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The mere mention of the Ninja Turtles to any man, woman or man-child in their late twenties
through mid-thirties is sure to illicit a response. Today, you're likely to hear how
Michael Bay and his favorite screw, Megan Fox, are about drop a bomb on their memories.
Just remember, the quality of Turtles media
has always been a bit inconsistent. During the 16-bit gaming era, there were two main
titles released. One for the Super Nintendo and one for the Genesis/MegaDrive. The Genesis
title played more like it was a combination of the two arcade games while the SNES release
of The Turtles in Time was a modification of the arcade of the same name. Let's take
a retrospective look at the game that has been in my own personal collection since 1993,
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - The Hyperstone Heist, for the Sega Genesis.
Let's get the elephant in the room out of the way before it makes a mess on the carpet.
The Genesis cannot compete head to head in pure graphical fidelity with the SNES. Having
said that, it's ability to process animations and the speed it's capable of doing it exceed
the Super Nintendo. Or at least Sega knew how and shared it in their dev kits. That was the case with
this and many cross platform titles of the era. The SNES had better eye-candy in still
images, but the Genesis had faster and smoother animation. But at the end of the day, "The
Hyperstone Heist" still has stellar graphics for the Sega Genesis and the best animation
between home versions. I call it a total wash between the two because they're both exceptional
in their own way.
The audio is a total mixed bag here. The superiority of the arcade and SNES stand out far too much
to be ignored. The music has that signature Genesis twang and the tunes carry surprisingly
well from their arcade counterpart. They sound different, but not worse. The sound effects
and vocal samples stink. The attack hits, weapon swings, explosions, none have punch
despite the fact the Genesis can produce bass quite well. If you listen closely, you'll
notice many of the effects in "The Hyperstone Heist" eventually got recycled into "Castlevania:
Bloodlines", another game known for crummy sound effects and great music. The voice samples
are muddy and full of static. Far more than most other Genesis titles. Overall, the music
is passable, but the sound effects are an absolute train wreck.
I'm going to say it right here, right now. The control scheme of The Hyperstone Heist
is better than any other Turtles game of the 80's and 90's including the arcade. I've played
every one since 1987 and rented or owned the console versions of them when they were new.
This one is the best. Now for the explanation. The ability to dash via a button press without
double clutching the direction or having to cover a certain distance... That's great design.
This is the only one that has it. The Hyperstone Heist also feels a bit more responsive. The
SNES and arcade of Turtles In Time suffer from stiff vertical and direction change movement
and reliability engaging the dash when in trouble. You are in total control of your
Turtle and with the wealth of abilities and the ease of pulling them off in this version,
the control scheme is top notch for a game of this style. The Sega version pulls well
ahead thanks to great design and wonderful controllers for this type of game.
No 4-player gameplay! Konami botched this on both 16-bit consoles. There are 4 Ninja
Turtles, the Sega Team Player that was in production and 2 months away from Sega's release
supports 4 controllers, gee, let's do some math here. They showcased just how many sprites
they were able to get on a screen at a single time without flickering and slowdown. With
the enhanced control capability of this version, the combat and movement is the most enjoyable.
That is the only advantage The Hyperstone Heist has. When it comes to variety of level
design, this title bombs harder than bad-guy Tiger Woods at a PGA Tour Major. If you want
to throw enemies into Shredder, or enjoy the Mode 7 gimmicks of Neon Nightriders, you won't
find them here. If you want to simply move right and beat up everything on the screen
for 30 minutes in easy up to an hour thirty for hard mode as your favorite Ninja Turtle,
this is it.
On my arbitrary aging scale of 1 to Helen Mirren, I give this title a solid Raquel Welch.
The game is showing some age, but thanks to modern emulation techniques, a few cosmetic
tweaks is all that's needed to keep most graphic *** happy. The Hyperstone Heist is fairly
difficult to get for a reasonable price. If you find it in very good condition complete
for less than $25 US, buy it on the spot. Otherwise... (cough, cough) Kega Fusion
(cough, cough) and enjoy this blast from the past.