I only remembered playing the first and third games. I had fond memories of the first and nightmares of the third, but apparently, I had played all 3 games but forgot the second one. This is weird since the second one is considered an improvement over the first one. The third one feels like a TMNT skinned Symphony of the Night Prototype. I thought it would be easier to rate all 3 GB games together... I'm having nightmares. Guess I better start before I can achieve sleep.
Story
Drinking game time! One shot if April gets kidnapped, 2 for Splinter and April... we have 4 shots. If I add the turtles getting kidnapped in Radical Rescue, it would be 7 shots and I'm already way too drunk as it is. Remember kids, don't chug and blog!
All jokes aside, there isn't much in the story Department, because there are three Ninja Turtle games based on the cartoon... well, the third one feels more toyline inspired, since it avoided toon characters and only used late entries to the toyline as bosses... I guess April O'Neil is related to Princess Peach.
FotFC: 5.0
BftS: 5.0
RR: 5.0
Graphics:
While all 3 games are on the same console, you can see the evolution of Konami pulling some feats with the 8-Bit Gameboy.
Fall of the Foot Clan comes from very early in the Gameboy era and is the Super Mario Land of TMNT Games. In less than a year, Konami pulls of a Super Mario Land 2 for TMNT with better graphics than its Predecessor's. 2 years later, Konami finds a way to improve the graphics even further. The thing is that I prefer the graphics of the Original game over Back from the Sewers or Radical Rescue. Sure, the second game improved on the backgrounds a lot, but the art style for the sprites is ugly. The third game fixes a lot of the graphical mistakes from the second one, but the backgrounds are bland and feel out of place in a TMNT Game.
FotFC: 6.5
BftS: 7.0
RR: 8.5
Music and sounds
The games have a couple of catchy tunes and the Gameboy can pull off a decent rendition of the TMNT theme... but I find the first two games music a bit better than the third's.
FotFC: 7.0
BftS: 7.0
RR: 7.0
Controls
The Gameboy is less powerful than the NES. The games were for the most part more ambitious than the NES games, so they experimented on the Gameboy. This ambitious experimentation had an adverse effect on controls. They feel sluggish and unresponsive until you enter the "Gameboy mindstate" where your brain gets in tune with the weaker console and time itsel to the slower pace.
FotF: 8.0
BftS: 7.5
RR: 8.0
Gameplay
3 different games 2 different genres.
Fall of the Foot Clan is a side scrolling game like Kung Fu, but with a TMNT theme and some mild platforming.
Back from the Sewers is similar to the first game but with some areas using a style similar to the beat-em up arcade game and more platforming elements.
Radical Rescue is a Proto-Symphony of the Night but with a TMNT skin.
FotFC: 7.0
BftS: 6.5
RR: 7.0
Fun Factor
I hate most of these... if it wasn't for the instant save state and rewind options from the Cowabunga Collection, I wouldn't have bothered with Back from the Sewers and Radical Rescue. The only passable game albeit slightly frustrating is Fall of the Foot Clan. Now that I beat Radical Rescue and Back from the Sewers, I don't see myself replaying them any time soon. I can see myself replaying Fall of the Foot Clan though.
FotFC: 9.0
BftS: 6.0
RR: 6.5
Overall
The Gameboy being a weaker console forced Konami to reinvent the wheel, which made TMNT feel lost with no identity.
FotFC: 7.08
BftS: 6.5
RR: 7.0
Recently, I discovered that more people appreciate Fall of the Foot Clan to the point that there is a fan game that is Colorizing Fall of the Foot Clan.
It looks amazing...But back to the offocial Gameboy games ported in the Cowabunga Collection:
Your mileage may vary on the greatness of these games, but if you're a TMNT fan, you should try them out for the sake of being a TMNT Fan...
Now all that I have left are the TiTs, Manhattan Project, and the bane of my childhood...
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