkwardness in finding a Megadrive/Genesis that works to play it on, I think the title represents good value for money IF you love the series - otherwise you might want to look to try and get your hands on a copy of Streets of Rage 2, which is arguably THE best side-scrolling beat-em'up available on the Megadrive/Genesis EVER.

OVERALL - 7/10 (This is NOT an average)

TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist is a decent, hard-working side-scrolling beat-em'up title which should sit proudly in your fighting games collection. It isn't the best game of its kind out there, but it is good, varied, and fun to play. It's worth taking the time to have a look at - even if you just rent it :)

MAIN GOOD POINTS

* It's a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Game !! :)
* Good-sized, well-drawn, well-animated and well-coloured sprites
* LOADS of the TMNT's enemies in there
* Nice attempts at breaking up and varying the levels

MAIN BAD POINTS

* It's not the best side-scrolling fighting game on the Megadrive/Genesis
* It's the kind of game that fans of the TMNT are going to enjoy a LOT more than people that aren't fussed by them
* The digitised speech is reasonably poor. Audible, but reasonably poor.

SO SHOULD YOU GET IT ?

If you like the Teenage Mutant Ninja/Hero Turtles then I think you'll find this game very enjoyable to play, and won't want to let go of your copy once you have it. If you don't like the TMNT, then stay well away.

If you're looking for a shining example of a decent side-scrolling beat-em'up on the Megadrive/Genesis then this title is definitely worth a look - however if you want the BEST game in the genre, I would suggest you check out Streets of Rage 2 over this ANY day.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/04/07

Game Release: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist (US, 12/21/92)