TMNT on GBA

[Jorpho]

So, this is my game of the moment. Many have commented that it is one of the finest games on the GBA, and certainly everyone seems to agree that it is vastly superior to the other TMNT games (i.e. the games based on the most recent movie entitled TMNT) that appeared on the other consoles.

And indeed, the appeal is unmistakable. It really isn't very deep, but it doesn't particularly need to be. It might have been nice to see some more environments or some more enemies - it feels like the developers were working within a sharply-constrained budget and couldn't do everything they wanted to. But at least they made darn sure that they still wanted to do whatever it is they could, and wanted to actually do it right. (Does that make sense?)

I kind of like the approach to the bosses - they're more like pattern-recognition minigames than mobile punching-bags. But man, that final boss is disappointing.

Anyway, GameFAQs has surprisingly limited information on this game. Has anyone here finished it on Hard mode? Is anything particularly different? And is there a third level to the minigames? (It seems that I didn't get the trophies after finishing both levels of each one on Normal mode.) And do you even get anything for unlocking all the trophies?

And finally, is the movie actually any good?

[G-Boobie]

Sir Jorpho, I can speak only in regards to the quality of the TMNT movie, which is hotly contested amongst my circle of acquaintances. That it's shameless nostalgia mining is without question, but that's where agreement ends for us.

Basically, if you rendered the entire run of the Saturday morning cartoon down and poured the resulting sludge into a CG framework, you'd have the TMNT movie. The comics and first movie are rejected in their entirety in favor of kid friendly toy shilling catch phrases. I thought that it was shameless and poorly handled. A few friends liked it based purely on expecting the movie to fluff their nostalgia. A few friends hated it more than I thought was reasonable. Your mileage may vary.

It isn't a long movie, and there are worse ways to spend ninety minutes, but I wouldn't actually pay to see it. Wait for the imminent cable rotation.

[aclbandit]

Personally, I thought the movie was awesome. By "awesome," I mean that I recognize that it wasn't very good as a "film," but that I thought it was presented in a way that just made it fun to watch.

And besides that... there's the rooftop fight scene, in the rain, between Raphael and Leonardo. For how many YEARS has that been coming, eh?

[bangtango]

Sir Jorpho, I can speak only in regards to the quality of the TMNT movie, which is hotly contested amongst my circle of acquaintances. That it's shameless nostalgia mining is without question, but that's where agreement ends for us.

Basically, if you rendered the entire run of the Saturday morning cartoon down and poured the resulting sludge into a CG framework, you'd have the TMNT movie. The comics and first movie are rejected in their entirety in favor of kid friendly toy shilling catch phrases. I thought that it was shameless and poorly handled. A few friends liked it based purely on expecting the movie to fluff their nostalgia. A few friends hated it more than I thought was reasonable. Your mileage may vary.

It isn't a long movie, and there are worse ways to spend ninety minutes, but I wouldn't actually pay to see it. Wait for the imminent cable rotation.

That's all true but the third Turtles movie, where they travel back in time, was such a joke that changes were necessary. Not necessarily changes for the better, as it turned out, but not every series gets a Batman Begins when it reboots.

TMNT 3 (in the old series) was so bad that it directly led to the Turtles disappearing from the public eye for a long time, that is simply my opinion anyway. How long was it before we saw another movie or really heard of the Turtles again afterwards? TMNT 3 actually managed to be worse than the previous film which has a cameo from Vanilla Ice, the Turtles doing a Ninja Rap dance (the direct result of said cameo) and the Turtles being helped by some teenage pizza delivery boy to do things that the four Turtles ought to be able to take care of on their own.

So unfortunately the new TMNT was necessary, if only to leave moviegoers with a new impression of the Turtles that was different than the last (failed) movie.

As for the GBA title, it was perfect for the type of audience who enjoys the GBA. Both younger kids who can appreciate a game that isn't too complicated and veteran gamers who can indulge in a newer game which harkens back to a bygone era. TMNT is a simpler, old-school beat em up like we used to get on 16-bit consoles and in the arcade. You know, before Sony went out of their way to bury 2D side scrollers sometime in the 90's.

[MrSparkle]

I kind of like the approach to the bosses - they're more like pattern-recognition minigames than mobile punching-bags. But man, that final boss is disappointing.

man what is it with TMNT games and disappointing final bosses. *punches turtles in time super shredder in the head* YOU WERE EASIER THAN KRANG!

[Smashed Brother]

Anyway, GameFAQs has surprisingly limited information on this game. Has anyone here finished it on Hard mode? Is anything particularly different? And is there a third level to the minigames? (It seems that I didn't get the trophies after finishing both levels of each one on Normal mode.) And do you even get anything for unlocking all the trophies?

Nope. Finishing the game on 'Hard' gives you exactly squat and everything is exactly the same as the other difficulty levels.... it just takes slightly longer to whittle down the bosses' energy levels. If my memory serves me correctly, I do believe that there is a 3rd level to each minigame (I just kept checking on them everytime I finished one of the story levels). Also, collecting every trophy gives you exactly the same prize as finishing the game on 'Hard'..... zilch!

[sirhansirhan]

I second (or third or whatever) the opinion that TMNT on the GBA is an awesome game. Infinitely better than all of the other TMNT games that were tie-ins with the movie, and on par with the classic-era games.

[T2KFreeker]

TMNT 3 (in the old series) was so bad that it directly led to the Turtles disappearing from the public eye for a long time, that is simply my opinion anyway. How long was it before we saw another movie or really heard of the Turtles again afterwards? TMNT 3 actually managed to be worse than the previous film which has a cameo from Vanilla Ice, the Turtles doing a Ninja Rap dance (the direct result of said cameo) and the Turtles being helped by some teenage pizza delivery boy to do things that the four Turtles ought to be able to take care of on their own.

So unfortunately the new TMNT was necessary, if only to leave moviegoers with a new impression of the Turtles that was different than the last (failed) movie.

I hate to tell you this, but there was a fourth TMNT film. It introduced a female Turtle into the bunch and tried to capitalize on young girls, hoping it would get them interersted in the toys. It failed miserably and lead to the utter destruction of the franchise at the time. Yes, there are worse films than TMNT 3. Technically, it was the pilot to the short lived series on Television, but if you watched the series, you know it is so a sequel to the movies. The even worse thing? They changed the Turtles' weapons and took away Michaelangelos' surfer dude accent! Talk about lame!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0127388/combined

There's a link if you are ready to be horrified.

[Jorpho]

Nope. Finishing the game on 'Hard' gives you exactly squat and everything is exactly the same as the other difficulty levels.... it just takes slightly longer to whittle down the bosses' energy levels. If my memory serves me correctly, I do believe that there is a 3rd level to each minigame (I just kept checking on them everytime I finished one of the story levels). Also, collecting every trophy gives you exactly the same prize as finishing the game on 'Hard'..... zilch!

Doh. Well, I'm glad someone knows. (Of course, you have a smaller number of lives and a limit on your "continues", too.)

The swearing fits induced by those $%$#@ bikers are downright nostalgic. They make me feel like the AVGN.

[Smashed Brother]

The swearing fits induced by those $%$#@ bikers are downright nostalgic. They make me feel like the AVGN.

Nah, it's really simple. Just press 'Jump' and then press 'Jump' again while airborne to do the knee smash. After you connect, you'll pop back up in the air where you can do it again. You can kill the bikers before they even leave the screen once!

[Jorpho]

Nah, it's really simple. Just press 'Jump' and then press 'Jump' again while airborne to do the knee smash. After you connect, you'll pop back up in the air where you can do it again. You can kill the bikers before they even leave the screen once!

Unless you get the timing wrong and they knock you flat.

Bouncing up and down on top of a big group of enemies is kinda fun, though. Sure beats jump-kicking over and over again.