As a lifelong Turtles fan, this was a no-brainer purchase for me and something that everyone who grew up with these games should at least check out. They're not all perfect games, some of them aren't even great games! But the detail, presentation, bonus content, and plethora of stuff to experience and dig through here is unmatched.
Turtles games for me, are the beat-em-ups. I remember renting the original TMNT game on NES as a kid and being so confused, I had no idea where to go and whenever I tried to go in the sewer I died. I think many people had a similar experience so that game in particular doesn't hold a ton of nostalgia for me, but I'm still happy to see it here. I never played the tournament fighting titles, and of the Game Boy titles, only played Fall Of The Foot Clan (another one that annoyed me but I still really enjoyed as a kid). So for me, having the original arcade game, The Manhattan Project, and Turtles In Time here are the main selling points. The original arcade is absolutely awesome, but The Manhattan Project I remember so well on NES, the first beach level with the Foot Clan popping out from the behind the signs on the boardwalk, I loved how thought out the levels were with obstacles and hiding spots for the enemies to attack from. And of course, one of the best SNES games ever and one of my favorites of all time, Turtles In Time. Everything about this game is burned into my brain like a tattoo. The music, the levels, the sound effects, the bosses, it's all just perfect.
One of the other main reasons I knew I needed this game was to finally experience The Hyperstone Heist, which I still have yet to play. Another Turtles In Time style beat-em-up? Yes please!
Like I mentioned above, the absolute smorgasbord of content to sift through here is a joy to behold. Old magazine ads, instruction manuals, artwork, box art... as amazing as it would be to actually have this material in physical form to look at, having it all collected here and able to be skimmed through and zoomed in on is a pretty good alternative.
I'd love to have the Platinum trophy for this, but as you may remember, these games are challenging. Especially the tournament fighters, which are programmed like the original Mortal Kombat games to somehow know your button presses and movements and block or attack you relentlessly before you can get one hit off. I'm not super skilled at fighting games to begin with, so I don't think I'll ever beat these. There IS, however, a "play game" function, which is like hitting fast forward on a movie and the game just plays itself, all the way to the end credits. If you "unpause" the game right before the final boss of each game and beat them yourself, you'll get a trophy for completing the game. I have done this only twice, with Fall Of The Foot Clan and The Manhattan Project, only after getting so damn far in each and dying, and not having the heart to start from the beginning and just wanting to witness the rest. So the trophies I acquired for these doesn't feel earned. For that reason, I don't plan to get the Platinum trophy for a game that lets you sit back and watch it play itself. If I'm getting a Platinum trophy for a Turtles game, I'm earning that shit myself, like I did with Shredder's Revenge!
So yeah, I haven't beaten this game collection, and I doubt I ever will, but having all of these fun classics in one collection with so much Turtle goodness to check out on the side is what makes this a must-have for me and being worthy of writing a review for.
Turtles games for me, are the beat-em-ups. I remember renting the original TMNT game on NES as a kid and being so confused, I had no idea where to go and whenever I tried to go in the sewer I died. I think many people had a similar experience so that game in particular doesn't hold a ton of nostalgia for me, but I'm still happy to see it here. I never played the tournament fighting titles, and of the Game Boy titles, only played Fall Of The Foot Clan (another one that annoyed me but I still really enjoyed as a kid). So for me, having the original arcade game, The Manhattan Project, and Turtles In Time here are the main selling points. The original arcade is absolutely awesome, but The Manhattan Project I remember so well on NES, the first beach level with the Foot Clan popping out from the behind the signs on the boardwalk, I loved how thought out the levels were with obstacles and hiding spots for the enemies to attack from. And of course, one of the best SNES games ever and one of my favorites of all time, Turtles In Time. Everything about this game is burned into my brain like a tattoo. The music, the levels, the sound effects, the bosses, it's all just perfect.
One of the other main reasons I knew I needed this game was to finally experience The Hyperstone Heist, which I still have yet to play. Another Turtles In Time style beat-em-up? Yes please!
Like I mentioned above, the absolute smorgasbord of content to sift through here is a joy to behold. Old magazine ads, instruction manuals, artwork, box art... as amazing as it would be to actually have this material in physical form to look at, having it all collected here and able to be skimmed through and zoomed in on is a pretty good alternative.
I'd love to have the Platinum trophy for this, but as you may remember, these games are challenging. Especially the tournament fighters, which are programmed like the original Mortal Kombat games to somehow know your button presses and movements and block or attack you relentlessly before you can get one hit off. I'm not super skilled at fighting games to begin with, so I don't think I'll ever beat these. There IS, however, a "play game" function, which is like hitting fast forward on a movie and the game just plays itself, all the way to the end credits. If you "unpause" the game right before the final boss of each game and beat them yourself, you'll get a trophy for completing the game. I have done this only twice, with Fall Of The Foot Clan and The Manhattan Project, only after getting so damn far in each and dying, and not having the heart to start from the beginning and just wanting to witness the rest. So the trophies I acquired for these doesn't feel earned. For that reason, I don't plan to get the Platinum trophy for a game that lets you sit back and watch it play itself. If I'm getting a Platinum trophy for a Turtles game, I'm earning that shit myself, like I did with Shredder's Revenge!
So yeah, I haven't beaten this game collection, and I doubt I ever will, but having all of these fun classics in one collection with so much Turtle goodness to check out on the side is what makes this a must-have for me and being worthy of writing a review for.
Reviewed on Apr 14, 2023