2K3 series games.

[herugrim]

I was wondering what you guys though of the games based on the second animated series. I've played the three action games on playstation 2. I really wanted to like the games, but they seemed a bit underdeveloped for action games of this generation.

I thought the 03 game was the worst of the batch. No block, no targetting system, only one combo with a few small variations, no special moves, arial attacks had to be unlocked (but you started with a double jump, for some reason). The versus mode was nice but unlocking the characters for it was a pain, mainly because the story mode was so bad.

I actually liked Battle Nexus the most. I wouldn't consider it an A-Rank action game, but at least it was somewhat fun to play. The story covered a large portion of the second season and levels where more balanced. Switching between characters on the fly also seemed to help add some variety to the gameplay. But I couldn't really get into Mutant Nightmare. The levels were long and redundant like the 03 game, and some of the missions with special objectives could be really frustrating (I was never able to make it past the first stage of the second episode, where you have to destroy all the sonic devices within the time limit). The idea of having all four turtles in action at once was nice, though.

I'm currently waiting for the 03 GBA game to arrive, that actually looks pretty good. I plan to get the movie GBA game eventually as well. What did you guys think of the portable games?

[LeoNerdo]

I've only ever played the first console game, but I could hardly bear it. It was OKAY, but the actions and controls were repetitive and monotonous. Also hearing the same phrases from the turtles over and over got old really fast.

The GBA games on the other hand were really fun I thought. They don't last extremely long but the graphics and sounds are nice, plus the controls are tight. They almost remind me of Turtles in Time but a little more fleshed out.

[BAXTER STOCKMAN 19]

i had played the first 2 games (2003 and Battle nexus) on my pc mutant nighmare on xbox the gba games on the pc and the 2007 movie game also on pc. all of them were pretty average. nothinh special about them. most games who are based on tv shows and movies are bad evryone knows it. but i enjoyed them because i am a tmnt fan!

@heregrim you can download the gba games from the internet and play them on the pc with gba emulator. you dont need to play them on gba. i played them on the pc with gba emulator and there were also very fun. the gba emulator you need is called Visual Boy Advance . Search google to find it. as for the games you can download them from some sites of the internet. Then all you need to do is open the gba emulator and select the game and it starts.

[Jester]

Sadly the game I liked the best I broke. I had the 3 PC games, TMNT, Battle Nexus, and Mutant Melee, and not I just have the 1st 2...Melee had a nice triangular section break off of the 1st disc, so the 2nd disc is useless. I'm not sure why I liked it, because it could get rather repetitive and was at times very difficult, but I REALLY wanted to beat it...but never did. I have the PCDVD version of the movie game (think it came with an action figure) but never really played it. The GBA games are fun, probably because they are very reminiscent of the Konami Turtle games of old.

[herugrim]

Originally Posted by BAXTER STOCKMAN 19

@heregrim you can download the gba games from the internet and play them on the pc with gba emulator. you dont need to play them on gba. i played them on the pc with gba emulator and there were also very fun. the gba emulator you need is called Visual Boy Advance . Search google to find it. as for the games you can download them from some sites of the internet. Then all you need to do is open the gba emulator and select the game and it starts.

Yes I have the visual boy, but I generally prefer to have an actual playable version of the game. Emulators are the cheaper choice for certain but they don't always run so well, and it seems like sometimes they are engineered to become corrupted after a few months. Also I'm not a huge fan of using the keyboard to play games, and I don't have a PC gamepad handy. It only cost me $3 for the game, so I don't mind. Thanks for the advice, though, Mr. Stockman.

[ToTheNines]

Battle Nexus was the worst, too clunky. I did love the CGI cutscenes and some other things about it.

03 was pretty fun, but way repetitive. I loved finding all of the bonus art pages and stuff though.

Mutant Nightmare is just a genuinely fun-ass game. The bonus content is ace, and having all four turtles on the screen at once is amazing.

[sdp]

Part of the problem is gaming evolved, there is a reason beat-em-ups are non-existent now and any tries of revival fail terribly. That gameplay is considered "boring" and "repetitive" now sadly. Game development was also different in the 00's from the 90s, while there were always cash-in licensed titles you'd at least get some decent efforts every once in a while by some companies however by the time the 00's arrived all licensed titles eventually became a quick cash-in with very few exceptions. Finally I also think the nature of the 2k3 show allowed for less epic games, for the most part it just followed roughly the story of the season it was adapting and didn't stray too far, on the other hand since the OT was so wacky, the videogames had so much room to flesh out the universe and in the games you actually got to go your way through an epic quest of mixed universes with some archie/movie stuff thrwon in and finish off the shredder, something you didn't see much in the OT. And finally there is also the fact that we were kids with the original games came out.

The 2D games are definitely more fun and reminiscent to the older games but they don't feel as fun for the fact that the bosses/rogues gallery can't compare and you feel like you're playing a condensed version of the season instead of an epic story. The levels are also not as imaginative. TMNT 2007 for the GBA is the best of the newer 2D TMNT games though.

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by sdp

Part of the problem is gaming evolved, there is a reason beat-em-ups are non-existent now and any tries of revival fail terribly. That gameplay is considered "boring" and "repetitive" now sadly. Game development was also different in the 00's from the 90s, while there were always cash-in licensed titles you'd at least get some decent efforts every once in a while by some companies however by the time the 00's arrived all licensed titles eventually became a quick cash-in with very few exceptions. Finally I also think the nature of the 2k3 show allowed for less epic games, for the most part it just followed roughly the story of the season it was adapting and didn't stray too far, on the other hand since the OT was so wacky, the videogames had so much room to flesh out the universe and in the games you actually got to go your way through an epic quest of mixed universes with some archie/movie stuff thrwon in and finish off the shredder, something you didn't see much in the OT. And finally there is also the fact that we were kids with the original games came out.

The 2D games are definitely more fun and reminiscent to the older games but they don't feel as fun for the fact that the bosses/rogues gallery can't compare and you feel like you're playing a condensed version of the season instead of an epic story. The levels are also not as imaginative. TMNT 2007 for the GBA is the best of the newer 2D TMNT games though.

Great points. Wacky-ness certainly makes video games better!

Also, sprite-based x/y-axis gameplay > "fully rendered" 360degree hack-n-slash.

[herugrim]

It's true that gaming has evolved, but I don't think I'd say the beat 'em up genre is dead. Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, and even Batman Arkham Asylum seem very much along the same lines to me. Not to mention that the hack 'n slash is basically a beat 'em up with stripped down RPG elements added.

There's plenty of potential to make an awesome turtles game, but it seems to me what's holding developers back is that they'd rather keep the design as close as possible to the old games, but that just doesn't translate well with modern mechanics.

[oldmanwinters]

I just about played all the way through the PS2 version of TMNT3: Mutant Nightmare last night. There are things about that game that really annoy me, but overall I think it's a lot of fun! The idea of having 3 CPU teammates helping you out in every mission (granted its not always done well) really does capture the essence of the franchise.

[herugrim]

Well the 03 GBA game came it. I really liked it at first but found out that you can't play the last stage on easy mode (yeah, it's one of those games). Big thumbs down for that.

The game was generally easy on easy mode (as one might expect) but it is flat out frustrating on normal. Donny's Act 2 is driving me nuts, I don't even know what I'll do when I get to Mikey's last stage. Fighting four super mutants and an army of foot soldiers was a pain on easy, I don't even know how to handle it on normal.

In the end I enjoy the show much more then this game. So it stands that Battle Nexus is the only game based on the 03 series I like. Bummer, dude.

[pannoni1]

I have never even played a game released after Tournament Fighters, and although I may try out soon (the GBA games first), the fact that most didn't have good promo makes most of these forgettable compared to the previous generation. But, how would you "rank" these games (2K3 era) from best to worst? What versions of each game to you find the best?

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by pannoni1

I have never even played a game released after Tournament Fighters, and although I may try out soon (the GBA games first), the fact that most didn't have good promo makes most of these forgettable compared to the previous generation. But, how would you "rank" these games (2K3 era) from best to worst? What versions of each game to you find the best?

I'll go ahead and include the games post Imagi film. These are simply my own personal preferences as to which games I had the most fun with.

Console:
1. TMNT: Smash-Up (Wii)
2. TMNT3: Mutant Nightmare
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
4. TMNT2: Battle Nexus
5. Mutant Melee (PC)
6. TMNT (movie adaptation- Gamecube), haven't finished it yet, but it just tends to bore me to death.

GBA:
1. TMNT (movie adaptation)
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
3. TMNT2: Battle Nexus

I have not played the Nintendo DS TMNT games.

[Powder]

I enjoy the Gameboy advance titles the most, they're almost EXACTLY like the old SNES & Arcade titles.
TMNT for the big consoles was pretty rad also, as were most of the Ps2/gamecube games (but they weren't as good imo).

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by Powder

I enjoy the Gameboy advance titles the most, they're almost EXACTLY like the old SNES & Arcade titles.
TMNT for the big consoles was pretty rad also, as were most of the Ps2/gamecube games (but they weren't as good imo).

But... only TMNT for GBA was a traditional beat-em-up, right? The other two games reminded me a little of the classic NES original... outside of the fact that it didn't feel impossible to beat. Heh...

[voltron80]

Originally Posted by pannoni1

I have never even played a game released after Tournament Fighters, and although I may try out soon (the GBA games first), the fact that most didn't have good promo makes most of these forgettable compared to the previous generation. But, how would you "rank" these games (2K3 era) from best to worst? What versions of each game to you find the best?

The only TMNT game I can say was the worst was TMNT 2007 movie tied in that was on the PSP.
As for the 2k3 related tied in games like the 3 main games yeah they had flaws but they were fun. TMNT 1 felt like I was playing a school TMNT beat em up on the NES or SNES but the recycle in game dialogue got on my nerves i.e. Donnie: I'll be the stick you'll be the ball or whatever he said. TMNT 2:Battle Nexus was fun, I wished it was more like TMNT 1 side scrolling beat em up but switching between turtles and unlocking the original arcade TMNT game is a nice bonus. TMNT3:Mutant Nightmare was alright controls wasn't all that but you got to roll with 3 cpu controlled turtles and the ability to unlock Turtles in time arcade game is also a nice touch. The one thing I did like from all 3 games were the cut scenes.

To TMNT the movie game on the PS2 it was a nice game no co-op but I give Ubi-Soft credit for borrowing elements from P.O.P and those team moves.

[BAXTER STOCKMAN 19]

Originally Posted by herugrim

Well the 03 GBA game came it. I really liked it at first but found out that you can't play the last stage on easy mode (yeah, it's one of those games). Big thumbs down for that.

The game was generally easy on easy mode (as one might expect) but it is flat out frustrating on normal. Donny's Act 2 is driving me nuts, I don't even know what I'll do when I get to Mikey's last stage. Fighting four super mutants and an army of foot soldiers was a pain on easy, I don't even know how to handle it on normal.

In the end I enjoy the show much more then this game. So it stands that Battle Nexus is the only game based on the 03 series I like. Bummer, dude.

BEAT EM UP GENRE is not dead when games lke Street fighter x teken King fighters Devil May cry 5 Asura Wrath are coming. Of course unfortunately these games nowdays are not NEAR as popular as they were years ago but not dead at all. It is the military fps especialy call of duty that took most gamers away from beat em ups.

[Ninjinister]

Originally Posted by BAXTER STOCKMAN 19

BEAT EM UP GENRE is not dead when games lke Street fighter x teken King fighters Devil May cry 5 Asura Wrath are coming. Of course unfortunately these games nowdays are not NEAR as popular as they were years ago but not dead at all. It is the military fps especialy call of duty that took most gamers away from beat em ups.

Street Fighter X Tekken and King of Fighters are fighting games. DMC is a hack-'n'-slash (subgenre of beat-'em-up, so you technically got this one. But the first two are not).

[Redeemer]

I have to say I liked all of the 2k3 games. I think the first game had the best level designs, I think the 2nd game was a little under appreciated, I played it everyday with my friend we had a blast beating it. I bought the third "Mutant Nightmare" but never really played, So one day I decided to play it and it was a blast, I only got so far, bc my brother decided to sell it, but still got all three games!!!!

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by Redeemer

I bought the third "Mutant Nightmare" but never really played, So one day I decided to play it and it was a blast, I only got so far, bc my brother decided to sell it, but still got all three games!!!!

It brings my heart joy when games that have been sitting on my shelf for a while end up providing me with oodles of enjoyment months after purchasing them.

Negative props to your brother for selling it away, though!