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Konami had a pretty lucrative relationship with Nintendo over the course of their debut home console's lifespan, and their commitment to the 8-bit NES established them as perhaps the definitive 3rd-party developer for the system, as well as the progenitor of several series that became firmly embedded in the NES canon. Naturally, this partnership would continue with the SNES, but with the rise of the Sega Genesis, there was an increasingly large percentage of the home video game market that Konami was missing out on.

And it's probably not like they could just port games there, either; this was back when Nintendo had some pretty strict exclusivity clauses with 3rd-party devs, and it wouldn't be a surprise to find out there was some kind of agreement to keep certain games on the SNES, at least in its early days. So for Konami to break into the Genesis market, they decided to go with a familiar arcade property that, while unique, bore a striking resemblance to an already successful SNES title; Konami, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, debuted on the console with The HyperStone Heist.

Now, it's obvious that HyperStone Heist borrows quite heavily from TMNT IV: Turtles in Time (its cousin on the SNES), and this is immediately made clear to anyone who has played both by the repetition of bosses, stages, and animations. It is, undeniably, an offshoot of a more robust title, with just enough new additions to make it sort of distinguishable. But for someone who only had a Genesis, HyperStone Heist is still a solid option, even given the console's vast swath of solid beat-em-up titles.

It still looks and plays very well, and it's great how each of the 4 heroes have their own ever-so-slightly different combat styles, giving players more options for playstyles and allowing duos to mix and match what works best for them. It's got difficulty options and continue modifiers, so it serves as a great introduction for both players new to the genre and younger fans who might have wanted to get in on some half-shell action. Even on the hardest difficulty, it's a pretty simple game to breeze through, but it's still quite fun. And thanks to its brevity, it's always an option to grab off the shelf and chase your high score or take down Shredder with a friend. And even with its resemblance to Turtles in Time, HyperStone Heist does have the benefit of being the later title and therefore does make some improvements to the formula. The dash option has its own dedicated button, which makes pulling off a lot of the game's more dynamic moves much more practical. The action is comparably quicker, and the levels, while there are only 5 of them, are generally considerably longer, which makes completing one more rewarding, especially if you're on your last health bar.

The word "generally" in the last sentence is a reference to the game's 4th stage, which is just a "gauntlet" of the bosses of the previous 3 levels. It doesn't help that most bosses are directly lifted from previous TMNT arcade titles or that none of them—including Shredder himself—even scratch the surface of interesting.

You hit them 4 times, you dodge as they move to the other side of the screen, and repeat. (That being said, a Tatsu boss representing the TMNT movie is a pretty neat touch for fans.) A boss rush in a game as short as this is questionable to begin with, never mind it being 20% of the entire game's levels. (And given its condensed levels layout, they could have used a bit more variety in terms of scenic design or setting.

You also lose some things in translation from the SNES; music is lower quality, and you don't have the option to throw enemies towards the screen anymore, a timeless feature of its cross-console companion. And, of course, there's the little issue that, in spite of the game being pretty fun out of context, it is largely a recycled version of TMNT IV, and it often feels like it.

While it was probably frustrating for Genesis-only owners to receive what many consider to be a watered-down version of one of the most highly regarded beat-em-ups of the 16-bit era, it turned out to be a bit of a blessing in disguise. For one, a lesser version of Turtles in Time...well, that's still pretty good! Beloved as that game is, you have a long way to go before you hit the boundary of "not a good game." And that also makes HyperStone Heist a fun little spin-off sort of game for those who only played Turtles in Time, almost like playing a fan mod...except it's an official product!

And it's a pretty fun one at that. Despite it being one of the later TMNT brawlers, funnily enough, it serves as a solid foundation to explore further into the genre and its own series. Working off the shell...sorry, skeleton, of a beloved arcade and SNES title, HyperStone Heist is a fun little indulgence in solo play or with a friend, offering fast-paced action in very familiar settings that's flashy enough to be engaging without pushing the envelope too much.

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