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.

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Classic TMNT Hitting XBL Wednesday

In another rather short-notice announcement, the news got around this morning that the classic coin-op arcade game, TMNT, is hitting the Live Marketplace in two days. For just a paltry sum of 400 MS points, you can relive your misspent youth shoving quarters into this addictive 4-player beat'em up.

I think this is a nice treat, to have TMNT come out on the heels of 2 other quality XBLA releases. What's really surprising though is that it feels like it was just last week when the news that TMNT was even planned for Live Arcade. Those cheeky monkeys at Microsoft and Ubisoft must have had this baby on the cooker well in advance of any announcements.

A pleasant surprise it is, but I still wish there was a more of a warning. Something like a release calendar would be a great thing to have, to actually know what games are coming out when. Right now it seems a bit too arbitrary, finding out the week's Live Arcade release just two days prior.

Damn, and here I was about to plunk down some points Assault Heroes. Hmm, what to get, what to get?

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Xbox Live Arcade is on a Roll

With last week's release of Alien Hominid, today's announcement of the TMNT coin-op classic, and tomorrow's release of the much-delayed Worms, it looks like XBLA is back on course and satisfying the masses once again.

I will be checking the Marketplace later tonight to see if I can get an early jump on my Worms download. I tried out the Alien Hominid demo over the weekend and came away unimpressed. While the artwork and sense of humour is fantastic, I couldn't help but feel like it was a shoddy, home-brew imitation of Metal Slug. Which is strange, because I thought I was yearning for retro side-scrolling shooter gameplay. The challenge is high and the action intense, but the addictive draw is just not there. I can see where the draw is for other people. It's just not for me. Guess that's 800 points well saved...

The TMNT announcement wasn't a surprise but was welcome nonetheless. The fact that it is to be 400 MS points makes the news all the sweeter.

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