Reports are popping up left and right on game journalism sites about a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game coming soon – those reports are true because, as some articles hinted at, there is actually a test location machine out in the wild!
In this case, by sheer coincidence a social media connection I have from the music game scene, “YeehawMcKickass” was out and about yesterday and stumbled across the test machine!
With his permission, I’m sharing a few photos, and what I think are more important notes about the machine. These are what I take away from his much longer, detailed statement. I think it’s rather awesome to get to help break the first pictures of the actual cabinet (and not just the promotional flyer) as well give some commentary (secondhand, of course) on the game itself, and the cabinet design.
Cabinet wise, he feels the machine has good artwork (important to attract players to an arcade game) but that the positioning of the speakers and monitor was a little off. Then again he is a taller person, but I think things still felt cramped for him beyond how they normally would.
A major flaw, as he puts it, is that the spacing for the 4 players is simply not enough – instead of being spread out like they are on classic 4 player arcade games, they are bunched together, meaning an adult player would, due to body size, take up the space that 2 children might occupy playing the game.
Indeed, it sounds like some elements of the cabinet design, ergonomically, might well be intended for children rather than adults. Considering the machine is themed off the current Nickelodeon incarnation and branding, rather than the classic TMNT we grew up with.
The game is a “beat em up” much like the original game many of us remember from the early 90’s. It doesn’t seem as hard as the original, although this is a test version which did allow him to select one of 3 levels – perhaps difficulty will change in the final product? (Note: the 3rd level was not actually accessable. The build of the game was dated this past Thursday, so odds are later updates will provide this last level, among other changes) .The game looks to play much like “Turtles in Time” but enhanced, which makes sense, and also means this game is, well, good. Traditionally “Raw Thrills” is associated with poor quality or otherwise cheap games, but this one looks to have quality to it.
He seemed generally positive to the gameplay, but felt the cabinet needed improvements before release. Having played many of the TMNT beat em ups as a kid, I have vivid memories of them and as such, so I can see the good and bad in this. At its core though, it does seem to follow the spirit of the amazing series of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games we had in the 90’s which is certainly a good thing.
I normally wouldn’t follow news about such a game, but I felt, since I know a person who’s happened to have played it (and it’s a trending subject in gaming) it’s worthwhile to share this, again, with all credit for images and information on the game coming from “YeehawMcKickass.” (On a side note, seriously, you have to love that online alias, right?)
There is actually a ton of information I’ve left out of this article – I’m just sharing my thoughts, however, on what he said, and a few images of the machine. Take it all for what you will. Again, massive thanks to YeehawMcKickass for letting me share some of this with you.
Update: Arcade Heroes now has their article up on this. Yes, we both have the same source. Their article goes into more detail on the machine, with quotes from Shane / YeehawMcKickass. I left my article intentionally scarce so that they could cover it better.
http://arcadeheroes.com/2017/10/23/test-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/