TMNT Half-Shell Lag Fest

Heero and I reunited last night for a long overdue gaming session. We decided to put the "new" TMNT Xbox Live Arcade game through its paces. I had been holding off on unlocking the full game until I had a chance to do some co-op. Based on the initial demo level, I could tell nostalgia alone was not going to make me fall in love with this game all over again. Still at only 400 points and the promise of solid, old-fashioned co-op turtle goodness, I knew I could still get some enjoyment out of this dated game.

Let me start and end this by saying a review of TMNT is impossible due to the ludicrous lag we experienced during our session. How much lag you ask? How about getting an intrusive "WAITING" icon plastered across the screen every, oh, 3-5 seconds. There were already reports of bad lag but I did not expect such a poor performance, considering that our in-game latency bars were both showing as green and healthy. Bollocks, as they say.

When a "technically intensive" game like Crackdown can run silky smooth in co-op, I don't quite understand how an 8-bit, 2D side-scrolling beat'em up from 1989 can't run without acting like a stuttering slideshow. This is likely some sloppy netcode combined with Xbox Live issues and clearly, some kind of patching will be required. The lag in TMNT is laughable.