first game evur I think. my 4 yr old self rate 3 stars????????++ hæ
I have played TMNT3: Radical Rescue for a number of hours (but still haven't beaten it 🥵).
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue is an early Gated Exploration game developed by Konami and released in 1993. Michelangelo returns to the Sewers after getting some pizza for the gang, only to find that Shredder has kidnapped the other Turtles, April O’Neil, and Splinter. It’s up to Michelangelo to save everyone!
The player is tasked with exploring a labyrinth filled with enemies, obstacles, and bosses as they try to locate Leonardo, Raphael and Donatello, who are all locked in cells dotted around the map. The game play loop is as follows:
1. Use new ability to explore expanded environment
2. Locate boss
3. Defeat boss to acquire a key
4. Locate locked cell and use the key to
5. Save the next Turtle
6. Repeat
Each Turtle you save will allow the player to switch to them, and thereby use a new ability unique to each of the reptilian pizza lovers. Michelangelo can hover using his nun-chucks, Leonardo can drill down certain blocks using his katanas, Raphael can slip inside his shell to shimmy through small holes in the walls (morph ball cough) and Donatello can cling to and climb walls.
Radical Rescue was the first ever gated exploration game to feature a modern map system. By modern I mean, you can press START, switch to a view of the all the rooms in the game and see where you are and where each room is in relation to the next. You can also see points of interest on the map (denoted by black dots in the US and EUR version) to help you figure out where to go next.
Now, here is the thing, in the JP version, those dots are swapped out for a boss marker, a key card marker (they open smaller locked doors across the map) and the cell doors with the other turtles locked behind them. This makes the Japanese version soooo much less frustrating to play and the clear choice if you want to give the game a shot yourself. Having the map show how each room is connected to each other by way of door or ladder (like in Super Metroid) would have been a welcome addition but Radical Rescue is a very early gated exploration game, so I won't hold that against it. The decision to make exploration so much harder in the western version is completely baffling. I would have given this game 3 to 3.5 stars if the Western map system was the only one available - it's that frustrating! You can find my own article breaking down the differences in the Western and Japanese version's of Radical Rescue if you are interested. The article can be found via the articles section of my website (link in profile).
As far as the graphics are concerned, this features some of the best artwork in the licensed catalogue. The backgrounds are beautifully detailed, the animations are rich with personality and the cutscenes are absolutely fantastic. The music and SFX are top notch too.
The difficulty is going to be an issue for some people (myself included). The moment to moment combat is really fun with each Turtle offering a new fighting style but the enemy design can get frustrating in the cramped corridors at times. The Boss fights are equally fun and inventive with excellently crafted fights but yes, they too are extremely challenging. As I said at the beginning of the review, I still haven't beaten this one but it's engaging and well designed enough enough to ensure I will be returning to give it another go.
Sometimes I think handheld games are criminally overlooked when it comes to recognizing their contribution to innovation in game design and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue would be one of the prime examples in my opinion. After all, this particular game’s map system marked a considerable step forward in the genre and, more importantly, the game itself acts as a precursor to Konami’s own Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, literally the defining title in the Metroidvania genre.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue is an early Gated Exploration game developed by Konami and released in 1993. Michelangelo returns to the Sewers after getting some pizza for the gang, only to find that Shredder has kidnapped the other Turtles, April O’Neil, and Splinter. It’s up to Michelangelo to save everyone!
The player is tasked with exploring a labyrinth filled with enemies, obstacles, and bosses as they try to locate Leonardo, Raphael and Donatello, who are all locked in cells dotted around the map. The game play loop is as follows:
1. Use new ability to explore expanded environment
2. Locate boss
3. Defeat boss to acquire a key
4. Locate locked cell and use the key to
5. Save the next Turtle
6. Repeat
Each Turtle you save will allow the player to switch to them, and thereby use a new ability unique to each of the reptilian pizza lovers. Michelangelo can hover using his nun-chucks, Leonardo can drill down certain blocks using his katanas, Raphael can slip inside his shell to shimmy through small holes in the walls (morph ball cough) and Donatello can cling to and climb walls.
Radical Rescue was the first ever gated exploration game to feature a modern map system. By modern I mean, you can press START, switch to a view of the all the rooms in the game and see where you are and where each room is in relation to the next. You can also see points of interest on the map (denoted by black dots in the US and EUR version) to help you figure out where to go next.
Now, here is the thing, in the JP version, those dots are swapped out for a boss marker, a key card marker (they open smaller locked doors across the map) and the cell doors with the other turtles locked behind them. This makes the Japanese version soooo much less frustrating to play and the clear choice if you want to give the game a shot yourself. Having the map show how each room is connected to each other by way of door or ladder (like in Super Metroid) would have been a welcome addition but Radical Rescue is a very early gated exploration game, so I won't hold that against it. The decision to make exploration so much harder in the western version is completely baffling. I would have given this game 3 to 3.5 stars if the Western map system was the only one available - it's that frustrating! You can find my own article breaking down the differences in the Western and Japanese version's of Radical Rescue if you are interested. The article can be found via the articles section of my website (link in profile).
As far as the graphics are concerned, this features some of the best artwork in the licensed catalogue. The backgrounds are beautifully detailed, the animations are rich with personality and the cutscenes are absolutely fantastic. The music and SFX are top notch too.
The difficulty is going to be an issue for some people (myself included). The moment to moment combat is really fun with each Turtle offering a new fighting style but the enemy design can get frustrating in the cramped corridors at times. The Boss fights are equally fun and inventive with excellently crafted fights but yes, they too are extremely challenging. As I said at the beginning of the review, I still haven't beaten this one but it's engaging and well designed enough enough to ensure I will be returning to give it another go.
Sometimes I think handheld games are criminally overlooked when it comes to recognizing their contribution to innovation in game design and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue would be one of the prime examples in my opinion. After all, this particular game’s map system marked a considerable step forward in the genre and, more importantly, the game itself acts as a precursor to Konami’s own Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, literally the defining title in the Metroidvania genre.
the least infuriating and least boring tmnt game on gameboy
that said, its not great. theres a lot of backtracking through areas that look similar (though for any metroidvania on gameboy that feels like a given), and bosses just straight up feel like bullshit, i dont know how kids are supposed to do the boss rush at the end (without rewind lol), or how youre supposed to dodge shredders attacks. a tmnt metroidvania is a cool concept, especially with how each turtle has their own gimmick but in execution, its not all that great
that said, its not great. theres a lot of backtracking through areas that look similar (though for any metroidvania on gameboy that feels like a given), and bosses just straight up feel like bullshit, i dont know how kids are supposed to do the boss rush at the end (without rewind lol), or how youre supposed to dodge shredders attacks. a tmnt metroidvania is a cool concept, especially with how each turtle has their own gimmick but in execution, its not all that great
No me esperaba que se influenciara de Metroid en cuanto a la estructura del mapa y upgrades opcionales para la vida, aunque sigue siendo bastante lineal. Empiezas solo con una tortuga y vas poco a poco rescatando a las demas. Cada una tiene una habilidad especial que te permite explorar zonas nuevas similar al primero para NES solo que mas en cuanto a movilidad y exploración mas que solo combate y alcance. Me hubiese gustado ver otro juego de home console con estas ideas.