Ok, I admit I've been running from this one for a while. Besides games like Ghouls N Ghosts and Pac-Man, TMNT was always one of the hardest games in my book. I recall once getting to the Technodrome as a lad(can't remember if I beat it or not), but that was it. I reaquired the game a few years ago, tried it out and quickly was reminded of it's difficulty. Since that time I have gone back and beat Ninja Gaiden and Mike Tyson's Punch-Out, two other games from my childhood that I wasn't able to finish back then(as mentioned in previous threads).
Yesterday I finally had to go back and give it a whirl. I used a video walkthrough on Youtube as I was playing, seeing what lied ahead and the best way to tackle it. This doesn't always work, since the enemy sets will randomly switch and the location of the Technodrome can switch spots on that level. Anyways, I get to the final level without continuing. Made it to Shredder a few times but got hit with his mutagen gun. Frustration.
Even though I hadn't planned on it, today I decided to go back and try again. I had added a ton of boxart today after the deluge of new entries to the game database. Seeing all of these great old boxarts gave me that extra motivation that I needed. I didn't feel like messing with the vid walkthrough today, as I didn't plan to spend much time with the game; either it happened or it didn't. I found a few better ways to make it through the levels than I had saw in the walkthrough, so not using it may have actually benefitted me. I ended up dying on the level where you locate the Technodrome and started to feel like I was wasting my time on this run. I then continued and beat that level, then went on the to final level. I actually made it to Shredhead without having to continue, but quickly got a shot of mutagen and had to use my last continue. Making it to Shredder with little life to spare, I decided to use a method of defeating him I had read about a few times before: standing on the right platform and knocking him off the left platform with Donnie's bo, then smacking him when he tries to jump back up. It sounded way to simple. I had even saw a video of someone doing this yesterday with Mikey, but again, it looked too simple and I was sure there was some trick to getting it to work. Well there wasn't. I just struck him twice to knock him off the platform, then clubbed his ass as he tried to jump back up. Tin Grin goes down!
Of course I am pretty stoked about beating this game, but in retrospect it isn't quite as difficult as I had thought. It's really just a matter of not letting one of your turtles die, so as not to re-start a level. The bosses aren't too hard, especially if you have a healthy Donnie to use. Finding a building with pizza makes it easy to fill up your health meter by simply exiting and re-entering the building. The final level is pretty tough, but very manageable if you're on your toes. Shredder can be cheap with his one-shot kill, but the method I mentioned earlier negates that. Almost 20 years of frustration down the drain.
As usual with threads like this that I create from time to time, I want to hear some of your stories. Have you guys and gals beat any games that had vexed you for some time? Any particularly rough games you were able to finish and want to share your story about? I know people usually don't give me their stories, but I love to hear then and it never hurts to ask. So....gimme stories.
"I feel like I could take on the whole Empire myself."
