In 2022 Review, i said that i
have bought new Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles. But i like to play Konami's Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles - The Hyperstone Heist (1992), first.
Here's another animated title screen on this blog. I feel like that it's better in motion rather than one shot picture. Pretty neat, huh? As we own Sega Genesis back in the day, i used to have the physical cartridge of this game. Also the TMNT fighting game that nobody like, actually. I have plan to review that soon or later. I feel like the subtitle Hyperstone Heist is either not accurate to describe the game or packing a punch. I mean, yes. It involves Hyperstone being stolen but that's not the main premise.
Meanwhile the subtitle for the Japan version of this game is: Return of The Shredder, which is more accurate and sounds more badblood. What also feels badblood is the cover art. Look at those turtles clenching their teeth while fighting the foot soldiers, even the wacky funster Michaelangelo. Quite obviously this gritty nature of the turtles doesn't represent well to the actual ninja turtles, except for Raphael. He's all being witty and furious. I owned this version, by the way. But as far as i remember the plot text is not in Japanese. Probably the same case with Fighting Master. Both Japan and America version has English plot text but different in story (also the Japan version has broken English).
Do i have to tell you about the plot of TMNT? Well to prove myself as their fans, i suppose i should tell you. One day in New York, 4 turtles get hit with some radioactive waste and they mutated into humanoid and have ability to talk like we know. They're not the only one who get mutated, the radioactive waste also hit a rat and he become Master Splinter that later teaches the turtles Ninjutsu and naming them after Renaissance artist: Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Leonardo, the one wearing blue mask/headband sports dual sword and the leader of the group. Donatello, the one wearing purple mask/headband wield Bo/Long staff and the techno nerd. Michelangelo wearing orange mask/headband armed with two Nunchaku and the happy go lucky turtle. Lastly Raphael wearing red mask/headband armed with two Sai and the outrageous, the temperamental, and the brutal turtle.
Maybe my memory play around with me but i remember that Master Splinter is used to be normal human and Ninjutsu student under same Master as Shredder, who's the nemesis of the turtles. So i remember 2 version of Master Splinter: 1. He's used to be pet rat of a Ninjutsu master, that learn Ninjutsu by himself (rat can be genius, who know?) 2. He's used to be human that later become rat mutant because of the radioactive waste.
The story begin with news reportage from April O' Neil, friend of the turtles. It was all fine until Lady Liberty statue disappeared along with whole Manhattan! Scout_sf13_magic_reac06.wav
Shredder put the lady liberty on the table along with Manhattan. I think Shredder want to make diorama of Kaiju's attack with them. Then he mocks the turtles through television. Is that mocking widely broadcasted all around United States? Billions viewers except the ninja turtles will be confused with who Shredder address the mocking to. "Who are these turtles that this magic terrorist refer to?"
So off we go to the Shredder
whereabouts and ask him to return Liberty Statue and Manhattan nicely. Just
kidding. We're going to kick his butt shell, if he has any that is. My
choice is Raphael because i'm short-tempered while my brother's favorite is
Michelangelo. The control is quite simple: D-pad to move around. "A"
button to attack. "B" button to jump. Pressing "C" button
and either left or right on D-Pad to run. Pressing attack button consecutively
will make combo up to 4 hit.
Much like in Captain America and The Avengers, there's quick grapple when you do combo in certain middle range as opposed to use the auto sticky grapple system in Final Fight. In this case, your turtles will repeatedly slamming foot ninjas left and right. It's useful not only for temporary invincibility during the animation but also to destroy foot ninjas easier. Anyone who's being slammed will be destroyed after the thorough slamming and it deals hefty damage to anyone who's accidentally get hit by the slammed ninja. In fact, the key to success in this game in hard difficulty is to slam the foot ninjas often like no tomorrow. I play this game in difficulty hard not because i'm so good at this game (although i admit i kind of expert at this game because i play this often during my childhood). The real reason is the real ending only available in hard difficulty. Sounds bit preposterous but this is Konami's game we're talking about so it's not surprise.
Then suddenly Roadkill Rodney(s) drill out from the floor and attack me. They move fast and they will either throw electric cable or shoot laser from distance. The best way to deal with them is the cool signature dive kick, executed with jump and attack button. Scout_domination15.wav
By pressing "C" button while moving, your turtle will runs forward. Then you can follow up the run with shoulder ram by pressing attack button "A" during the run animation. Shoulder ram can be followed up with combo attack. There's high chance that the combo attack that's chained from shoulder ram will ends with the brutal slam. Not 100% but it's still pretty high chance thus the shoulder ram is quite essential to break foot ninja's teeth in quick time.
I said "Cool up, sucker!" as i spray water from fire hydrant. Like in other Konami's TMNT game, you can use some object in environment as weapon. In return, there's no weapon you can pick up like iron pipe or throwing knife like in Final Fight. The turtles love their signature weapon and they will stand by it!
But some object is hazardous to the turtles like this car that immediately run if the turtles are in front of it, most likely on their way to get Pizza box to heal their battle wound. The solution is simple just jump pass through it. The pizza box is underneath that speeding car. You have to take my word for it.
There's pizza box with picture of bomb. When picked up your turtle will shout "Pizza Power" and spin furiously, making them invincible for a while and able to mow down foot ninjas easily. Heavy_domination16.wav
The foot ninjas saw Michaelangelo's nunchaku/double stick and think what's better than two stick chained together? Thus they establish grey foot clan armed with triple stick! But i know from someone that sticks with chain connecting them is weaker weapon than mere single longer stick.
A foot ninja comes out from manhole and throws the lid but i can deflect it back to him with well timed strike. Scout_stunballhit04.wav
Ok so we back to sewer. But this sewer section has water on it but i'm not sure how deep it is. No foot is submersed in this section. Konami team is just put watery floor in this section and call it a day. Without disrespecting Classic Doom, i like to say that this graphic work laziness on water body also happen in that legendary retro FPS.
Anyway, i find the purple foot
ninja and he like to chuck throwing star. You should be careful meeting this
git from distance.
Look out! Pizza monsters emerge from this barely deep water. The pizza monster is clearly parody of Xenomorph and they wear yellow color to fool 20th Century Fox Production. However, Konami made an Alien's arcade game with Xenomorph that have various stupid color. It's all coming together.
After move deeper in the sewer, i encounter the first boss: Leather Head, the mutant crocodile. He starts to hop lightly and if you're totally slacking on hitting him, he will throw a lazy punch at you. Obviously, you should hit him first but only restricted to 4 hits which is the maximum number of your usual combo. After that he immediately rushing to opposite corner while furiously gnawing his way like that chattering teeth toy on the loose. After that he side hop a bit to either upper or lower plane while throwing knives then he repeats the jauntily hop. Hit him with full combo, jump his charging and knives. Nuff said.
I keep mispronounce "Ghost Ship" as gossip since i was young. No one is perfect, you know?
The 2nd level starts with hover board section immediately, collecting this mysterious boxes that happen floating in this open sea. Each box worth 1 point. My guess they're box of anchovy. Not taste good to eat on its own but can make good topping for pizza.
There's also floating barrels and crates. You can destroy them with well timed strike.
I also encounter floating masts and spiked logs that reminds me of Alien Storm. Avoid or jump over them.
This sea is pretty dangerous. Not only i have to deal with every kind of flotsam but also foot ninjas (on their own hover board) and flying mousers! Sniper_jeers02.wav
I manage to board on the ship through destroyed aft. You can find explosive objects that you can use to destroy enemies if you can bait them within good timing, like that box of explosive or orange-colored drum. But i keep forget using them because i like to slam enemy left and right. It's satisfying to see, you know?
I know the game like to trap me with pizza box as bait but this way too obvious. There's no Shredder painting in Pirate Era. That painting is definitely fake. Plus that sinister looking painting obviously gives you hint of danger about it.
The ship is really in awful
condition. Instead of fixing it to safety standard level, the foot ninjas focus
on installing more trap! The fake painting and these boards that fixed
marked with small patch. If you step on them, they will spring out and throw
you sky high.
Knowing this game is sidescroller brawler game, there will be rolling barrels obviously. Luckily, i'm invincible while i'm in process of slamming this unfortunate foot ninja left and right.
Then there's stone warriors impeding my way. Some are unarmed and some of them armed with machine gun. Without considering the poor ship's constituent, they fire their machine gun in downed angle hoping to shoot my toe but i can counter them with dive kick. I don't know why they defy the conventional use of firearm by not aiming at my torso or head. But i don't have rock for brain so what do i know about their way of thinking. I'm surprised the ship is not slowly sinking with all mistreatment and no fixing. Luckily, i have enough time to disembark on nearest cave.
I don't ignore all of the helpful explosives. I accidentally set off this one, see? This sliding kick is performed by running and then press "B" button to make your turtle does flip and lastlt press "A" button for the real sliding kick. This running attack is the one with the longest start up but during flip and slide kick, your turtle can avoid enemy's projectile.
There's another thing on ceiling in video game that always fall besides chandelier is: stalactite. So be careful on those stalactites in this cave. Conveniently, there's a circle of shadow that indicate where they fall.
Another thing that worth to notice is some stone warriors carry bazooka now and they aim straight in my general direction. They're not stupid enough to aim at the ground unlike their brethren armed with machine gun. Oh, wait! I often aim rocket launcher at enemy's feet in Team Fortress 2. I might be dumber than these stone warriors.
Other grey foot ninjas show up
but this one armed with tonfa baton and they like to block your attack. You can
try to force attack him with combo but there's effective way to deal with them
which is: running attack. They can't block running attack probably because they
simply can't block entire weight of the turtle boosted with fast velocity. It
hits like a truck!
So the boss in this cavern is Rocksteady, the mutant rhino. He defies his original diet of grass and looking forward to turtle soup. However there's a box of pizza right there! I'm willing to share it to you.
Spoiler: there's no appearance of Beebop ever.
Rocksteady's routine is almost the same with Leather Head. I said almost. Mainly because he can and he will interrupt your combo with rude kick while he's idling. I think you supposed to hit him from side and not direct front in order to avoid being kicked suddenly. Instead of throwing knife, Rocksteady will fire M4A1 assault rifle in two direction: straight and angled (to preemptively anticipate your dive kick), instead. Naturally, he like to shoulder ram to change sides. He has modified pattern of Leather Head but basically he's not hard.
Somehow, the cavern is connected to this Japanese suburban area. This stage called: Shredder's Hideout so i trust the turtles are on the right track. Suddenly, there's violet colored foot ninjas who have capability of breathing fire. They have role of "Hit and run in screen corner" much like that molotov-throwing soldier in Final Fight or the weird alien with ear and tail of Raccoon's in Nekketsu Oyako.
These wide landscape with orange tone and fence along the way and it ends at Japanese building wall reminds me of something.
My brain immediately thinks of that section in Ninja House level in Captain Commando. I thought Capcom copied the section of Shredder's Hideout for this level. However, Captain Commando came out in 1991 which is a year before TMNT Hyperstone Heist. So i can assume the opposite thing that happened: It's Konami that copied this level for TMNT Hyperstone Heist! But things get more complicated regarding the hover board section. Captain Commando also has hover board bonus stage on water. It's true that Captain Commando came out before TMNT Hyperstone Heist but hover board section exist since first Konami's TMNT arcade game although it's on road and not on water or sea. Or am i misremember thing? Is there any hover board section on water before TMNT Hyperstone Heist? If you would be so kind, let me know in comment.
There's this foot ninja that try mimicking his urban brethren. Instead of hiding on manhole, this git hides under a stone tile, jump out and lastly throw the tile at me. I have to give him credit for better hiding place than the manhole which can be obvious. Meanwhile there's lots of stone tile around here and stone tile commonly don't hide a hole or ninja beneath it thus increasing surprise element. But unfortunately for him, i can counter attack him easily with the same way with his brethren with manhole cover. Such a pity.
Now, we move on to one of Ninja House. There's candle holder that you can punt for temporary projectile against enemies. Scout_stunballhit05.wav
I hope you are not so keen on diving kick often because in this section it's prohibited. There's hanging spikes on ceiling, you see? To make things worse, they send dozen of throwing-stars chucking foot ninja in this section. The game wants you to rely on running attack instead of diving kick, which is fair since diving kick deal weak damage. My suggestion is do the sliding kick. It has lots of starting up time but it's the most ideal to dodge enemy's projectiles.
Then there's section where bamboo spears thrust out periodically from the floor. I think this trap also exist in Double Dragon 3 on Japan's stage? Are foot ninjas immune to the trap? Absolutely yes!
These mustard-colored foot ninja has this special move: they jump up for a bit and then throw 3-way kunai in low angle. I say they're easier to deal than their purple friends because they take longer time to throw projectile and also their projectile don't fly along entire stage.
Bamboo spears and spiked ceilings. I can understand those trap. But samurai armor that suddenly shoot electrical laser? Demoman_sf12_badmagic11.wav
I reach the boss of this level: Tatsu, the second in command of The Foot Clan. He said "You must defeat my foot soldiers before you fight me!" but you can hit him anytime. He keep summoning foot ninjas if you defeat some of them so ignore his words. He sidestep while firing knives from his wrist crossbow that probably he stole from laboratory where agent 007 get his gadgets. He also can jump to other sides while raining the place with his knives. You can deflect his knives back at him but i doubt your attack speed can keep up with his rapid firing rate. You should fight him in close range but the thing is he's on very edge. So the turtles you control will automatically perform back attack instead of the usual combo attack like this, which can minimize the damage rate potential of your turtle a bit. You can position the turtles slightly in front of him but they will get hit by knives that he shoot.
By the way, check out that Shredder statue on the background. Apparently foot ninjas worship Shredder like multi-armed Asura. Once Tatsu is defeated, the statue reveals a secret entrance!
The Gauntlet? Like that Midway/Atari's classic arcade game or Gauntlet Legends that i played 2 years ago?
The level starts with another shallow water section where pizza monsters can swim underneath and spring up to ambush me. There's variation of jumping attack in this game. First, there's the usual diving kick that you can perform by pressing attack button when the turtle jump high enough. Second, this high kick that executed by pressing attack button immediately after split second the turtle jump. It deals bigger damage but only good against enemy in mid-air. Third, is downward weapon attack that -i believe- executed by pressing attack button after doing 360o in mid air. Sound tedious? Yes. But it's jumping attack with the biggest attack power. Fourth, is charging forward kick executed by pressing attack button after falling from peak of your jump and when your turtle at approximately his height above the ground.
Oh, i see why this stage called The Gauntlet. It's boss rush (albeit with different color palette) after that section with pizza monsters. Leather Head and Tatsu are not much different from the first encounter but Rocksteady has some improvement: he sometime throws 2 grenades that i can easily avoid. The improvement is for my convenience not him, though. :P
The real boss in this stage is the mad scientist: Baxter Stockman. He fight with his flying machine that periodically spawns mouser robots. You should master the high kick for this fight because it's the most efficient and fastest attack against him. Needless to say that you have to destroy mouser robots otherwise they will pile up and mess you up badly. After his machine's health depleted, he dies as his machine falls. Should install eject seat on that machine, doc.
At the end of the cavern, the turtles discover Technodrome! Time for final shell shock.
The final stage here introduces you with robot walkers. They function like Roadkill Rodney but faster.
Even though Professor Stockman is
long gone but mouser production still goes on. Furthermore, some of mouser that
still in assembly are eager to bite me and breaking the glass in process,
although i doubt they're passed the quality control. Someone should takes responsibly
for this failed protocol. Oh, wait! Their creator is dead.
This one is just rude. In this section, freeze sprayers pop up from random spot. There's no way to tell which spot is safe and not. They can only aim left but that's not helping me much. That's not Raphael duck under the freezing spray, he's just in the middle of recovery animation after become chunk of ice for a while.
This also not good section. Suddenly iron ball bouncing from left to right and can make your turtle turn into turtle pancake. Look at how silly Raphael after being flattened by the iron ball.
Yeah, sure. It's another section with element of background that can shoot line of electrifying laser. What i want to show you here is that chute. It doesn't drop laundry or what have you. It drops fresh supply of Foot Ninja to beat up! Imagine the lucky ninjas who get to slide via the chute. They have short moment of fun with slide like any kids on their school day before mangled to pieces by the turtles.
After that section, Krang awaits you and he shows off his newly acquired winged jet to full extent. What's his routine is: 1) Shooting rockets from afar and then taunt for a while. 2) He extends his leg forward and charge. Later he moves back to where he was. 3) If you're not careful around him, he will give you quick double axe handle strike on your head. The only safest moment for you to attack is when he taunts after shooting rockets. It may seems doable to hit him on his way back after the kick charge but no. He will quickly smash your head if you do that. My advice is: bait him to shoot rockets by standing in front of him within far range. You have enough time to close on him if you run quickly.
I just remember that if i use continue after all my life reserve depleted, i'm back to the start of this level and it's pretty long journey. It's good idea if you lose all your life in early part of this level to save your time and patience. Or use save state like me here. Sorry.
Anyway once Krang down to his last 2 health block, he gains new attack where he launches bomb from his mouth. Later they drop on random spot. Running around probably helps here.
Naturally, Krang is not the final boss so we have to move deeper on Technodrome. This descending elevator will stop on each floor with these doors that open up for enemies to come in. But later, the elevator doesn't stop and these ninjas armed with tonfa baton appear from that gridded thin bar. They emerge from puddle of grey blob like T-1000 in Terminator 2. It happens so fast that i don't manage to take screenshot of the process so you have to take my word for it.
Here we are, fighting the shredder. He looks very muscular thanks to the titular hyperstone. He warps around and stop at random spot. Then he emits: 1) Red aura which indicates he will shoot stream of fire along the ground in front of him. 2) Green aura which indicates he will shoot magic green projectile that can turn the turtles to their baby normal turtle self and it will instantly reduce your life reserve which kind of irony because the process is the opposite of dying. 3) Blue aura which indicates he will shoot ice sickles diagonally to anticipate your diving kick. There's 2/3 chance that closing him with diving kick is best way to do it because you can jump over his fire and babification magic. I say fighting Shredder is easier than fighting Krang because the vulnerable moment is more definite in Krang's boss fight. But keep in mind that Shredder has more health. Also move and attack faster especially in hard difficulty.
After enough beating, Shredder stumble on the railing and fall. I see some pattern here. Belger from Final Fight also fall from great height. But Shredder falls on background instead of right corner. Also Shredder survives this fall, perhaps. As he hits the ground 3 hyperstones drop out from Shredder's pocket, helmet or whatever part of him that can possibly store that tiny purple stones.
The lady liberty and Manhattan
reappear as they disappear. Mysteriously. April gives a wink to the viewer. How
naughty she is! There's a kid jump happily knowing that his home is back thus
preventing him become homeless. While Master Splinter give a glance to camera.
He said that ninjas shouldn't stand out but there he is. Exposing himself to
camera. Bah!
The turtles ride a giant blimp back to home. But don't worry! No one see them, i think?
The turtles look fine except
Raphael. Being photogenic is not his talent. Give him a break.
Finishing the game in easier difficulty, will get you message "Play the game in hard difficulty" and deprive you from credit roll with blimp ride and this character casts. I don't think "Wild and Crazy Turtle" is the correct title for Michelangelo. It should belong to Raphael. But he's turtle that like to say something witty also correct. Unfortunately, other than the turtles everyone don't get picture of themselves. Including April and Shredder! What a shame.
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| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV - Turtles in Time |
But before i end this review i should talk about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV - Turtles in Time on SNES. It seems impossible to talk about either TMNT game without involving the other. I think it's still hot topic which one is the better than the other: TMNT - Hyperstone Heist [A] or TMNT IV - Turtles in Times [B]? Here's some differences:
1) In [B], the running execution is significantly harder but running attack isn't nigh mandatory unlike in [A].
2) In [A], diving kick has less power than in [B]. I tested it. In [B], foot ninja takes 4 diving kick before obliterated. While in [A], foot ninja takes 5 diving kick before obliterated. It's small difference but i think it's important for you to know.
3) [B] has 1 more throw move which is throwing the victim to foreground, which exploits mode 7 capability in SNES.
4) [B] has more stages which overstay its welcome in my opinion.
5) [A] doesn't feature Bebop. If you feel the need for the complete duo, definitely pick [B].
6) [B] has more variety on enemies. It can be either good or bad. The good thing is the game feels more various. The bad thing is you probably have hard time to memorize their behavior. As for me, there's foot ninjas that ride dinosaurs and i feel envy of them because i don't get to ride their dinosaurs unlike Golden Axe.
7) In [B] only Liberty statue that get stolen. Ok. This one is very nitpicking.
The summary is...I DON'T CARE WHICH ONE IS THE BEST! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are totally awesome nonetheless! Pick any of the TMNT game! If you play both of them, that's absolute cool! Nothing wrong with that!
Playing Konami's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - The Hyperstone Heist (1992) will shock your shell. The gameplay is fast paced and fun. The turtles can break foot ninjas quickly with their combo and you can chain it from shoulder ram which is devastating. Although it look flashy, the dive kick is only good for closing in to enemies. There's some environment object that you can use against enemies but sadly there's not many of them in entire game. There's no mid-level checkpoint, which is harsh. If you happen to lost your last life in boss fight. Tough luck! You have to start from the beginning of the level. There's extra life given if your score reach certain number but that feels not enough to compensate the absence of mid-level checkpoint. I think you most likely lose the continue at level 4 or 5 (the final level) on hard difficulty, if you're skillful enough. Most of the boss fight are quite fair except for Rocksteady and Krang. They don't give you fair chance to land hit on them. The difficulty curve on traps is linear but suddenly take logarithmic steep on final level. I really hate those freeze sprayers and iron balls. The music is good and i particularly like in Level 3 Shredder's hideout. The graphic is nice. There's option to switch the turtle's color tone: anime or comic. Anime is bright green color while comic is dark green color which i pick in this playthrough.
It goes without saying that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - The Hyperstone Heist (1992) is superb brawler game. Heck! It's even one of the best brawler games in Sega Genesis console. If you are used to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV - Turtles in Times, there's nothing wrong with playing this TMNT game. It's not big transition between these two games. Play both games if you're truly fans of TMNT!
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