Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist
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| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist | |
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 TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist box art |
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| Developer(s) | Konami |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Series | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles |
| Release date(s) | 1992 |
| Genre(s) | Side-scrolling beat 'em up |
| Mode(s) | Single player Cooperative gameplay (two simultaneous players) |
| Platform(s) | Sega Mega Drive |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist is a Side-scrolling beat 'em up based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) franchise, and was also the first TMNT game released for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. This game was known as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist in the United States, as Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist in the United Kingdom, and as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Return of the Shredder in Japan.
A redesigned version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, the time travel concept was removed from this version and replaced by a plot where Shredder uses the Hyperstone to shrink Manhattan Island to the size of a bottle. Several of the stages of the original arcade game are used, with their odd, non-modern appearance explained away — for example, the pirate ship becomes a ghost ship.
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[edit] Plot
April O'Neil is reporting from Ellis Island when, in a sudden flash of light, her audience and herself witness Manhattan Island suddenly starting to shrink. Shredder then hijacks the airwaves and announces to the world that this was only a demonstration of the power of the Hyperstone, the treasure of Dimension X. With the Hyperstone in his possession, he now has the power to take over the world. The Turtles have no choice but to go after Shredder and stop him.
[edit] Levels
Scene 1: New York City
This level takes place in and below New York City. The Turtles must fight their way through the city sewers, then up in the streets in a revamp of the "Alleycat Blues" level in Turtles In Time, and then once again in the sewers.
Scene 2: A Mysterious Ghost Ship
This level is a mix of three levels from Turtles In Time. It begins with a surfing level based on "Sewer Surfin'", except in the open sea instead of the sewers. The Turtles eventually reach a ghost ship, which is a modified "Skull and Crossbones" level. After going through it, they jump off and land in a cave, which was part of "Prehistoric Turtlesaurus".
Scene 3: Shredder's Hideout
After exiting the cave, the Turtles find that they are in a Chinese city, just outside of Shredder's hideout. They fight their way through the streets, and then break into and fight through Shredder's hideout until they reach Tatsu, Shredder's right-hand man and the second-in-command of the Foot Clan in the first and second TMNT movies.
Scene 4: The Gauntlet
After leaving Shredder's hideout, the Turtles find that they are in another cave. They have to fight stronger versions of Leatherhead, Rocksteady, and Tatsu, the first three level bosses, before reaching this level boss, Baxter Stockman.
Scene 5: Technodrome: The Final Shellshock
This level is similar to the "Technodrome: Let's Kick Shell!" level in the SNES version of Turtles in Time. It is divided in two sections separated by a boss — Krang in his exosuit, taken from the "Neon Night-Riders" level. The Turtles walk through the first section, while the second is an elevator-type level, with the difference that the elevator is going down instead of up as in the SNES game. When they reach the bottom of the elevator shaft, the Turtles walk out and fight Super Shredder, on the same platform as in "Technodrome: The Final Shell-Shock". However, instead of having the Statue of Liberty in the background, since Shredder did not steal it in the storyline of this game, a strange red and blue machine is visible behind them.
[edit] Bosses
| Level | Boss |
|---|---|
| New York City | Leatherhead |
| The Mysterious Ghost Ship | Rocksteady |
| Shredder's Hideout | Tatsu |
| The Gauntlet | Baxter Stockman in a spaceship |
| The Final Shellshock | Super Krang Super-Shredder |
The Hyperstone Heist is the only game to feature Shredder's right-hand man in the first two TMNT movies, Tatsu. It is also the only game in which Rocksteady is a boss but without Bebop.
Leatherhead, Super Krang and Super-Shredder were taken from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, while Rocksteady and Baxter Stockman come from the arcade game.
[edit] Gameplay differences from Turtles in Time
While most aspects of Turtles in Time were carried over to The Hyperstone Heist, some changes were made to the gameplay. The most noticeable one is that The Hyperstone Heist adds a run button, while in Turtles in Time, the turtles would run awhile after walking or after the player tapped the directional pad twice in the designated direction. Another noticeable change is the Turtles will no longer throw the foot soldiers, though they still can slam them back and forth on the ground after they dash attack them.
[edit] Critical response
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By itself, The Hyperstone Heist is considered a good adaptation of the TMNT show into game form. Like the SNES game, it is somewhat short, but makes up for it with high replay value [5].
However, when compared to Turtles in Time, The Hyperstone Heist ranks poorly due to the limitations of the Genesis system compared to the SNES [2]. Thanks to the superior colour palette of the SNES, Turtles in Time looks brighter and more colourful, and while the Genesis makes up for this deficiency with more background layers and animation frames, the graphics of the SNES version are still preferred by gamers. The audio capabilities of the SNES are also superior, and though both games share nearly the same soundtrack and sound effects, the music is considered better and the voice-overs clearer in Turtles in Time [6].
But The Hyperstone Heist does have positive points compared to Turtles in Time. The game is a little longer; though there are less levels than in the SNES game, each level is considerably longer, giving it the advantage. Furthermore, The Hyperstone Heist is more difficult, thanks to a more aggressive enemy AI and faster-moving characters. Finally, gameplay was improved by adding a "run" button, something that was missing in the arcade and SNES games [6].
[edit] References
- ^ IGN review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist. URL retrieved 16th July 2006.
- ^ a b Game Critic review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist. URL retrieved 22nd July 2006.
- ^ All Game Guide review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist. URL retrieved 22nd July 2006.
- ^ MobyGames review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist. URL retrieved 22nd July 2006.
- ^ a b GameSpot review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist. URL retrieved 25th July 2006.
- ^ a b Game Pilgrimage comparison of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist. URL retrieved 25th July 2006.
[edit] External links
- GameFAQ — Game strategies and walkthroughs.
- IGN — Game information, professional and amateur reviews.
- Game Pilgrimage — Comparison with the SNES version of Turtles in Time.
