{"id":22739,"date":"2023-01-13T00:01:27","date_gmt":"2023-01-13T00:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=22739"},"modified":"2022-11-20T17:44:13","modified_gmt":"2022-11-20T17:44:13","slug":"the-classics-of-the-cowabunga-collection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/13\/the-classics-of-the-cowabunga-collection\/","title":{"rendered":"The Classics of the Cowabunga Collection"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Konami recently came out with a collection of their licensed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games they released back in the late 80s and early 90s, during the first round of the Turtles\u2019 heyday.\u00a0 Since a lot of people grew up with and enjoyed these titles, this collection is a pretty big deal.\u00a0 Especially since for a long time, it would\u2019ve been hard to get the rights to all these games again!\u00a0 But I guess since Nickelodeon has all the rights to TMNT stuff now, maybe that part was easier to do?\u00a0 Anyway, of course I got this collection so grab a slice of pizza and let\u2019s take a look at the games on here as well as my personal history with each title.<\/p>\n

When I was a kid, I do remember seeing people carrying around black and white comic books with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles title.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t think much of it then, but I knew I\u2019d remember that unusual name!\u00a0 A little while later, I remember seeing the first few episodes of the TMNT cartoon airing on Sunday nights on the new at the time Fox channel.\u00a0 But I didn\u2019t watch it much there because I thought it was dumb.\u00a0 But shortly after that, I saw it on Saturday mornings along with the toy commercials, and the popularity just skyrocketed from there.\u00a0 I only watched the cartoon because I had met a few of the people who worked on it at an animation convention I recently attended at the time.\u00a0 And I wanted to see their names in the credits.\u00a0 So I really just watched it casually.\u00a0 And I didn\u2019t tell anyone I watched it because I was at that age where I was a little too old to play with the toys, and it would\u2019ve been considered \u2018uncool\u2019 to admit I watched the cartoon.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad those days are over.\u00a0 But it was still considered \u2018cool\u2019 to play the TMNT games, so that\u2019s where most of my knowledge of the Turtles came from.<\/p>\n

Before I get started talking about the games in this collection, I have to say they did a great job with the extras.\u00a0 You can view scans of the boxes for each of the games, both US and Japan versions.\u00a0 You can also look at the instruction booklets and view still scenes from the cartoons that have aired over the years.\u00a0 There\u2019s also concept art, comic book covers, music, and so much more!\u00a0 They really outdid themselves with the extras.\u00a0 OK now onto the games!<\/p>\n

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even though the first NES game and the first arcade game were developed at the same time, the NES version came out first. \u00a0It was released fairly early in the Turtle fandom heyday, so it didn\u2019t quite catch the cartoon feel like the arcade game did.\u00a0 In fact, the cover for the NES game was just a modified version of one of the comic book covers.\u00a0 Also on that cover, all the turtles have red bandanas, which probably confused many kids.\u00a0 But because the game came out so early in the turtles\u2019 popularity, it also sold really well.\u00a0 I read it sold over five million copies and was the best selling NES licensed game!\u00a0 I also read it was packaged with the NES in the UK and helped boost the popularity of the NES there.\u00a0 The game is infamous for a difficulty spike in the second level where you disarm explosives at a dam.\u00a0 I played that game a few times at my cousin\u2019s house, and I remember getting past that level, but it was hard.\u00a0 It\u2019s the third level that got me!\u00a0 A lot of people have fond memories of this game, but I really don\u2019t think it\u2019s that good.\u00a0 Poor enemy placement and muddy graphics didn\u2019t win me over as a kid, or now.<\/p>\n

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Arcade)<\/strong><\/p>\n

All right, now THIS game is where it\u2019s at.\u00a0 There were four player beat \u2018em ups before this one, but the TMNT arcade game is the one people remember the most.\u00a0 I always say I put more quarters in Pac-Man than any other arcade machine.\u00a0 But if there was a second place, this would have to be it.\u00a0 I don\u2019t even want to admit how much money I put into this machine as a kid!\u00a0 We ALL played this game back then, and the only time we stopped was when The Simpsons four player beat \u2018em up arcade game came out a year later!\u00a0 This was the game that helped me decide who my favorite turtle was.\u00a0 My favorite is Raphael, and it\u2019s only because his joystick on the arcade machine was on the far right, and that was the easiest one to get to where I didn\u2019t have to squeeze between people.\u00a0 It\u2019s also why I always picked Lisa on The Simpsons game, as her joystick was in the same spot! \u00a0It was hard to beat on the collection because it kept resetting on me.\u00a0 My brother Jeff said that happened to him once while playing it in the arcade, but I don\u2019t remember that happening to me back then!<\/p>\n

TMNT 2: The Arcade Game (NES)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sure the graphics aren\u2019t as good as the arcade, and it\u2019s only two players instead of four, but I think this NES version of the arcade game really kept the feel of the bigger game and it\u2019s WAY better than the first TMNT NES outing.\u00a0 To make up for the inferior technology, they added a couple of extra levels and bosses.\u00a0 I never owned this game back then, but I really didn\u2019t have to.\u00a0 You see, back then I used to babysit some neighbor kids.\u00a0 They were a girl and her younger brother.\u00a0 The little boy just LOVED TMNT and he owned the game and we\u2019d always play it together when I\u2019d babysit.\u00a0 They thought I was cool because I let them stay up about 30 minutes later than their parents said was their bedtime, and I would always make up bedtime stories for the kids involving the turtles.\u00a0 Many, many years later, I attended both the girl\u2019s and the boy\u2019s high school graduation parties, so you know that made me feel old!<\/p>\n

TMNT 3: The Manhattan Project (NES)<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is kind of a spiritual sequel to the NES version of the arcade game.\u00a0 Still a two player beat em up, but since it came out a bit later in the NES lifecycle, it had a lot of neat graphic techniques and details.\u00a0 I like it in the first beach level when the Foot Clan throws sand in your eyes and they even have a little animation of the turtles rubbing their eyes!\u00a0 I only played this game once back in the day when I went to a friend\u2019s house and they had rented it.\u00a0 But I was pretty impressed with it back then, too.\u00a0 Playing it now, it\u2019s harder than I remember it being!<\/p>\n

TMNT: Turtles in Time (Arcade)<\/strong><\/p>\n

A lot of people say the SNES version is better, but while I think it\u2019s definitely more memorable, I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s better.\u00a0 Just different.\u00a0 I played the arcade game before the SNES version, but I didn\u2019t play it in a regular cabinet.\u00a0 One time I went to Sea World and back then many amusement parks had arcades, too.\u00a0 The arcade at Sea World had a couple of special rooms that were like home theaters, with a dark room and a podium with joysticks, and a huge projection screen in the back.\u00a0 That may not seem like a big deal now, but back then that was a really novel way to play arcade games, and that\u2019s how I first played Turtles in Time!\u00a0 Throwing enemies toward the screen was so cool!<\/p>\n

TMNT 4: Turtles in Time (SNES)<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is probably most people\u2019s favorite TMNT game, and for good reason.\u00a0 It\u2019s EXTREMELY close to the arcade version. \u00a0Sure the animations aren\u2019t as smooth, but it\u2019s still darn good.\u00a0 They even added some extra levels and bosses that were better than the arcade.\u00a0 My brother Jeff got this for his SNES when he was little, so we played it all the time.\u00a0 I know I told this story before, but when we would play it when Jeff was little, if I accidentally got the health filling pizza, Jeff would yell out, \u201cMom, Cary got the pizza!\u201d\u00a0 Give him a break, though, he was only five.\u00a0 But we still joke about that to this day and that story is also how we named our podcast The Pizza Pixel Podcast!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist (Genesis)<\/strong><\/p>\n

I never had a Genesis as a kid, so this collection is the first time I\u2019ve ever played this one.\u00a0 They reworked stages and bosses from Turtles in Time (and a bit from the first game) to make a \u2018new\u2019 game.\u00a0 There\u2019s a stage that uses the pirate ship assets but it says you\u2019re on a ghost ship, and then you\u2019re in a cave afterward so it makes no sense.\u00a0 And the game is pretty short at only five stages, and one of them is just a boss rush.\u00a0 But honestly, even though this game is a bit of a disappointment, the core good gameplay is still there, so it\u2019s not AS bad as I thought it would be.\u00a0 I imagine Genesis owners made do with this, as back then kids usually only owned one of the two main consoles, not both.<\/p>\n

TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan (Game Boy)<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a kid I was never really impressed with the original Game Boy (until Link\u2019s Awakening came along), so I didn\u2019t get a WHOLE lot of games for mine.\u00a0 So I never played any of the Game Boy TMNT games until this collection.\u00a0 But I imagine a lot of TMNT kid fans back then had Game Boys and these titles, so I\u2019m glad they put them on this collection anyway.\u00a0 This first game kind of plays like Kung Fu Master with a bit more platforming elements.\u00a0 I do like the big sprite graphics of the characters.\u00a0 They actually look like the characters way more than the original NES game.<\/p>\n

TMNT: Back From the Sewers (Game Boy)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The second game is more of the same as the first.\u00a0 The graphics are a bit more detailed, except now the turtles look like they\u2019re just taking a stroll when moving forward.\u00a0 One thing they added to this one are stages that more resemble the arcade beat \u2018em ups, where you can move up and down a bit more on the screen.\u00a0 You ride a tiny skateboard on the road in this fashion, for example.\u00a0 Bebop and Rocksteady have huge heads in this one, too!<\/p>\n

TMNT: Radical Rescue (Game Boy)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The third game is a bit more ambitious.\u00a0 It\u2019s still a 2D platformer, but it\u2019s more like a Metroidvania.\u00a0 You start out with just Mikey and must rescue the other turtles.\u00a0 When you do, you can switch to them and use their special skills to reach more areas.\u00a0 Mikey can use his nunchucks like a helicopter (ok sure) to glide down after jumping.\u00a0 Leonardo can break certain blocks from underneath, another can climb walls, etc.\u00a0 It\u2019s a neat idea but it\u2019s a bit hard as enemies take cheap potshots at you all the time.<\/p>\n

TMNT: Tournament Fighters (SNES, Genesis, NES)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Towards the end of the initial round of Turtle Mania in the late 80s and early 90s, one on one fighting games replaced beat \u2018em ups as the most popular genre in arcades.\u00a0 So Konami made a few fighting games starting the turtles.\u00a0 What\u2019s interesting is that each of these titles is a totally different game!\u00a0 The SNES version is probably the best one and is most like the cartoon, with brighter graphics and a story mode.\u00a0 You can play as all four turtles and Shredder, and some new characters I had never heard of, like this one cute ninja lady named Aska.\u00a0 The Genesis version is a bit grittier and you travel to different planets to fight foes.\u00a0 And April is in this one as a playable character, but she\u2019s dressed like Blaze from Streets of Rage and looks like she ate a can of spinach!\u00a0 The NES version is the most basic, as you can only play as the four turtles, Shredder, Casey Jones, and some other critter.\u00a0 I guess Konami felt like there wasn\u2019t a lot of one on one fighters on the NES so they could corner the market.\u00a0 One problem I had with all of these versions is that they\u2019re way too hard!\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t get past the first guy on any of them, even when I put the difficulty on the easiest setting.\u00a0 I know I\u2019m bad at fighting games, but this is ridiculous!<\/p>\n

And those are all the games on this collection.\u00a0 This is a very good compilation and I highly recommend it even if you\u2019re just a casual turtle fan like me.\u00a0 Between this and Shredder\u2019s Revenge<\/strong><\/a> released earlier this year, TMNT fans are eating good this year!\u00a0 Later!\u00a0 –Cary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Konami recently came out with a collection of their licensed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games they released back in the late 80s and early 90s, during the first round of the Turtles\u2019 heyday.\u00a0 Since a lot of people grew up with and enjoyed these titles, this collection is a pretty big deal.\u00a0 Especially since for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":22675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-reviews","category-movie-reviews","category-television"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22739"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22739\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22842,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22739\/revisions\/22842"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}