Geki Kame Ninja Den (TMNT)

Started by Shumi Nagaremono, April 06, 2015, 05:49:46 am

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Shumi Nagaremono

As a kid growing up in Chicago, I never managed to finish this game.  As a grown man playing the Famicom version over the last few weeks, I've STILL not managed to put it behind me. 

In my frustration, I found myself coming back to certain things, over and over again.  Maybe there are answers to my questions, maybe not.  But I'd like to voice them here. 

The game is, it seems to me, one or two steps away from being another Konami masterpiece.  Think about it.  The graphics are great.  The music is pretty good.  The level design (minus three VERY specific jumps) is tremendous.  There is a LOT going on in terms of level design.  Zelda-style overhead stages, platforming stages, and underwater stage, a nighttime stage, etc.  The enemies look great (and the physics on the ever-shrinking Foot Clan soldier and "Guy on Fire" are just amazing. 

But then you've got some stuff that, it seems, should have been done away before release.  Too many enemies on screen causing flicker.  WAY under-powered weapons.  Those three goddamn jumps.  The stuff that everybody and their mothers' brothers' have complained about.

Was this game released under some strict deadline, that kept the usual Konami standards from being upheld?

Was it designed in a rush, E.T. style? 

Where the hell did all those weird enemies come from?  They weren't in the toon or (it seems) from the comics.

Were the Turtle characters just tossed into an in-production game? 

Was the game originally put into production *before* the cartoon, making it an adaptation of the comics more than the animated series, meaning it was aimed at an audience older than that of the 'toon?

I've been playing the game a TON recently, and I really don't think it's as bad as its reputation suggests.  But some of the issues with the game are so baffling that I just can't understand the thought processes that went into them.  As I said before, it's just one or two small steps away from being a Contra-level masterpiece. 

Maybe a Ducktales-style Remastered version is in order. ;)

synt4x

Yeah this game gets too much hate online. It's pretty good in my opinion, although it can be unfair and too hard in spots. Everyone knows and complains about the dam level, but that part isn't so bad really. It gets much harder in later levels.

UglyJoe

Agreed.  The game is way better than most remember.

I think the problem is that the game is too difficult for most kids to finish.  I could never get past the dam stage growing up.  (I can get past it now, but not much farther!).  The collective memory of adults who played it as kids is getting stuck early in the game.

number47

I'm going to try this again. Haven't played this for a long time  ;)

Ghegs

Quote from: UglyJoe on April 06, 2015, 06:09:18 am
I think the problem is that the game is too difficult for most kids to finish...The collective memory of adults who played it as kids is getting stuck early in the game.


This phenomenon is also responsible for Contra always showing up in the "Hardest NES games" lists, despite actually being a pretty easy game.

I actually bit the bullet and purchased Geki Kame Ninja Den last week. I never played it as a kid, so I'm looking forward to finally taking a crack at it. But I've been listening to its soundtrack on Youtube for a while, so good.

P

I could almost never finish the third level as a kid, mostly due to those hated jumps. I can finish it now but then I come to the airport (stage 4) and since I didn't play it more than once as a kid I'm not familiar with it at all.

I've seen speedruns of the game and it looks like it really gets hard near the end of the game. The speedrunners keep using boomerangs (cause they don't run out) all the time, killing enemies before they appear in order to stay out of trouble as much as possible.

I thought of playing this game again when I have time to pack up my Famicom again. Gotta learn the airport level this time!

Quote from: Shumi Nagaremono on April 06, 2015, 05:49:46 am
Where the hell did all those weird enemies come from?  They weren't in the toon or (it seems) from the comics.
...
Was the game originally put into production *before* the cartoon, making it an adaptation of the comics more than the animated series, meaning it was aimed at an audience older than that of the 'toon?
I think lots of the enemies are probably original enemies thought up by Konami (I haven't read the comic) no? It's like Ducktales or other licensed games that contains lots of enemies and stuff that aren't from the original work. It's a good thing, that means they focused in making a good game instead of just trying to make a game that contains as much as possible from the original work and sell it solely based on it's name and characters. Those licensed games are usually crap.

I think all Turtle games (old ones anyway) are based on the '87 cartoon rather than the original comic. Things like uniquely coloured headbands,  Bebop and Rocksteady and the fact that most footclan underlings are robots are from the cartoon AFAIK.

fcgamer

Great game.  Had it as a kid, haven't played it for awhile but now I want to give it a go again.

From my experiences:

As a child, I used to always get stuck in the dam.  Damn it!  Then I learned how to get to level three, though the jumps always messed with me.

Moving into my teenage years (I kept playing these games), I eventually learned how to make it to level 4 the airport and level 5 consistantly.  I would aways croack at level 5 though.

Finally after much practice I was able to complete the game, as a teen.
Family Bits - Check Progress Below!

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Shumi Nagaremono

The dam stage is actually pretty easy, once you know where the bombs are.  Navigating through the seaweed can be a challenge, but you can use Raph to soak up the damage and be through with it. 

It's nice of the final pre-Technodrome stage to give you an entire building full of pizza and power-ups, but if you don't stock up enough, the final stage is next to impossible.  There are some INCREDIBLY cheap bits there. 


P

Yeah the dam is only hard the first time. Since there are no passwords you are forced to play from the beginning every time. This makes you memorize the dam level pretty fast.

Shumi Nagaremono

*Finally* completed the game last night (UK and Famicom versions). 

The Impossible Astronauts were giving me the most trouble, especially in the very last stretch.  But I finally figured out that if you just hit them once, they'll back off the screen and disappear, saving you time, life, and power ups. 

The last battle w/ Shredder looks awesome, in a stage taken straight from Contra.  It's probably the easiest boss fight in the game, provided you've got a few of those scroll weapons left over. 

I recorded myself doing a run through the Famicom version this morning.  I may do a review of the game, or just throw the whole thing up on YouTube for my own posterity. 

Well, that's Ninja Turtles completed.  Close the book on another title I could never finish as a kid. 

What next?  Something based on an 80's property, for sure.  Ghostbusters, maybe?  Or... Transformers... ?

Oreanor

New Ghostbusters 2 by HAL is a great game, you should try it if you didn't

Shumi Nagaremono

Quote from: Oreanor on April 08, 2015, 01:35:49 am
New Ghostbusters 2 by HAL is a great game, you should try it if you didn't


That game sits right at the top of my to-buy list.  But I keep hoping I'll find a copy for less than current market value. 

Zycrow

I made a concerted effort to finish this game last year, but the enemy gauntlet in the Technodrome nearly brought me back to late-80s-era game rage. Even the guides (both written and video) were mostly unhelpful in this regard - I eventually found some great run-throughs by YouTube user "The Old School Video Game King" who shows some good techniques for the Technodrome stage, even several with handicaps (no items, only Michelangelo, etc.).

Still haven't gotten around to hiking all the way back through the game, though. Kinda wish that one had a password system or a stage select or something.

I'm not sure how the design of the game was handled, but I do know that most FC games from the time period were designed by very small teams in an extremely short amount of time. Mega Man 2 I think had less than a year of development. Given that, it seems like a miracle that there are so many good games for the system!

As a side note, if you'd like to play something similar to TMNT but with a bit more refinement, I'd recommend Getsu Fuuma Den. It has a similar overworld/action stage dichotomy and the platforming physics feel very similar. It even uses a lot of the same sound effects from TMNT. The difficulty is much more balanced - I was able to complete it without much frustration.

It does have 3-D dungeon crawls, which may or may not be to your liking.

Quote from: Shumi Nagaremono on April 07, 2015, 05:22:24 pmWhat next?  Something based on an 80's property, for sure.  Ghostbusters, maybe?  Or... Transformers... ?


Mystery of Convoy is a GREAT example of how to design a terrible game. I love how almost anyone who plays that game will lose a life within 5 seconds of starting the first level. But it's not a tarnished gem like TMNT - it's definitely a turd. But it can be a fun turd for a little while if you put yourself in the right mindset.

Favorites: Castlevania, Metroid, Namco 18