TMNT: Hyperstone Heist by Konami Words by
Sega Genesis—August 1992
Carl Williams
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was one of those licenses that
had a huge following. On the NES, TMNT games were popular,
spawning four titles- one action, two scrolling brawlers and one
fighting game like Street Fighter II.
Sega Genesis got The Hyperstone Heist while the Super
Nintendo got Turtles in Time. Similar games in execution but
different enough to warrant those lucky enough to own both
platforms to own both games. That is not the point of this
feature though, one shall win and one shall fall to the side as
the winner continues on.
Both games are based on the second TMNT arcade game,
Turtles in Time, but each took liberties on their respective
system. Changes were made to the home versions that differed
on each platform and in effect, changed them from the arcade
game. Levels were added and in the case of Turtles in Time,
new bosses were added.
The Genesis version loses some luster with lack of flinging
enemies into the screen and that sound chip. Those quirks are
made up for by having more parallax scrolling, harder and
longer levels and cleaner animation than the Super Nintendo
version. SNES got a completely new level, Technodrome,
along with cut scenes to progress the story. All missing from
the Genesis version.
The enemy artificial intelligence (A.I.) is obviously more
aggressive in the Sega Genesis version. Enemies definitely
take
advantage of their superiority in numbers which can be