Gaming loot

[Trickman]

Sorry it took a while, but the final thing I got from MGC this year was an arcade board. The game? Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles. Yes, I wrote HERO Turtles. Why not Teenage Mutant NINJA Turtles? Well, in Europe, TMNT is known as TMHT. According to Wikipedia, censorship due to policies deemed the word ninja to have excessively violent connotations for a children's program. So, because of that censorship, the UK carries the different name for the programming, games, merchandise, etc. and Michaelangelo's scenes (the turtle that carries nunchakus) in the cartoon are edited.

So, what's different about the US arcade game vs. the UK version? The title screen name. That's it. Everything else is exactly the same. The only other difference is that UK released a 2-player version of the arcade game, and that chipset on the board is exactly what I wanted, as I don't have a 4-player machine. I did also get the alternate UK chips that can turn the board into the 4-player version if I ever want to go that route. Pics are below. (sorry, some are blurry)

[Fatnick]

Why not Teenage Mutant NINJA Turtles? Well, in Europe, TMNT is known as TMHT. According to Wikipedia, censorship due to policies deemed the word ninja to have excessively violent connotations for a children's program.

That's certainly true. Shows you how times change - video games weren't really on the radar back then, so at the same time the TV networks were fretting about the WORD Ninja, no one seemed to have a problem with the local corner shop and swimming pool have Pit Fighter and N.A.R.C as their solitary gaming machines. Funny old world.

Also, this machine IS my childhood, so I'm insanely jealous. The Spectrum port just wasn't the same somehow...

[Trickman]

Seriously... Watching a video of the ZX Spectrum ver. gave me hope when I saw the title screen and player selection screen. Then the game play started. What the... Why did everything suddenly turn into Game Boy mode? 2 colors? That's pretty sad. Music in the intro was pretty good too. Then you get into the game and it sound like water dripping? Major ball drop IMO.

That's certainly true. Shows you how times change - video games weren't really on the radar back then, so at the same time the TV networks were fretting about the WORD Ninja, no one seemed to have a problem with the local corner shop and swimming pool have Pit Fighter and N.A.R.C as their solitary gaming machines. Funny old world.

Also, this machine IS my childhood, so I'm insanely jealous. The Spectrum port just wasn't the same somehow...

[Fatnick]

Why did everything suddenly turn into Game Boy mode? 2 colors? That's pretty sad.

The spectrum had problems with clashing colours bleeding into each other, so the arcade port wasn't out of the ordinary in that regard - monochrome was often used as a compromise in games that had fast-paced action and small, detailed sprites. On the 8-bit computers, the C64 generally offered colourful sprites that looked a bit like they'd been drawn in cat sick, while the Speccy generally featured goregous, well-defined sprites drawn in drab, life-less monochrome. No idea why there was no music though.

How rare was the 2p version of the arcade, BTW? This was VERY popular round my way whan i was younger (this and the Simpsons) and i definitely dont recall seeing a 2p version anywhere!

I'm still grabbing super-cheap Master System games, and my newest addition is F-16 Fighter, an remarkably ugly Flight Sim that got around the lack of controls on 8-bit game pads by forcing you to use both at once!

[Trickman]

The spectrum had problems with clashing colours bleeding into each other, so the arcade port wasn't out of the ordinary in that regard - monochrome was often used as a compromise in games that had fast-paced action and small, detailed sprites. On the 8-bit computers, the C64 generally offered colourful sprites that looked a bit like they'd been drawn in cat sick, while the Speccy generally featured goregous, well-defined sprites drawn in drab, life-less monochrome. No idea why there was no music though.

How rare was the 2p version of the arcade, BTW? This was VERY popular round my way whan i was younger (this and the Simpsons) and i definitely dont recall seeing a 2p version anywhere!

I'm still grabbing super-cheap Master System games, and my newest addition is F-16 Fighter, an remarkably ugly Flight Sim that got around the lack of controls on 8-bit game pads by forcing you to use both at once!

I'm sure the 2P version existed in the U.S. but I never saw one "in the wild." I only saw the 4P games in arcades, maybe bowling alleys and rarely anywhere else, b/c the machine was pretty big. So this 2P version is essentially the first one I've seen, and I'm happy to have it.

I'll have to see if I can get into collecting more Master System games. Prices are all over the place, but that's not a bad thing. I also have a Master System convertor that sits atop my Genesis (Mega Drive), so I can play the Master System games in "beautiful" composite vs. ugly RF Modulator.

My most sought after title for Master System = R-Type. It's a great version, esp. for 8-bit.