TMNT Manhattan Missions????

[MrOldSchool]

I've never heard of this game before until now. What is it???





It appears to be a PC game.

[Wes]

It's my favorite TMNT game ever, that's what it is! It's an old DOS PC game that I still play on a fairly regular basis despite having owned it since it came out in 1991. I think the mods would have a problem with someone providing direct links, but you should be able to find a copy on abandonware sites and whatnot if you google it. It's really great.

[GK Punk]

I love that game. A little on the easy side once you get the hang of it, but a lot of fun.

[LogicDonny]

I remember seeing this game box at my old friend's house like over 15+ years ago. lol dunno when though.

You guys play this through dosbox?

[GK Punk]

Originally Posted by LogicDonny

I remember seeing this game box at my old friend's house like over 15+ years ago. lol dunno when though.

You guys play this through dosbox?

I haven't played it since upgrading to XP a few years back sadly. I Really should get dosbox or something and play it again.

[Wes]

Yeah, I play with DOSBox. Best use of the program yet.

[Raph'N'Roll]

I loved this game too!
The main inspiration for it visually seemed to be the original comics.
The city map was a great idea, letting you choose what missions to take instead of going through levels.
I recommend anyone who hasn't played it, to try an download it.

I wish I could find an original copy of it, seems to be the most rare TMNT game though.

[Karai]

I believe PC demos of this game exist somewhere on the internet.

Haven't tried it out yet, but since it's a game I missed back when it was new, I'm anxious to see what it's like.

[Wes]

Originally Posted by Karai

I believe PC demos of this game exist somewhere on the internet.

Haven't tried it out yet, but since it's a game I missed back when it was new, I'm anxious to see what it's like.

I don't recall there ever having been a demo version, but you can find the full game if you know where to look. Seriously, just google "manhattan missions abandonware". I guess the copyright is technically still valid, but it's a pretty old game and nobody's profiting from it anymore so I don't think anyone really minds. I know if I'd had something to do with its creation, I'd be glad that fans were still interested in it and regarded it highly.

Heck, I like it loads better than Ubisoft's Turtles of Persia game.

[Ninjinister]

Ugh. I tried looking for it and only got links to ROMs of Manhattan Project, mistitled. Oh well.

[Wes]

Originally Posted by The S

Ugh. I tried looking for it and only got links to ROMs of Manhattan Project, mistitled. Oh well.

Seriously, google those exact search terms above! I can't really be any clearer than that without giving esoteric clues about dingoes and whatnot.

Though I also find it amusing that googling those terms brings one back to this very thread.

[Ninjinister]

I did indeed. The only sites that had it for download wanted me to pay and/or register for their service. And since I would only be using it once, I saw no reason to.

Don't worry about it. I am not in that much of a hurry to play it.

[soccerstud652]

TMNT Manhattan Missions Review by soccerstud652

After a quick lesson in how to make DOS games run correctly on Windows (for those of you who are wondering this game works ideally with the use of DSBox and add-on DFend), I have given the game a new run and have a new attitude on it.

Visuals:
Solid 8-bit graphics, but it definitely looks better than the NES TMNT games.

Gameplay Goal / Intro / Menus:
The game starts of with a very nice summary of the 1991 TMNT movie. It has a comic book look to it and Splinter tells his story.

The idea of the game is pretty unique. You only have 49 hours to beat the game, with an in game clock ticking. Instead of just beating random missions, you need to clear 5 areas of NYC to get to Shredder's lair to stop him from taking over the city. Enemies include the Foot Clan ninjas, street thugs, and mousers, as well as some I haven;t yet gotten to. The cities have little warning lights next to them, wither green, yellow, or red, which warn you which part of the city is about to be overtaken. You can go back to the menu to train beating the different opponents and also to give your turtles a rest (replenish health and energy). The menus are all pretty straight forward. If you have a controller or joystick hooked up, it makes the game a lot easier.

Sound:
The sound is pretty bare, mostly just cheesy sound effects. Nothing worth noting.

Gameplay (actual game fighting):
As I mentioned above, the game is much easier with a controller or joystick. I use a wired XBOX 360 controller, and here is the default control scheme for that:

Move - with left joystick
Attack - Hold left soft and hit A for you turtle to use is weapon. You will also walks lower in this attack mode.
Attack 2 - You can throw ninja stars to kill enemies from a distance. They are not unlimited, but you find packs throughout the game. If you miss, you can pick it up again. To use, Hit the A button and the joystick in the direction you want it to go.
Block enemy attack - Hit both of the attack buttons together.
Pick up item - Stand over it and hit down on the joystick.
Climb ladders, etc. - Hold A button and move in the desired direction.
Change turtle - hit F1
*I am not sure of the keyboard controls, from what I can tell, the arrows are your joystick and enter is your Attack 2. I haven't found Attack 1 yet.

I went through a couple of the training missions, and they are all pretty basic, Splinter gives you advice on how to beat the enemy and then you get to beat one enemy. The gameplay is pretty fast and involves you climbing up ladder and falling into area with multiple enemies. At the end of the level, you need to fight a boss.

Overall:
6.5/10
For its time, it is definitely an innovative game. It takes the player further into a "real" type of gameplay with training missions and a goal of beating the game in a limited amount of time. The graphics are not bad and once you get used to the control scheme it plays pretty nicely.

[Wes]

Originally Posted by soccerstud652

This game is really terrible. ... The gameplay is horrific, everytime you get hit the whole game freezes and it is impossible to move away for a minute or so.

Learning the controls is also a confusing adventure. There seems to be a walking mode and fighting mode, but I cannot find the button for the fighting mode. I also cannot get my joystick to be recognized by the game, so I need to use the keyboard, but there are no real instructions on what buttons do what. ...

Overall:
1/10
It looks bad, plays bad, and really doesn't create any positive experience. I was just frustrated and annoyed.

Sounds like you were frustrated and annoyed because you didn't know what you were doing! All of the controls were located in the manual (and wherever you downloaded it probably had the text of the manual there as well; maybe you should give it a read), but I believe pressing Enter and Shift at the same time switches the Turtles to fighting mode. (It's been a while since I've played with the keyboard, though -- I've been using the joypad for ages.) You attack by holding Enter and pressing directions; you block by holding Shift (or whatever the second button really is) and pressing directions.

Also, regarding the lack of sound and the game freezing when you get hit -- these are all problems that you get when trying to play the game in Windows, as the freezing is related to the game trying to reproduce the sound of the hit. You really need to run this game in DOSBox -- that should take care of these problems for you.

[soccerstud652]

Wes, that is exactly what I was asking for. I will re-try and re-evaluate my review based on this.

Maybe you can help guide me through the process, but all I am getting is a message in DOSBox that says "Please insert Diskette 2 into Drive Z Press Any Key to Continue"

[Wes]

Originally Posted by soccerstud652

Wes, that is exactly what I was asking for. I will re-try and re-evaluate my review based on this.

Maybe you can help guide me through the process, but all I am getting is a message in DOSBox that says "Please insert Diskette 2 into Drive Z Press Any Key to Continue"

Whoa. I've never seen any messages like that... not sure what to tell you. I generally use the D-Fend frontend to run all of my DOSBox games, so I have no idea if that has anything to do with it. But generally speaking, games from the abandonware sites don't need to be installed -- just unzipped and played (after setting up one's options accordingly, of course).

[soccerstud652]

Originally Posted by Wes

Whoa. I've never seen any messages like that... not sure what to tell you. I generally use the D-Fend frontend to run all of my DOSBox games, so I have no idea if that has anything to do with it. But generally speaking, games from the abandonware sites don't need to be installed -- just unzipped and played (after setting up one's options accordingly, of course).

Thanks Wes, it works great now. I will have to admit, this really makes a difference. Now the only question I have left is...how do you use the weapon (aside form the star)...

[Wes]

Originally Posted by soccerstud652

Thanks Wes, it works great now. I will have to admit, this really makes a difference. Now the only question I have left is...how do you use the weapon (aside form the star)...

Ah, I just tried the game using the keyboard -- it's not Shift; it's Spacebar. So Spacebar and Enter at the same time to draw your weapons (and again to stow them), hold Enter and press directions to do attacks, and hold Spacebar and press directions to block. When you've accumulated enough experience to learn new moves, you can do two-in-one attacks and attack from block moves. (For my part, I never block -- there's not much need to -- but the dual attacks do come in handy.)

Oh, and hold Enter and press Up/Down to enter/exit doorways and climb ladders. You can't do this with your weapons drawn, however, so you'll have to stow them first. Hold Spacebar and press directions to use items (there are only like three levels in the game where you'll need to do this, but you can't pass them without it).

Anyway, good luck! Hopefully someday I'll get around to posting an official review of this game on Scary-Crayon -- I've been sitting on the screencaps forever.

[soccerstud652]

If you are interested, I just updated my review this morning. It really is a fun game. Thanks for all your help Wes.

[Wes]

You're welcome! I still think a 6.5 is kinda harsh, though. I mean, I've definitely got a lot of nostalgia influencing my score -- it's got two-player co-op using the left/right keyboard controls, so I used to play this game shoulder with friends after school waaay back in the 3rd grade -- but I'd probably give it a 9.5 with a curve (or an 8.0 before the extra credit). I sure like this game.