Part nostalgia-bomb, part note-taking and part FAQ, what started in GameTrailers as a video game blog is now on Blogger. This blog is a look back at video games, both popular and obscure, from the video game industry's infancy all the way to the previous console generation.
You have quite a few new hazards here. The laser barriers will continuously go up and down, making it more difficult to get past them without being zapped. The Roadkill Rodneys take two hits to kill and will also jump over you in an attempt to lasso you from behind. You can take them out in midair with one hit. The homing missiles slowly move towards you in mid-air.
Donatello is best here, as he can also hit enemies behind him during the first frame of his attack animation.
In the section, you'll see spiked tank-like things that move towards you. You'll want to jump over and/or duck under these when necessary as they are invincible.
The final boss is Krang, interestingly. (This would also be the case in the sequel.) Amazingly, he's really easy. Jump over him, hit him, then jump into the air. Sometimes he'll kick at you after being hit (and turning around in the process), and sometimes he'll turn around and leap at you. Other than that, he doesn't much more of a strategy than the other bosses.
Once you've beaten Krang, you've won! Enjoy your ending!
Since Stage 3 was so short, you're getting a two-fer for this one.
Stage 3
This time around, you'll be walking along the tops of trucks. Most of the enemies will be Foot Can soldiers, and some of them will come out of boxes and throw the lids at you! You can knock the lids back at the enemies with your weapon, though.
The boss here is Baxter Stockman in his fly form. Avoid him and the three-way shots that he fires, and hit him as he flies to the other side. Nothing to it.
The Foot Clan are fleeing through the river now!
Stage 4
You'll not only be dealing with Foot Clan soldiers, but also turtle-eating fish!
At the beginning, you can jump on the logs to get through the beginning faster, but you'll eventually have to dive into the water. Watch out for the orb that moves around the logs near the end. They move straight towards you after dropping down, but they can be destroyed with one hit.
The fish aren't really that bad. They just move towards you like most of the enemies. Walking around is slightly slower in water, but your jump is the same. You'll eventually be jumping from one log to another again.
The second section is a cave. Take out the Foot Clan soldiers as well as the spiked balls that fly around. The Mousers will leap out of the ground, and some of them will do it from behind, so pay attention.
The boss here is Shredder, which is weird because he's usually the final boss in the scheme of things in a TMNT game. The trick to doing this is to jump over him and keep whacking him from behind, and don't let him face you if he's close to you as he will slash at you with that sword.
It's time to find some more bonus stages and fight Bebop as we chase after the Foot Clan!
Stage 2
Some parts of the floor are columns that move up and down, taking you to the top of the screen. I'm amazed that they don't crush you. Unfortunately, there are some columns on the ceiling that do...so get to the other side quickly.
You can attack the enemies through the walls by ducking before you attack. By holding Down, you'll be able to throw a ninja star.
There is a bonus stage just to the left of the second ceiling column. Just jump all the way up to the ceiling at the left side of the column, and you'll automatically access it. For this one, I play a target practice game. Move the target sight with the Control Pad and press A to shoot. An extra life awaits you if you hit all the targets.
There is another one that you can get after beating up the Foot Clan ninja with the Pizza pick-up. To the left of the nearby column, you can jump straight up for another bonus area.
The third bonus game is a game of "Poison." The rules are simple, take as many stars as you want, but leave one behind. If you're forced to take the last one, you lose. If Krang is forced to take the last one, you'll win and get your health refilled.
In the second section, you'll see a new enemy: fireballs that move up and down in an attempt to block your path. Luckily, you can kill them just all the other enemies you've seen so far.
You may see a box with a pizza on it flying around. Attack it, and you can grab the pizza it leaves behind.
The boss here is Bebop. He's a little more difficult to take on than Rocksteady. He'll try to ram into you and shoot you with his gun. Jump over him as he runs around, then hit him. Jump away when he punches at you. If he gets to the side of the screen, jump over the shots he fires, and be prepared to whack him when he starts moving again.
The Foot Clan will get away on cars, but that's apparently not a problem for the Turtles, as you'll find out next time.
I covered the sequel before I covered this one. That was a long time ago by the blog's standards.
This time around, Shredder has kidnapped April O'Neil. Obviously, the Turtles have to save her.
Unlike the sequel, you can choose where you want to start in any of the five stages. You'll have to do the rest of them in sequence to beat the game, and if you play from the first stage to the last, you'll get the longest (and best) ending.
Stage 1
Just like in the NES game, try not to die. If you do, you'll lose the turtle you were playing as and you'll have to select another one. The only way to get them back is through bonus games.
Speaking of bonus games, you can find one by striking the right barrel in the first pair of barrels you see twice. Here, I play a number-guessing game, where you have to guess a three-digit number within ten tries. Select the digits with the Control Pad and confirm with A. "Smaller" and "Bigger" mean "This is smaller than the actual number" or "This is bigger than the actual number," respectively. If it says "Smaller," you need to go up. If it says "Bigger," you need to go down.
The Foot Clan soldiers just move toward you and attack you. The lighter ones will jump, while the darker ones just plod ahead. The bugs on helicopter rotors fly from the left side of the screen to the right, wait a few seconds, then swoop down at you.
I love how we're in the first stage, and we already see parallax scrolling at the top of the stage. It's 1990, and Konami has performed parallax scrolling on a game already. Same to say that Konami got the hang of programming for Game Boy a little bit at this point, and that they'd make more games for it in the future.
When you drop down into the sewers, you'll meet the Mousers and the bats. The bats will move towards you, while the Mousers are more like the Foot Clan soldiers. Jump over the large barrels when they roll towards you.
Sometimes enemies will drop pizza when you defeat them, which you can pick up to restore your health. This is good, as you don't always have to trek through one part of the stage and hope to live long enough to get a pizza. It's still random, but keep your eyes peeled. One slice refills two units, a whole pie refills everything.
When you're back in town, jump over the motorcycle whenever you see it.
In the second sewer section, there will be platforms on the walls that will be above you. They will fall when you get near them, but you can destroy them with a jump attack. You won't be able to see all of them, so move ahead with caution. When you reach the end, strike the oil drums and you'll be able to take on the first boss, Rocksteady.
Rocksteady is really, really easy. Jump over his bullets and hit him. Sometimes he'll move to the other side of the screen, but you can still easily hit him.
The Turtles can hear April's screaming, and the trail is still warm.
