TMNT Turtles in Time Re-Shelled

When I heard they we're remaking my favorite video game of all time I got very excited. Then it being in HD blew my mind. I was like, "Wow, the game is almost 20 years old and they're taking the time to redo it." The day finally came yesterday when TMNT Turtles in Time Re-Shelled hit Xbox Live Arcade. I downloaded it and played it right away with my wife, Dee. We breezed through it, and after it all sank in, I was impressed. I wasn't sure what to expect but for what it was I think it was well done.

That got me thinking about what others thought of the game, so I checked on Twitter and other gaming sites. What I saw, the responce it got, kinda surprised me was . First off, I'm not authority on the matter and everyone, of course, has a right to there opinion. Some of the things listed that people didn't seem to be thrilled with were the price, the music, and that the original arcade version was not included, which had me asking myself, "What did they expect?" I mean, first thing out of the gate, this is based on the arcade version not the SNES version, and it's called "Re-Shelled" meaning changed. The music is a bit different which leads to my biggest gripe the lack of the old TMNT theme song in the opening, but at the same time it's so much later I'm just glad they did something with the game. The price sounded like an issue to some, but if you think about it they droped the price from 1200 point to 800 anyway. What do you want? A new HD arcade game for 500 points? I know the game is a bit short but odds are if your buying the game you remember it. The last thing was not having the orginal arcade version as well, I mean that would have been cool but your buying this for the "re-shelled".

Well I guess I just needed to rant abit. I for one enjoy and thank the devolopment of this game. It will never take the place of my SNES copy, but you know what, it doesnt have to. It's a revison of the original. If you want to play the old one its still there. So my closing thought... guess they should have just ported the arcade version. Anyway I'm glad they didnt.

First Impressions of New Avengers: The Reunion #1, no spoliers!

I just read New Avengers: The Reunion #1. This part 1 of 4 mini series is post Secret Invasion, and stars Clint Barton aka: Ronin (aka: Hawkeye), with his thought dead wife Bobbi Morse aka: Mocking Bird. The two were reunited after the Skrull Invasion; Mocking Bird thought dead but was abducted and replaced years ago. I’m really not going into too much detail so not to spoil the story, but I’m so far impressed with the story. I’ve always liked the Clint Barton character, and wanted as of late to go back and read about his past. So for me this was a good read, bringing the past in the present Dark Reign timeline. That’s really all I wanted to say I guess, but I’m looking forward to issue #2 coming out next week. Maybe in the future I’ll review the mini-series as a whole, but until then if you like the characters check it out!

Some random Game Boy thoughts...

After my post about Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, I started thinking about some of the merchandise I didn’t have. Mostly the videogames, I have the NES game. I also knew there was one for the game boy and the Atari lynx. Seeing as I don’t have a lynx (yet LOL), I found the game boy version cheap on eBay. Playing the game a bit, it’s really not that bad. It reminds me of a classic arcade title, where the levels take place on a screen, and your objective is to collect the flashing orbs to complete each stage, while trying to avoid enemies and finish with in the time limit. This got me thinking again. This game is kind of fun, but it being “Bill & Ted” was pretty irrelevant. I know there are a lot of games like this, so I started thinking of more that I have played / own. The big one that came to mind was also on the game boy, “The Real Ghostbusters”.

Developed by Kemco, and published by Activision this game was released in 1993. It was a plat forming, puzzle solving game where you played as Peter Venkman trapped in a castle, and you must collect stars to open the door to the next level. Your proton pack is only used to blast bocks on the floor, and you use bombs to destroy the enemies. That’s all well and good. A fun game, but other then the theme song looped in game, the enemies resembling ghosts from the cartoon, and your sprite being Venkman, it wasn’t much like Ghostbusters. So I checked a bit online, and this is what I found. The company that made this game also released two other games which looked identical in the screen shots I found. Except, instead of Venkeman running around, there was Garfield in one version, and Mickey Mouse in the other. These games were called “Mickey Mouse IV: Mahou no Labyrinth” and “Garfield Labyrinth”. The Mickey one came first and was reprogrammed twice first as Garfield then as Ghostbusters. So there you go this game really could have been anything, and it really was.

We Beat Secret of Mana!

Dee and I just beat Secret of Mana last Thursday night. It was my first time playing through the game and I loved it. I’m not going too much into the background on the game it self if you’d like to know more check out Dee’s Blog, or wikipedia. I’ll just talk a bit about impressions and experiences.

First off it’s Super Nintendo at its greatest. The beautiful score and vibrant colors warp you into this fantasy world. (Or at least it did me. LOL) It has great characters including the main three the Boy (Mana Knight), Girl (Defensive magic casting), and a Sprite (Offensive magic casting). The game gives you the option to name these three, and I’ve seen different names associated with each one. We choose to call them Seth (Boy), Fawn (Girl) and Marty (Sprite. This was my tribute to Marty McFly from Back to the Future). Not to mention this being a two player RPG, with a real time battle system. (Battle system I’ve heard compared to Classic Zelda games) There doesn’t seem to be as many of this kind of title co-op experience any more. We had such a blast playing through this game. With few scary moments, the game froze once and we played for almost two hours between saving which was scary as hell. (LOL) Other then that there were a few minor things like questionable hit-detection, clipping inside of walls, and horrible computer A.I at times, but that made the experience more fun. We had so much fun with Secret of Mana; we’re now playing through Legend of Mana on the PS1. At about seven hours into it I’m really enjoying myself. A lot of stories and characters in this game, but I’ll save my experiences until we beat it.

My thoughts on G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra

When I first heard a G.I. Joe movie in production I was pretty excited. (Unlike when I first heard of 2007’s Transformers movie, but that’s another subject.) I’ll start off by saying this I liked G.I. Joe as a kid, but enjoy it more now. In my mind G.I. Joe was the next step after the success of Transformers, and a live action version should work pretty well. This concept is one I feel could work in any time, a special task force going up against an evil terrorist group. In ways very realistic but it’s still G.I Joe, though isn’t that why it works?

As information on the movie was becoming available my interest was fluctuating. On the upside it was being directed by Stephen Sommers, from the “Mummy” movies which I enjoyed. Along with the casting, the movie seemed pretty good, with Dennis Quaid (General Hawk), Ray Park (Snake Eyes), and others I may not have known but at least looked the part. Except at first when I heard about casting for Cobra Commander (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who was on “3rd Rock from the Sun”), but who am I to judge I haven’t seen the movie yet. (This is from someone who was skeptical about Heath Ledger as the Joker, and boy was I wrong! LOL) those we’re my first impressions.

It slipped my mind until the trailer was shown during the super bowl. After watching the trailer I was blown away, and become excited again. I noticed some more things as well, like Christopher Eccleston cast as Destro, (Which I may not have noticed but I became a Doctor Who fan recently) and Arnold Vosloo as Zartan (Imhotep from the Mummy). So in closing I can’t wait to see the movie. Do I think it’ll be the best movie ever? Not really but I do believe it will entertain and do the property well. For more information check out IMDB here as well as the official site.

Classic Gaming with my Dee

Lately Dee and I have been playing a lot of Super Nintendo. We always have a SNES hooked up to the TV along with our PS2, Wii and 360. (No room for all the systems. LOL) Once in a while we’ll go on sprees of playing older games, and on eBay looking for all the games we wanted from our childhood. (This can get kind of expensive. LOL) On Valentines Day I got her Disney’s Magical Quest: Starring Mickey Mouse, and we’ve been on the SNES more then any other system. Lately we’ve been playing that, along with Secret of Mana, and (Thanks to Tom) Kirby’s Dream Course. Getting back into going to flea markets I’ve been picking up what I can as well. So It’s not just a hobby it also harkens back to our childhood.

This is for my life partner, soul mate, for my wife Dyana!

To my wife Dyana, I thank you so much for always being there for me. Your so very much more to me then any words or I could ever truly express. I thank everything day and night for having you in my life. I love you with all my heart and soul. You have me forever and always. I'm always in your heart and with you.

Love Mine!

Timmy-ness