Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist
North American cover artwork
Developer(s)Konami
Publisher(s)Konami
Composer(s)Masahiro Ikariko
Yuichi Takamine
Kaori Kinouchi
Hideto Inoue
SeriesTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Platform(s)Sega Genesis
Release
11 December 1992
    • NA: 11 December 1992
    • JP: 22 December 1992
    • EU: 1993
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist, released in Europe as Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist and in Japan as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Return of the Shredder, is a 1992 side-scrolling beat 'em up game developed and published by Konami for the Sega Genesis, based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book characters. It was Konami's debut title for the Genesis.[1] The game was re-released as part of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection in 2022.[2]

Plot[edit]

April O'Neil is reporting from Liberty Island when, in a sudden flash of light, she and her audience 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.

Gameplay[edit]

The gameplay of The Hyperstone Heist is heavily based on the second TMNT arcade game, Turtles in Time, which was ported to the Super NES during the same year. The controls are similar to Turtles in Time, but the ability to dash is now assigned to a specific button and the player can no longer throw enemies towards the screen.

The game shares nearly the same soundtrack and sound effects as Turtles in Time, but the music plays faster in The Hyperstone Heist.[3] Though there are less than half as many levels as Turtles in Time, each level is longer. Furthermore, The Hyperstone Heist has a more aggressive enemy AI and faster-moving gameplay.[3]

There are a total of five levels ("New York City", "A Mysterious Ghost Ship", "Shredder's Hideout", "The Gauntlet", and "The Final Shell Shock"), which comprise a combination of new levels created specifically for this game and ones based on levels from the first arcade game and Turtles in Time. The bosses include Leatherhead, Rocksteady, Tatsu, Baxter Stockman, Krang, and Super Shredder.

Reception[edit]

The game received positive reviews upon release. In GameFan magazine, Dave Halverson (Skid) said "Konami brings the arcade thrill home" with "a beat 'em up blast-a-minute" that has "some of the best character animation you'll ever see" while Brody said it has some of the "most hilarious 2 player beat 'em up action ever" seen.[5] N. Somniac of GamePro magazine called it "a 16-bit graphic and game playing work of art" and said it "brings excellent arcade-quality graphics, sound, game play to your home unit."[1]

The most common criticisms of The Hyperstone Heist focused on its difficulty, length, and repetitiveness. MegaTech magazine gave an overall 87% score, praising the graphics and sound but commenting that the gameplay wasn't hard work and experienced players would be able to beat the game easily.[8] Four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game positive ratings, praising the graphics and the animation, although there was criticism for the game being too easy and not having enough levels.[4] Mega Action criticized the game for being too easy and gave praise to its graphics, calling it "fairly impressive." They also commented that The Hyperstone Heist had a lot of potential but used it very sparingly, stating that "Hyperstone Heist isn’t a terrible game, but the Turtles do deserve better." They concluded with a 78% review score.[6] Kirk Rutter of Mega Guide praised the game's action, graphics, and the two-player mode, but felt that The Hyperstone Heist was similar to Turtles in Time. Conceding that the action was fun at first, he criticized it for becoming repetitive and the difficulty for being too easy, concluding: "The lack of real challenge knocks a big dent in its lastability. But it’s still a laugh."[10] Power Unlimited gave a score of 90% and recommended the game to those who are fans of TMHT, but criticized the repetitive gameplay.[9]

ScrewAttack named The Hyperstone Heist the 19th best Genesis game ever in their top 20 list,[11] though they considered it a clone of Turtles in Time, which they considered to be the best beat 'em up ever. Complex ranked the game number 68 in their "The Best 100 Sega Genesis Games".[12]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Somniac, N. (January 1993). "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist". GamePro. No. 42. pp. 54–5.
  2. ^ Bailey, Kat (21 July 2022). "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection Has a Release Date". IGN. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  3. ^ a b Game Pilgrimage comparison of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist. URL retrieved 25 July 2006.
  4. ^ a b "TMNT the Hyperstone Heist Review". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 42. United States: EGM Media. January 1993. p. 28. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  5. ^ a b Halverson, Dave (Skid); Brody (December 1992). "Viewpoint". GameFan. Vol. 1, no. 2. pp. 8–9.
  6. ^ a b "TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist Mega Action review". Mega Action (1). United Kingdom: Europress Interactive: 45. June 1993. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  7. ^ Rutter, Kirk (30 April 1993). "Turtle Recall! Green & lean & back on the scene". Mega Guide. p. 1.
  8. ^ a b "TMNT the Hyperstone Heist Review". MegaTech. United Kingdom: Maverick Magazines. June 1995. p. 31. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Power Unlimited Game Database". powerweb.nl (in Dutch). November 1994. Archived from the original on 27 August 2003. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  10. ^ Rutter, Kirk (30 April 1993). "Turtle Recall! Green & lean & back on the scene". Mega Guide. p. 1.
  11. ^ "ScrewAttack's Top Ten Video - Top 20 Genesis Games (20-11)". ScrewAttack's Top 10. GameTrailers. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  12. ^ "The 100 Best Sega Genesis Games". Complex. Retrieved 14 September 2021.

External links[edit]

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