Downloadable Content This Week - Zuma Clone, TMNT

1up has details on the week's new content from Nintendo's Virtual Console and Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade. The 360's offering this week is Luxor 2 . A Zuma-like puzzle game, it was published previously on the PSP and PC. The 360 version will offer new levels and more complexity, and will set you back 800 points. On the Virtual Console side, we've got Star Fox 64 (1000 points), the old NES TMNT game (600 points), and the TurboGrafx title Dragon's Curse (600 points). The blurb for TMNT is retro-tastic: "Cowabunga! Players take control of the turtles in a half shell and rescue reporter April O'Neil from the clutches of the evil Shredder. Battle against the Foot Ninja Clan as Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Donatello and Raphael with their trademark weapons and ninja abilities. Search through five stages and dozens of areas throughout the New York City sewers, rooftops and ultimately Shredder's Technodrome to save April. Players must scarf down some pizza to keep up their energy, as they'll need it to defeat Shredder. Turtle Power!"

"The blurb for TMNT is retro-tastic"

[jayhawk88]

And yet, it has humbled so many gamers who once thought themselves skilled...

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[CastrTroy]

I owned that game and never ended up beating it. I couldn't get past the level with the buildings. I think it was the fourth level. I don't know how anybody beat that game. Maybe I'll try playing it on the emulator and saving state every 2 minutes just to see the ending.

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[Corbu Mulak]

That's the same level I got stuck on. I couldn't figure out where to go and ended up dying. I could only get there once every couple of months, too. That game was a bitch.

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[AuMatar]

You didn't even see the hard levels. 5 was far worse, and 6 was impossible.

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[CastrTroy]

I often wonder sometimes if the game developers even bother to play the games they program without cheating. If they ever would have tried this game, they would have known it was too hard to play, and made it easier. I don't understand how they expect you to beat some games. The only way I ever beat Bionic Commando was to spend 20 minutes on the first level collecting all the bullets. After that the game was easy. If you didn't spend that time getting all the extra bullets, then the game was impossible

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[ShadowsHawk]

It goes back to the old arcade mentality. Make it insanely difficult and they'll keep pumping quarters in. Course, it sucks when the NES version gives you three lives and no realistic way to beat the game.

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[Joe Snipe]

Uhh, I always considered BC to be in my top 5 favorite games, and while I thought it was challenging, I never thought it too hard by any stretch of the imagination. Then again I never beat Master Blaster, so take that with a grain of salt.(Dammit! I'm still mad about that Master Blaster! I can't believe anyone ever beat that game!)

To beat the dark level:

[Leviance]

The old Ultra TMNT game was the first one I bought for my old NES back in the day. I've managed to beat it twice, once around '92-'93 and the other time around 2000.

The dark buildings level ya'll got stuck on is confusing, but its only that way cause you're searching for the Technodrome. There are three houses where you can go for power ups, I'd suggest going to the one with boomerangs in the basement and loading up with 99 for all your guys except the one who has the big arch weapon from world 3. Then t

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[cgenman]

Blaster Master was reasonable if you mapped passages yourself, and kept logs of where opportunities for climbing / diving / etc might show up, when you got powers later. Navigation is the main problem of that game, rather than survival.

If you are feeling low, enemies disappear and re-appear as you scroll from screen to screen. Just find a good spot, and scroll back and forth killing stuff until you've refilled your power, then keep going.

It takes a while to find out where all you need to go, but it's tota

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[jayhawk88]

I don't really remember much about the game (save for that dam level, Arghhh!!!) but I know I somehow managed to get as far as Shredder, and I think it may have even been with all my turtles alive. Never beat Shredder though, he pretty much stomped me IIRC.

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[codemachine]

I wonder if the PC version was easier or something? I think it may have added save points that the NES version did not have. I remember beating the PC version - it wasn't easy, but it wasn't as hard as people are making the NES version sound.

I remember that it was also released for Amiga and Commodore, on top of the NES, IBM and Tandy releases. I actually have the box for it still too. On the box, the turtles all have a red mask and belt, instead of the 4 colors you see in the cartoon. Though in the ga

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[codemachine]

Yeah, not having save points at all would make a hell of a difference. If I recall correctly, loading a game took you to the beginning of the level you saved on.

You could also find your dead turtles on at least one of the levels, and free them. That obviously came in handy later on.

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[ravyne]

Honestly, its not so much that these games were hard back in the day (I recall seeing TMNT beaten many, many times) as it is that most games today are so joke easy that we've lost perspective on what "hard" really is. Add to that the fact that the skillset for most 3D games is vastly different than that of the 2D variety, and its no wonder we bitch and moan about "how hard these old games were."

I've played games recently, for nostalgia, that I remember being no problem for my 3rd-grade self, yet today, at 2

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[cgenman]

There is also the problem of fairness in a 3d world with limited visible information. If you're playing a 2D sidescrolling game... Kid Icarus, for example. If you're playing that little gem of impossible difficulty, and you happen to hit a descending stream of little grim reapers while jumping across a pit, you believe the hit was fair because you could have known it was there and avoided it. In a 3D world, you can't guarantee the player will see the object which may damage them, thus making the hit too

What is up with people?

[AKAImBatman]

One of the best N64 games EVER (Star Fox 64) comes out, and everyone is focused on the WORST Turtles game known to man. I don't understand this odd fascination. And that's counting that I just saw the movie yesterday!

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[Donniedarkness]

You've obviously never played any of the TMNT games on Gameboy. Even when I was five years old and a huge Turtles fan, they earned a big fat :_( rating from me.

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[AKAImBatman]

Actually, I have one of those. I was disappointed when I realized that the gameplay was a derivitive of the first game rather than the later beat'em ups. Yeah, I was pretty sad too. :(

(Thankfully, I bought mine used for peanuts, so I wasn't too sad. ;))

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[stratjakt]

Fall of the Foot Clan was pretty good for it's era, it was one of the earlier gameboy titles, and was better than TMNT for NES.

The original NES game really isn't all that bad. Frustratingly hard, sure, but not awful.

It wasn't the arcade game, of course, so thats a thumbs down of itself.

Wake me up when they release Battletoads. Fuck turtles.

Actually don't, I pretty much have the whole NES library on cart anyways.

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[twistedsymphony]

You're likely to see Battletoads on Xbox Live rather then the Virtual Console, the IP is owned by Rare... and MS owns Rare now.

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[ShadowsHawk]

Ick. I spent WAY too much time getting through the spikes the first time. That game was just plain sadistic.

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[Araxen]

I remember the review from the Angry Nintendo Nerd. It's so hilarious, this game is an abortion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjUz8IT0CYg [youtube.com]

Why couldn't they use the Konami SNES/Genny Games instead? Much, much, better games!

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[Pxtl]

I have to disagree. StarFox 64 was wonderful when it was following the typical SNES-style shooter mode, but frustratingly bad when playing the free-flight parts of the game - I never understand why my friends loved the multiplayer (which was exclusively the painful free-flight mode dogfights). The GameCube version was inferior in most ways, but it had the one advantage of the superior free-flight mode.

And as for Turtles - the description really should mention that it's also one of the most viciously diffi

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[222]

I happen to think it was the best (and possibly most difficult) of them all...

What I find more curious is the price...
When did NES games go up in price?
I guess the VC is just cashing in on any nostalgia the movie might bring back.

At any rate, Download Successful!. I'll be afk for awhile now.

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[nhaines]

They didn't go up in price, but the standard prices are the ones apparently suggested by Nintendo. Each publisher is free to set their own price for each product they want to offer in the Wii Shop Channel.

Apparently Konami felt they needed 600 Wii Points for this game, although I suspect it maybe a combination of the movie cross-marketing and the TMNT licensing. On the other hand, you never can tell.

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[PSXer]

Anyone who isn't that excited about Star Fox 64 has obviously never seen this video [youtube.com]

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[Phisbut]

Anyone who isn't that excited about Star Fox 64 has obviously never seen this video

Ok... now I'm all excited about Star Fox 64...!

Why don't they make such commercials today?

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[numbski]

I've wondered why people take issue with that game. As I recall, it came out not too long after TMNT became popular in the states, and appears to be clearly based on the comic book, and not the cartoons that many of us remember. The game was hard as all get out, and a decent game in it's own right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjUz8IT0CYg [youtube.com]

Pay attention all the way to the end. As in the last couple seconds. :) Also, I kept thinking to myself:

1. Hold up-left while jumping.

and

2. Just walk, don't jump. :P

Any reason

[antifoidulus]

TMNT is 100 more points than most NES games? Regardless, I need to get a wii but can't find one :P

eBay

[tepples]

Regardless, I need to get a wii but can't find one :P

You can buy the NES console and the NES Game Pak at auction if you want to experience the alleged abortion that is TMNT 1 for NES. It's cheaper than Wii + eBay scalper markup.

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[imboboage0]

I'm kinda with you on the "It's 100 points more" thing, but I have to point this out. 100 points is 1 dollar. 100 cents. 100 of those copper coins. In my area, this is about 0.357 gallons of gasoline. Come on. Just pay it. It's not all that much when you put it in perspective.

Fun Fact

[Seumas]

The guy who played Cousin Oliver (Robbie Rist [wikipedia.org]) on the Brady Bunch is also the guy who played Michaelangelo in the original TMNT movies.

I'm glad they're releasing TMNT again...

[Quaoar]

...who knows, someone might actually beat it this time.

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[c_forq]

I beat it once. It kind of pissed me off, as it took about 2 years before I could get past the first level, another to get past that water level, and long story short long after they stopped making N64 games I finally beat and was ticked that the ending was not worth the crazy amount of frustrating hours I had put into that game. Easily one of the most frustrating NES games. In fact it kind of pisses me off that they re-released it.

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[microAmp]

You wouldn't happen to be the this person [youtube.com] who made this video?

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[c_forq]

Almost, but my fridge is stocked with Blue Moon, not Rolling Rock.

Not much of a selling point...

[StikyPad]

A Zuma-like puzzle game

So it induces vomiting?

Oh wait, that's Zima.

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[tb3]

I actually got completely addicted to Luxor on the Mac. Luxor 2 is also available for the Mac, so I'm avoiding it until I know the time-sucking qualities of the game won't interfere with other interests.
Luxor is a pretty unique game, combining aspects of an old-style shooter with a puzzle element kind of like Bejeweled.

I recommend dragon's curse

[cgenman]

It was a little understood and little played TG16 game, where you combine the adventuring, leveling, and equipment elements of a traditional RPG, but with a sidescrolling world. It was a lot like zelda II, but done right and without an overworld map.

If adventure games are your thing, I recommend playing this frequently overlooked gem.

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[hords]

Thanks for the tip. I loved Zelda II and always wished they had made another like it. Castlevania games have been the closest thing recently probably.

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[ShadowsHawk]

You probably would have loved Rygar for the NES then.

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[mink]

The 3rd Ys game was like that.

Still waiting...

[thephotoman]

Personally, I want to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II (which was an extended edition of the arcade game). That was a superior game in every way imaginable. I remember loving that game as an 8-year-old boy who had to play video games as a part of his physical therapy. Man, those were the days: doctor-mandated video games before doing my homework.

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[DurendalMac]

Ah, I remember that one, and it was lots of fun. I got a kick of of the 2 and a half D sidescrollers like X-Men and Ninja Turtles II. I pumped a lot of quarters into both of those.

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[johnsmith_12345]

Just wait until the Movie comes out on DVD.

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[antifoidulus]

They released the original arcade game on the XBox 360 and you can play it over the internet via live. I'm not sure exactly what the rules are, since there are no "quarters" to insert per se, from what I understand you get so many lives to beat the game.

Zuma was not the original-Capcom's Puzzloop was

[LinDVD]

Mitchell, was a licensee of Capcom, released the game [klov.com] in 1998.

The clone, Zuma came out around 2004...

What about TMNT on XBLA in Australia?

[PaganRitual]

I don't suppose the OFLC wants to spare us the indignity of yet another garbage weekly release and do something about TMNT from a week or two ago.

The game never got around to being classified so it was never allowed a release in Australia on XBLA.

Which is of course, retarded.

Which is of course, par for the course for the OFLC.

NES TMNT? Bah! Get Dragon's Curse

[Psykechan]

While everyone is focusing on TMNT, probably because of the new TMNT movie, we shouldn't forget that it is a less than steller game with the cheapest end boss ever. Shredder can one shot kill your turtles.

Yes I've played it. Yes I've beat it. Yes, I regret it. It certainly isn't worth $6 ($1 more than most NES games).

Instead put your $6 on Dragon's Curse which is almost the exact same game as Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap [wikipedia.org] for the SMS. Some consider it to be the best SMS game ever made and this vers

TMNT port on the Wiii - Warning! Dodgy Port!

[@madeus]

I've bought a few SNES and N64 games on the Wii (N64 titles as I've run out of native titles and I skipped over the N64, SNES and NES titles because it's great to play some classics again).

While every other game I've downloaded runs just fine, and it's joy to play the likes of Super Mario again, (it's as if it hasn't aged at all, though sadly the same cannot be said of the N64 port to which time has not been kind), the TMNT port does NOT work correctly.

My memory might be a bit wonky, but while I do remember a couple of native games on the NES suffering from flickery sprites and iffy controls (some movie knock-off titles spring to mind), but TMNT was not one of them.

I can't believe anyone play tested this title before it was released - at least not anyone who knows what to look for. It's immediately noticeably sluggish, poor to respond and flickery, like it's running on an emulator that can't handle whatever routines the game is using properly. Ironically, I've downloaded the ROM and played it on a 3rd party emulator which runs the game far better.

I would understand one or two titles being a bit iffy if they'd released a huge back catalog, but games on the virtual console are only coming through at a trickle right now. This one is poor effort on Nintendo's part, and while it's playable, I would caution people against getting this one (maybe get an old Zelda title instead).

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[xtracto]

It might not be the first one, the UK version of Super Mari Bros (the only VC game I have bought) also displays a lot of flicker (which was not there in the original, believe me, I know that game *by heart*).

Too expensive for what they provide... considering I can download them for free and play with the original controller in my computer (and with better graphics quality).

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[cgenman]

I distinctly remember TMNT on the NES hitting slow down on the first level, and basically whenever there were multiple enemies on-screen and any of them were attacking. Likewise, things would flicker more or less whenever a turtle would swing their weapon, as well as whenever you had multiple enemies on-screen. The controls were pretty consistent if you could take the slowdown into account, but it always ran poorly.

I wish Nintendo wouldn't emulate the slow-down for most games. Sure, it fit, but it really

$6?

[Taulin]

I thought all the VC games were supposed to be down around $3. I payed like $8 for SOTN on the 360, so something like TMNT should be $2. How much are the other games generally on the VC?

MS points = 1* 1.25 not 1-1

[trdrstv]

I thought all the VC games were supposed to be down around $3. I payed like $8 for SOTN on the 360, so something like TMNT should be $2. How much are the other games generally on the VC?

MS got you. I'm not sure what the rates are outside of the US, but if you bought Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on XBLA in the US, it cost you $10 not $8. 800 MS points = $10. They sell them in increments of 500, but each point effectively costs $.0125 (so 500 points cost $6.25).

Nintendo sells points in increments