Tag Archives: tmnt

Saturday Morning Cartoon NES Games

Due to the recent announcement of a remastered version of the classic Duck Tales NES Game, I thought we should take a look at some of the NES games that came out based on Saturday morning (or every morning) cartoons of the 80’s and 90’s. There are some quality games here, packed with nostalgia in more ways than one, and some surprisingly great music too. Check out some of Blind’s Remixes along the way and a final verdict of if you should bother with these games or not.

Duck Tales

Capcom 1989

Verdict: Worth playing, numerous times. Definitely on the top of the heap.

Here I am in Woodman's Stage..I mean, the Amazon...
Here I am in Woodman’s Stage..I mean, the Amazon…

DuckTales was one of the many games that Capcom put out in the 90’s that used Megaman II’s game engine. It was a genius move, since Megaman’s engine is a true masterpiece of 8-bit technology. DuckTales definitely feels like a Megaman game right away. However, there are a lot of nice changes in dynamics and controls to keep things interesting. The cane pogo-stick/golf swing move keeps things exciting and unique. The quality level of everything from music to level design is extremely high. I love how there are tons of mysteries and secrets hidden throughout the levels. It gives you a great replay value. The Moon level song is probably one of the most soothing songs ever written on the NES. However, it is totally inappropriate for the level, it’s just too calm!

This game definitely deserves to be remastered. It set the bar pretty high for the competition. As you’ll notice, some cartoon-based NES games didn’t even make my list.

 

 

 

Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers

Chip N Dale enter a strange world were nothing is proportioned as it should be...
Chip N Dale enter a strange world were nothing is proportioned as it should be…

Capcom 1990

Verdict: Worth Playing At Least Once or With a Freind

 

Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers was one of my favorite cartoons as a kid. This game pretty much plays like any standard platformer from the time. You can pick up crates, throw them, stack them, but other than that, it’s your basic game play. There are some creative ideas like shutting off water faucets in order to reach different parts of the stage. The music is pretty good but not all that memorable. Still, it’s good for a trip down memory lane.

The 2 Player mode is also pretty cool. I don’t recall many games on the NES that had simultaneous play like this. It was much more common in the SNES days. This is the saving point for a game that’s pretty standard in other respects.

 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Konami 1989

Verdict: Play it if you’re a sucker for punishment.

Real sewers are never this cool...
Real sewers are never this cool…

TMNT was arguably one of the biggest franchises in the 80’s and 90’s. There are tons of totally awesome TMNT video games out now for NES, Genesis, Arcade, SNES but this was the first. Was it great? Well, it was pretty cool at the time and the music was pretty rocking. However, this game was HARD. Not like, “challenge accepted” hard, but like, “this is not fair” hard. With no save point and the dreaded underwater level, many gamers just gave up. The Killer Seaweed tune from the underwater level is quite memorable.

 

 

Bucky Ohare

Konami 1992

Verdict: Play it or at least download the soundtrack!

His slogan: "Let's toast some toads!" (face palm)...
His slogan: “Let’s toast some toads!” (face palm)…

I always had a soft spot for Bucky O’Hare. Sure, it was sort of like Ninja Turtles ripoff in space, but there was something unique about it too. I remember having all the action figures. They were huge, detailed and colorful and just awesome. The game too is colorful, innovative and pretty fun. The music is my FAVORITE of all these cartoon based games. The only weak spot in this game is sometimes the quality level drops in certain levels. While most of the game is top notch backgrounds, innovative levels and awesome bosses, you’ll sometimes find yourself on a screen with about six unique tiles. I mean, come on, you couldn’t even make corners on the platforms? Check out the original theme song too, its like Joe Esposito (Karate Kid song) rapping. Just wow.

 

 

BeatScribeFaceBeatscribe is a full time indie composer, musician and writer. By day he creates soundtracks for various mobile gaming companies, by night creates megaman-inspired chiptunes, in the afternoons he drinks tea.  Check out his latest releases, tutorials and retro ruminations at www.beatscribe.com.

bLiNd – NESteryears

NESterYears-Black-Cover-GCMAGfest may be over, but GameChops is just heating up! This new release is a huge milestone, Overclocked Remixer bLiNd has created TEN remixes based on games from the Nintendo Entertainment System; Final Fantasy, Mario Bros, Castlevania and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to name a few! It’s called NESteryears and you can download it right now!

I’ve been listening to bLiNd’s music for nearly a decade, it is a great honor to have worked with him to release this album. Some of you may remember my bLiNd Trance mix from back in 2010, which showcased my appreciate for bLiNd’s music.

NESteryears is a licensed remix album thanks to a collborative effort between GameChops and Joypad Records.

A_Rival: TMNT 2012 (EP)

ChipHop godfather A_Rival brings us three tracks EP that take the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to whole new places.

Also known as PlanetSkill, A_Rival is an electro producer from California, who has been producing music and video game remixes since 2001. His new EP is a labor of love, a tribute to the four most radical amphibians in history. A_Rival, a huge turtle fan himself, tells us “every single incarnation I love. even the really bad shit. I feel like the tv show theme song is one of the best themes ever created And the Konami Arcade game is my favorite adaption.”

And the theme holds it’s own in remix form as well. With strong arrangement and a hard-hitting production, TMNT is a force to be reckoned with. Taking the memorable theme and infusing it with a healthy dose of drum & basss, A_Rival has levelup’d the classic TMNT theme in a way that’s all his own.

The EP continues to I Wanna Be a Ninja Turtle, a nerdcore tribute to the TMNT. A story of a kid who wants to grow up to be a crime fighting turtle, the source material is taken from the Nintendo game. Check it out below, it’s bad ass:

TMNT 2012 is available from A_Rival’s Bandcamp as the ever-awesome “Pay What You Want.” You can also follow A_Rival on Twitter and Facebook.