There are only two action buttons, A and B, on the old-school NES so it converts well to being played via an emulator on a phone. Using a Bluetooth controller is great, but it's too bulky to carry around so I find myself going back to the 8-bit Nintendo days more often than the Super Nintendo or N64 when I need some no-internet fun. I don't know why I've never bothered with emulating the Sega Genesis even though I had great memories with that system and its weird physical add-ons like the Sega CD. I'll have to try that next as it has only three buttons and a few exclusive titles worth playing again like Sonic The Hedgehog.
There was a game for the NES a year before this, but it is unplayable today. It was awesome in 1989 because we would have loved any crap game that came out as long as it let us play as our favorite turtles. I remember this superior sequel as an arcade before it was ported to NES. When did the whole arcade scene die?
The whole point of an arcade was to get a unique experience that couldn't be found at home or in your pocket, but sometime in the 2000s we had better options and the arcade games became a joke. It was doing fine during the 90s, but I remember having a PSP in my pocket with way better graphics than any of the arcade games available so why would I waste my money?
I like Harry Potter, but I was already an adult when the books, movies, and games came out so it wasn't the magical experience it would have been for a kid to grow up with. I'm quite jealous because the Harry Potter story grew and matured with its audience while the turtles started off as bad-ass well-drawn comics then devolved into more and more kiddy bullshit just to please the corporate greed of appealing to younger children. I remember the older kids hating Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi because it was clear the Ewoks were put in the movie to sell cute teddy bears, but years later when I would show the Star Wars films to my kids or friends who've never seen it, they loved the Ewoks. Corporate greed ruins everything and the turtles were the first time I remember it happening to something I loved. Seriously though, if you haven't read the old-school turtle comics before they became cartoonish with blue, red, orange, and purple bandanas, I promise you're in for a treat. It was dark and interesting when they all had matching red bandanas.
What were you doing in 1990? What? You weren't alive yet? What were your parents doing? In 1990, Star Wars was way in the past. Most of the girls liked Barbie, but many boys' dream was to get covered in radioactive ooze and be mutated into a cool half-turtle half-human ninja trained by a rat in the sewers of NYC. I'm surprised no dumb kids died trying to go down into the sewer system.
Who's your favorite turtle? Leonardo with his cool head, natural leadership, and dual katana blades? Maybe you are like me and prefer Michelangelo and his sense of humor and nunchaku abilities. I chose Donatello because I remember he had the longest reach in the previous game, but it didn't seem to matter in this sequel. I imagine a lot of angry loners would have liked Raphael and his dual sais and anger management issues.
Thanks for reading about another NES blast from the past with me today. Now, excuse me, I have to get back to kicking some Foot Clan ass before they chop my head off and make me into turtle soup for their boss.
