Random Retro – Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection, Turrican Anthology Vol. 2, Avenging Spirit
There are a few new retro collections and some strange releases of their own kind that make you ask yourself: why? But first the big chunks and there are two really chic new additions:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection Review
Switch, PC, PlayStation, Xbox – around 40 euros
Konami simply has the best retro collections. I’ve ranted for years about their inability to at least reasonably emulate their classics, but finally they said, “Shut up my sake” and went for it. After Castlevania, Contra and Nemesis, there is now the Turtles collection. Virtually all 8 and 16 bit versions are gathered here and as before the package is gorgeous. Starting from the iconic song intro to the nicely done menu screen down to the depths of the endless promotional flyers, all manuals and much more, this is a dream before a game starts. Still, Konami is releasing all the material as a book. Just take what you already have, sort it out, print it. i would buy it
The games themselves range from legend down to the dregs of their era. Turtles IV: Turtles in Time, together with the arcade machine, is one of the best things that can happen to you in terms of side-scrolling constant brawlers. Well, the new Turtles is even better, but the two classics here aren’t that much worse. You can play it with four people, as with all games here you can rewind 60 seconds, place filters over the pixel image and save and load at any time. If you know everything, has proven itself, is there. Awesome, forget the rest of this for now and come back when you’ve finished these two.
If that’s the case, then move on to the Mega Drive version Hyperstone Heist. Not quite as good, but not much worse either. Little classic. Then we come to the NES stuff. The first Turtles falls into the famous and infamous category. It’s even playable and quite entertaining with rewind and save, but anyone who struggled without such features then – or now – probably loves pain. Part two was a solid implementation of the arcade machine as best it could be and part three was similar and ok except for the questionable name – Turtles: Manhattan Project? Are the turtles building the bomb? shredders? No, they don’t, just taking the name of the project whose finale wiped out two cities just a few decades earlier.
My own highlight are the three Gameboy parts. They aren’t good and nobody has to play them anymore, but the nostalgia factor is through the roof and the GB emulation and the look are done by Konami. As if that weren’t enough, you can switch back to the Japan versions at the touch of a button. Another great pack that covers this era of turtles perfectly. Thank you Konami!
Pro Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowbunga Collection:
- All 8 and 16 bit Turtles games
- Some real classics, especially in co-op
- Good emulation with the usual features.
- Fantastic extras section with lots of material
Cons:
Turrican Anthology Vol. 2 review
Switch, PlayStation – about 30 euros
The second collection is a second collection, namely Turrican Anthology Vol. 2. After Volume 1 got everything right except for Turrican 3 and included a few scattered console spin-offs, it was safe to assume that the second round would get everything right, and with Turrican 3 and a few scattered console offshoots. Is also like that. If you know the games, if you already have part 1 and need more of them, simply buy and continue playing.
On the other hand, if you have to decide whether collection 1 or 2 makes more sense: difficult. Personally, I’d say Turrican 2 trumps them all, but Mega Turrican – then Turrican 3 on the Amiga – is pretty good. It didn’t have much to add to the series either, other than the use of the grapple a bit more and the level design being a bit more streamlined, but other than that it’s just Turrican. A great run’n’gunner with subtly nested level structure that was rock hard without the rewind feature. Now with this feature you can enjoy it on the couch in the evenings without having to practice for hours. That’s also what makes these reissues so good. Accessibility, which those old games didn’t need or have back then, but is essential for survival today. Simply because I’m not going to get lost in an old game for days.
Super Turrican 2 also enjoys this feature and most importantly delivers the Turrican that the SNES deserved. Bigger, prettier, and just plain better crafted, it’s a forgotten bonus round because when the game released in late 1995, the Super Nintendo was on its last legs – the PlayStation 1 is about to be released. Well, here you are catching up on the classic that couldn’t be, and you get a Super Turrican 1 boss rush as a bonus. The Director’s Cut for Mega Turrican then wraps it up and everything is great? Well, not quite. For weird people like me, the Gameboy, PC Engine and Spectrum versions are still missing. Because just like that.
On the other hand, they weren’t quite as generous and thorough as Konami, but they were close. All manuals have been scanned, each game has its own jukebox, and a few little extras here and there. For 30-35 euros, that’s a decent deal. Do you need both Turrican Anthologies? In my opinion yes, definitely. But realistically, if I were you, I’d just start with the first one and see if there’s more interest in Turrican.
Pro Turrican Anthology Vol. 2:
- Turrican 3 / Mega Turrican is excellent
- Super Turrican 2 is almost a little bit better
- Well emulated and rewind is still a killer feature
- Jukeboxes with legendary music
Cons:
- Gameboy version missing
- Should have just been a collection with all the games
Avenging Spirit Test
Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, PC – around 6 euros
Here’s something unusual. Turtles? Well known, mega toy franchise, always works. turrican? Already a name in retro culture and you may have heard it as such. Maybe. Avenging Spirit on the other hand? You have to be deep into the arcade culture of the early 90’s to recognize this Jaleco machine. I happened to have the Gameboy module, which was the only implementation available at the time. But this wasn’t a hidden classic in the big Gameboy world. Just a small, cute game that was forgotten a few weeks later.
So why is this forgotten game allowed to make a comeback? My theory is that the license and rom were almost free, emulation isn’t difficult and the game isn’t crap. At least from a 1990s perspective. As a little ghost, it goes into a sometimes nested hopping world with several levels. You take over an opponent and now play as him. If you die, you have a short time to take on another opponent on this screen. If there is not enough time, then bad luck. Continue and on. As a home arcade adaptation, you have as many of them as you like to get the good or the bad ending.
It’s a concept of its own and the different characteristics of the opponents give the whole thing a small tactical component. It’s definitely good enough to make you wonder why it didn’t come out on one of the 16-bit consoles back then. Well, here it is nicely emulated, allowed to keep its two-player mode, got a fair solo mode added, and save, load, and rewind are allowed. The Japanese version, which varies slightly in terms of appearance, is also included, but otherwise no extras. A nice little forgotten game. As there are many from that era. Many of which would have been far better. And many far worse. Avenging Spirit, you can do it, you don’t have to.
Here’s an extra curiosity: There’s also a new physical Gameboy version with a glow-in-the-dark module. Because… I don’t know. It’s just 2022 and that sounds like something that would happen in 2022 too.
Per Avenging Spirit:
- Nice game concept with more tactics than usual in the genre
- Solid emulation with a few stutters (switch)
- co-op mode
- Multiple endings
Cons:
- Brief pleasure thanks to infinite Continues
- Technically not a masterpiece, even for the time
- No extras
Reference-www.eurogamer.de