6/14/2007: Game Boy: Breath of Fire, Breath of Fire II, TMNT

[VideoGameCritic]

I'm in the process of unloading a backlog of reviews.
EVERYTHING MUST GO! 
Feel free to chime in on these.

[Adamant1]

It's really a shame Capcom didn't bother retranslating the BoF games, the old SNES translation has to be one of the worst RPG translations of all time.
Other than that, uh, pretty new images, yay.

Never played Turtles.

[feilong801]

I'm very dissapointed that the GBA Turtles game didn't do better. The IGN guy slobbered all over it. Yet, I trust the Critic more, so I think I'll hold off.

Nice to see some tasty old school RPG action on the GBA, though.

-Rob

[Koopa W,]

Rob, trust me. I own TMNT, and it is one of my favorite games in my 75+ collection of Game Boy (Original, Color, and Advance) games. Dave WAY missed the boat on this one.

P.S. I reccomend the film, too.

[a1]

After reading the IGN review of TMNT I thought of buying it, but I opted not to since I thought he was probably being a little too generous. Critic, you basically told me exactly what I thought the game probably deserved (without having played it); if you had given it a good review I'd be buying it. Thanks for saving my cash.

[Michael D]

Don't you think that your line of "as usual however, Ubi Soft gets the graphics right but screws up the gameplay" is kind of an unfair generalization of the quality of Ubi Soft's titles? 

Yes, they screwed up the gameplay of good looking titles, like XIII and Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, but they also made the Rayman games, Splinter Cell and probably a bunch of other Ubi Soft games with good graphics and gameplay (including some you've even liked).

[VideoGameCritic]

[QUOTE=Michael D]Don't you think that your line of "as usual however, Ubi Soft gets the graphics right but screws up the gameplay" is kind of an unfair generalization of the quality of Ubi Soft's titles? 

Yes, they screwed up the gameplay of good looking titles, like XIII and Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, but they also made the Rayman games, Splinter Cell and probably a bunch of other Ubi Soft games with good graphics and gameplay (including some you've even liked).
[/QUOTE]

I agree, and changed the wording.

[JasonhasRSI1]

Going to have to chime in and agree with those who feel TMNT was underrated in this case. For fans of the previous
Turtles beat 'em ups, this game is an excellent and logical extension. The graphics are livelier, with highly
detailed sprites and terrific combat animations. The music manages to be just as catchy and memorable as
the previous entries. But most notably, the combat is deeper and much more free-flowing and skill-based while
managing to retain the intuitive two-button control scheme of the earlier games. This isn't the blind button masher it might appear to be on first blush. Deliberate, skillful play is rewarded in this game. You might encounter an enemy with
a large blunt weapon who breaks your combo with a block, forcing you to foot-sweep him to the ground, pick up
his carcass and heave it into the next batch of thugs. When surrounded by enemies, you might leap into the air - not
for the standard jump kick but maybe to repeatedly hit the "jump" button, making your turtle knee-stomp off the heads
of several enemies, bouncing from one to another without ever touching the ground, racking up big numbers on the combo meter. Your turtle can tuck into his shell and roll away from enemies with a double-tap of the directional pad, adding a much-needed evasive manuever. Parking
meters can be smashed (an homage to the previous games) but also picked up and used as weapons, shurikens can be batted away with
a well-timed attack and also picked up and hurled back at enemies. It all makes for an extremely entertaining beat em up - true,
enemies will come in thick waves, but the combat is so much fun, I don't think fans of the genre will mind one bit.

All of this is bolstered by an interesting RPG-style experience point system, a shop to buy helpful items and abilities, fun mini-games,
and an Xbox 360-style achievement system - GREATLY increasing the longevity of what is, front to back, a fairly short game. Make no mistake,
beat em up fans, this IS the best game of its kind of the GBA (eclipsing FFone) and is easily the best Turtles game to come out in over a decade.

[a1]

Hmm, Jason, after reading the critic's review I was dead set on not buying the game, but you've changed my mind. If I find it used I'll pick it up. I always thought the critic was a bit off on the old turtles games (Turtles in Time is a definite A in my book), so I hope I agree here.

[JasonhasRSI1]

I have the same "Turtle Bias" (my copy of TMNT IV is well worn), so I think you'll enjoy this game.