I’ve been holding off on this report card because I kept thinking, “Just gotta get one more person to play it with me!” Well, I’m here to say I did get someone new to play it with me, and in the most unexpected way imaginable! I work a part-time job as an English tutor in a town about 20 miles away. I spend essentially all day in this little college town every Wednesday, but I usually have 4 hours of free time to burn between my regular tutoring hours. Yesterday I went out on a limb and took my NES and games to work with me. I hooked it up on a public TV screen, invited a few strangers to play, and had a blast beating up baddies in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II. So I fulfilled that self-given assignment, which can only help my final grade.
Overview
- Levels Completed: 5 (out of, what…8?)
- Lifelines Used: 0
General Accomplishments
As many beat ’em ups probably are, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II is fairly repetitive and button-mashy. So what on earth am I supposed to list under “general accomplishments”?! Getting my brother to play was an accomplishment. Getting strangers to play was likewise quite an accomplishment. Playing for a solid hour by myself was an accomplishment in my eyes. One thing I learned for certain: this game is best played with a friend (I may have just plagiarized myself with that line).
Impressions on the Game
It’s like I already mentioned: this game sucks to play alone but is pretty dang awesome with friends. I’ve learned a lot during this quest, and one of the things this game taught me is that two face buttons and a d-pad have more potential than you may believe at first. The stages in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II are generally side-scrolling, but you have several layers up and down to work with too. That combined with a healthy variety of enemy types is anything but a bad thing. The game also conveys a fun atmosphere through its colorful graphics, surprisingly expressive sprites, and upbeat soundtrack. I still can’t quite pin down why, but overall, it just works better as a social game.
Grade
I’m sure I could have rustled up a few more victims to play this game with, but hey, I didn’t use any lifelines, right? My final grade is:
B+
