Software:Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist
North American cover artwork
Developer(s)Konami
Publisher(s)Konami
Composer(s)Masahiro Ikariko
Yuichi Takamine
Kaori Kinouchi
Hideto Inoue
SeriesTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Platform(s)Sega Genesis
Release
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist, released in Europe as Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist and in Japan as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Return of the Shredder, is a 1992 side-scrolling beat 'em up game developed and published by Konami for the Sega Genesis, based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book characters. It was Konami's debut title for the Genesis.[1] The game was re-released as part of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 2022.[2]

Plot

April O'Neil is reporting from Liberty Island when, in a sudden flash of light, she and her audience witness Manhattan Island suddenly starting to shrink. Shredder then hijacks the airwaves and announces to the world that this was only a demonstration of the power of the Hyperstone, the treasure of Dimension X. With the Hyperstone in his possession, he now has the power to take over the world. The Turtles have no choice but to go after Shredder and stop him.

Gameplay

The gameplay of The Hyperstone Heist is heavily based on the second TMNT arcade game, Turtles in Time, which was ported to the Super NES during the same year. The controls are similar to Turtles in Time, but the ability to dash is now assigned to a specific button and the player can no longer throw enemies towards the screen.

The game shares nearly the same soundtrack and sound effects as Turtles in Time, but the music plays faster in The Hyperstone Heist.[3] Though there are less than half as many levels as Turtles in Time, each level is longer. Furthermore, The Hyperstone Heist has a more aggressive enemy AI and faster-moving gameplay.[3]

There are a total of five levels ("New York City", "A Mysterious Ghost Ship", "Shredder's Hideout", "The Gauntlet", and "The Final Shell Shock"), which comprise a combination of new levels created specifically for this game and ones based on levels from the first arcade game and Turtles in Time. The bosses include Leatherhead, Rocksteady, Tatsu, Baxter Stockman, Krang, and Super Shredder.

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
EGM31/40[4]
GamePro19/20[1]
Mega Action78%[5]
Mega GuidePositive[6]
MegaTech87%[7]
Power Unlimited90%[8]

The game received positive reviews upon release. In GameFan magazine, Dave Halverson (Skid) said "Konami brings the arcade thrill home" with "a beat 'em up blast-a-minute" that has "some of the best character animation you'll ever see" while Brody said it has some of the "most hilarious 2 player beat 'em up action ever" seen.[9] N. Somniac of GamePro magazine called it "a 16-bit graphic and game playing work of art" and said it "brings excellent arcade-quality graphics, sound, game play to your home unit."[1]

The most common criticisms of The Hyperstone Heist focused on its difficulty, length, and repetitiveness. MegaTech magazine gave an overall 87% score, praising the graphics and sound but commenting that the gameplay wasn't hard work and experienced players would be able to beat the game easily.[7] Four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game positive ratings, praising the graphics and the animation, although there was criticism for the game being too easy and not having enough levels.[4] Mega Action criticized the game for being too easy and gave praise to its graphics, calling it "fairly impressive." They also commented that The Hyperstone Heist had a lot of potential but used it very sparingly, stating that "Hyperstone Heist isn’t a terrible game, but the Turtles do deserve better." They concluded with a 78% review score.[5] Kirk Rutter of Mega Guide praised the game's action, graphics, and the two-player mode, but felt that The Hyperstone Heist was similar to Turtles in Time. Conceding that the action was fun at first, he criticized it for becoming repetitive and the difficulty for being too easy, concluding: "The lack of real challenge knocks a big dent in its lastability. But it’s still a laugh."[10] Power Unlimited gave a score of 90% and recommended the game to those who are fans of TMHT, but criticized the repetitive gameplay.[8]

ScrewAttack named The Hyperstone Heist the 19th best Genesis game ever in their top 20 list,[11] though they considered it a clone of Turtles in Time, which they considered to be the best beat 'em up ever. Complex ranked the game number 68 in their "The Best 100 Sega Genesis Games".[12]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Somniac, N. (January 1993). "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist". GamePro (42): 54–5. https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_042_January_1993. 
  2. ↑ Bailey, Kat (July 21, 2022). "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection Has a Release Date". https://www.ign.com/articles/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-the-cowabunga-collection-has-a-release-date. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Game Pilgrimage comparison of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist. URL retrieved 25 July 2006.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "TMNT the Hyperstone Heist Review". Electronic Gaming Monthly (United States: EGM Media) (42): 28. January 1993. https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Gaming_Monthly_042/page/n27. Retrieved December 20, 2020. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist Mega Action review". Mega Action (United Kingdom: Europress Interactive) (1): 45. June 1993. https://archive.org/details/mega-action-issue-1-1993-06/page/n43/mode/2up. Retrieved September 9, 2021. 
  6. ↑ Rutter, Kirk (30 April 1993). "Turtle Recall! Green & lean & back on the scene". Mega Guide: p. 1. https://archive.org/details/MEGA-guide/The%20Sun%20MEGA%20Guide%20%281993-04-30%29/mode/1up. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "TMNT the Hyperstone Heist Review". MegaTech (United Kingdom: Maverick Magazines): 31. June 1995. https://archive.org/details/megatech-42/page/n29/mode/2up. Retrieved December 19, 2020. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Power Unlimited Game Database" (in nl). November 1994. http://www.powerweb.nl/database/index.php?&query%5border%5d=datum&ending=DESC&query%5bstart%5d=3980. 
  9. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named GameFan
  10. ↑ Rutter, Kirk (30 April 1993). "Turtle Recall! Green & lean & back on the scene". Mega Guide: p. 1. https://archive.org/details/MEGA-guide/The%20Sun%20MEGA%20Guide%20%281993-04-30%29/mode/1up. 
  11. ↑ "ScrewAttack's Top Ten Video - Top 20 Genesis Games (20-11)". GameTrailers. http://www.gametrailers.com/video/top-20-screwattack/38166. 
  12. ↑ "The 100 Best Sega Genesis Games" (in en). https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/the-100-best-sega-genesis-games/. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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