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View Poll Results: Who was the better publisher?
Ubisoft 7 100.00%
Activision 0 0%
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Old 11-12-2020, 11:57 PM   #1
retr0pia75
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Ubisoft Vs. Activision

who do you consider to be the better of the post-konami tmnt game publishers?

from my pov, while neither of them had solid track records, my vote goes to ubisoft. a lot of their output with the property was pretty second-rate and in cases like arcade attack just plain terrible, they actually managed to put out at least two games that i'd consider good. the gba version of the 2007 movie tie-in game was a really solid brawler on par with the best ot games, and smash up, while it definitely could've done way more to bank on the concept of "smash bros. but it's ninja turtles" was decent enough

activision on the other hand... i can't think of a single game that was released under them that went above "barely above average". even when their games did show potential like with mutants in manhattan, they just couldn't seem to deliver on them in the end. what do you guys think?
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Old 11-13-2020, 01:02 AM   #2
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With no doubt Ubisoft.
It pubblished very few games, but they were really well made to me.
I still prefer Konami by far (damn I miss it). Smash up was cool, even tho I didn't appreciate the fact that the Wii version had way more content.

Activision was, heh, like always. The games they made were pretty mediocre to me, just a way to capitalize on the new show.
The Konami ones had alot of content and effort in it, while Ubisoft tried to do the same.
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Old 11-13-2020, 09:16 AM   #3
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Originally Posted by D-ray View Post
I still prefer Konami by far (damn I miss it).
with how they are now it's probably a good thing they don't have the license anymore

to be frank even they faltered at the end of their run, the 2k3 games weren't awful but they didn't have the soul the ot games had
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Old 11-13-2020, 02:03 PM   #4
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The highlight of the Ubisoft era was probably the 2007 GBA title. I'm also one of those people who enjoyed Smash-Up on the Wii.

The highlight of Activision was probably securing deals with Wayforward and PlatinumGames for development... that resulted in products that were sufficiently playable but underwhelming.
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Old 11-14-2020, 11:58 AM   #5
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The highlight of Activision was probably securing deals with Wayforward and PlatinumGames for development... that resulted in products that were sufficiently playable but underwhelming.
mutants in manhattan turning out the way it did still stings lol. i get that it likely had a rushed development cycle given considering it was a licensed game published by activision but it's dispiriting that it was the closest activision ever got to a "good" tmnt title before they lost the license

and it's not like mim was completely irredeemable, in fact it had precisely the right idea on what a great modern tmnt game could be, it's just that for whatever reason they're just cursed to be forever outdone by the earlier konami games
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Old 11-15-2020, 07:24 AM   #6
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Does anyone even have the license now?
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Old 11-15-2020, 03:42 PM   #7
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I would rather see a small independent studio but if i had to chose i would say ubisoft.
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Old 11-16-2020, 01:45 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by retr0pia75 View Post
with how they are now it's probably a good thing they don't have the license anymore

to be frank even they faltered at the end of their run, the 2k3 games weren't awful but they didn't have the soul the ot games had
What do you mean they didn't have the soul?
Like, they were not like the arcades?
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Old 11-16-2020, 01:47 AM   #9
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I would rather see a small independent studio but if i had to chose i would say ubisoft.
Yeah me too.
The indipendent developers would easily ask the community, or just be more open to criticism and improvement.
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Old 11-16-2020, 03:15 AM   #10
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I've never had any problem whatsoever with "Mutants In Manhattan". I think a strong case could be made for it being the "best" TMNT game, although the bar for that is admittedly very low. It has way more content than any other TMNT game ever made and it's the perfect length for a beat-'em-up. The controls could've been polished up a bit, but that's it. People talk about it like it's this big huge disappointment, and I admit, I've never understood that. Like, compared to what, exactly? "Turtles In Time", which is admittedly great for the entire 26 minutes it takes to complete it? Or to the "Arkham" games, which - let's be honest - no TMNT game is ever going to approach because it's an expensive license that's primarily focused on making budget games for kids?

Nobody's ever given me a solid answer on why MiM is supposedly so bad, or even "disappointing". The most concrete thing I've ever heard is, some people wanted it to play like Arkham, and it's like I GET that, but... c'mon, let's have realistic expectations, please. NO TMNT game is EVER going to be that.

I frankly never expected a 6-8 hour TMNT action game experience with randomized sub-missions, random "Secret Boss" encounters, tons of upgrades and a decent amount of replay value. We got an awful lot for a "budget" game that most people seem really harsh on. It's by no means perfect - the controls could be smoother and the enemy AI in early levels could be better - but sometimes I swear that I played an entirely different game than most people did. It's so weird.
---------------

I can't really pick a "winner" between the two companies because I found most of their output to be rather mediocre. BUT, I will say that I enjoyed MiM far more than any of the other games put out by either. Gun to my head, I might say Activision, simply because aside from MiM, "Danger of the Ooze" was also pretty decent, if altogether rather forgettable. But that wasn't really that fantastic, it was just better than most of the stuff that came before it.

It's funny this comes up, because I just bought "TMNT" for both Gamecube and Game Boy Advance. They should arrive late this week. I hadn't played the console version in about 10 years, and have never played the GBA version. So I look forward to that. I remember enjoying the console version, just thinking that there wasn't altogether much to it but that I would play it again. I just never got the chance and kept forgetting to buy it.

I wanted to like "Smash-Up" more than I did. I just can't really cheer much about a game where you can do everything possible in it within an hour and change. Like I can enjoy it but I can't put it on a pedestal above other, deeper things, y'know? It was fine, it's definitely not "bad" or anything, but more than anything I remember it as a wasted opportunity. Could have had a much bigger roster and WAY more to do. What's there is fine, but... it felt unfinished, to me.
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Old 11-16-2020, 08:35 AM   #11
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One thing that sticks in my mind about Mutants in Manhattan is that it's probable Activision rushed the product to market in order to give them a small sales window before the license expired. The game was released on May 24, 2016, and it was stunningly de-listed around New Year's 2017, less than 8 months later. I always intended to buy a copy on Steam, but I was planning to hold out at least a year before taking the plunge... and I got burned.

I imagine some of PlantinumG's plans had to be crunched or canned to appease the publisher's demands. All because Activision was either too cheap or lazy to re-up the license. On the other hand, maybe Nickelodeon just made unreasonable demands and caught everybody off-guard. Who knows, but the whole thing bothers me from the standpoint of artistic integrity... and it doesn't even make business sense either.
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Old 11-16-2020, 09:13 AM   #12
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Given the state of the two or three preceding TMNT games before MiM, I think we can safely say that "artistic integrity" was never a factor in their handling of the TMNT license. And that it's also something of a minor miracle that MiM was even as good as it was.

Both NickTurtles games felt like cheap-o budget games for young children. MiM at least felt like a real game. Could've used some polish but I really can't find much fault with what exists of it.

The only thing I kind of understand people whining about was the lack of multiplayer, BUT the camera in that game was so spastic and the action so frantic that I feel like multiplayer would have flat-out broken it. As a solo gamer, I selfishly rather preferred being able to switch between Turtles on the fly; it added a nice layer of strategy to things, being able to chain attacks and whatnot. At least the AI companions weren't absolutely useless, as in most games of that nature.

I've said this many times, but it's the perfect game to mess with over a weekend every few months. That's really all I ever expected or wanted from a modern TMNT game. You can't beat it in an hour or two, it's never incredibly difficult even on the hardest setting, and it's never the exact same game twice in a row thanks to the random sub-missions and Secret Boss battles. That right there is more than I'd have settled for.

I'unno; I feel like people's hopes or expectations, more than anything, are why it wasn't received better. Not counting the mobile games, I've played just about every TMNT game that exists and I've definitely had way more fun with MiM than about 90-95% of the rest of them. I think for whatever reason people had expectations for the game that it wasn't ever going to meet, and in turn that negatively affected people's opinions of it. Like sure, there's much better beat-'em-ups, but as far as TMNT games go, what's "better"? Really tough call if we're being objective about it. Especially if we limit the conversation only to games released in the last 20 years.

Someone could very well conceivably make a better TMNT game than MiM, but given the state of both the franchise AND the video game industry, I'm not going to hold my breath.
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Last edited by Leo656; 11-16-2020 at 09:18 AM.
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Old 11-16-2020, 04:31 PM   #13
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Like, they were not like the arcades?
no that wasn't the problem, though they were kind of in the same formula. the problem was that by then you could tell konami was starting to run on fumes with the license and were more focused on doing the bare minimum of what would normally constitute for a turtles game

there's an argument to be made about the original arcade game, manhattan project, and turtles in time/hyperstone heist being repetitive but they were well-designed and had a good enough pace, plus they would vary things up so that it wouldn't get old. the 2k3 games captured the tone of the show but felt more slow and empty
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Old 11-17-2020, 05:43 PM   #14
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Ubisoft started strong with 2007, the 3D game was decent and the GBA game was excellent, it just wasn't a hit because the movie wasn't a hit. Smash Up could've been legendary with the correct roster, but without it, it was just a smash clone with a lame roster. Arcade Attack I dont' even know what that was and Reshelled sadly failed.

Activision tried twice to have a hit game with Out of the Shadows and Mutant in Manhattan but for different reasons a subpar game was released so no one cared, I also missed getting them on steam and I regret it despite not being the best games I would've liked to try them out myself. The other games were just cheap cash-ins from what I can tell.

So I guess between those two I'd have to say it's almost a tie in terms of how much effort they put in, they both seemed to give up rather easily on the license after it didn't meet their expectations. I think I'd have to give it to Ubisoft if I need to choose who did a better job but not by much really.
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Old 01-08-2021, 05:17 PM   #15
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Dudes, MiM had Armaggon! That was almost cool enough for me.

In all seriousness, i agree with Leo656, it's a fun game with a ton stuff, not perfect sure but good enough. And although i would've loved having local co-op, it certainly would've been a bit chaotic.

Out of the shadows gets a lot of criticism too and i don´t think it's that bad, either. Yes, it isn´t that long, the designs are kinda ugly and i remember the camera was pretty wonky. But i thought the controls and fighting were pretty solid. I just enjoyed beating up the enemies in different ways and the gameplay felt fun, idk.

I love Manhattan project, it's my favourite from KONAMI, but playing it solo, even though i enjoy the music and the enemies, at some point it gets repetitive. I feel that sometimes, nostalgia gets in the way when we look at these games. Of course, to each his own, right?
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Old 01-08-2021, 06:09 PM   #16
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Yeah, I had a lot of fun with both OotS and MiM. I think people just had expectations that were way, way too high with those. Both are really good on their own terms.

I think the camera in MiM would have made co-op play frigging unbearable, honestly. As a solo gamer I don't miss couch co-op most of the time and I really liked switching between all four Turtles, it added a nice strategic element and forced me to be someone besides Leonardo for a change, experiment with different attacks and all that. When you put the time in and unlock most/all of the Upgrades, there's a lot you can do that's really fun.

Played Manhattan Project and TMNT II: The Arcade Game on NES a few months ago, and I had a lot of fun with both although I do think Manhattan Project is more polished and probably "better" overall. I didn't think it was any more or less repetitive than any other beat-'em-up but I did notice how incredibly long it was compared to "Arcade" or "Turtles In Time"; that's not a bad thing to me but it definitely stands out and I can see why since it really is a "Just Keep hitting B" type of game that it can be very repetitive for some. I hadn't played it in such a long time that the length really took me by (pleasant) surprise.

It's like I LIKE "Turtles In Time" and overall the gameplay is the best in that series, and I've played it a thousand times and I'll play it ten thousand more times, but goddamn it... 25 minutes. 25 minutes on the hardest difficulty, and once you beat it, you're done. I have a hard time remaining in romantic love with it the way a lot of people are, based on that. Whereas an average runthrough of MiM takes about 6 hours, and you can't see everything in one run, you have to play it multiple times to unlock everything and see all the Secret Boss fights. Maybe it isn't the "best" TMNT game ever, but it's the one I go to the most often when I want to spend a nice weekend with a Turtles game and not just a cup of coffee's worth.

Anyways, glad we mostly think alike on the subject. I mean I see where other people are coming from, kinda... it just seems like a bit of overreacting on their part, is all. in my own humble opinion.
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