Review Fix Exclusive: Martin Nguyen Talks TMNT Streets of Rage Rom Hack

July 25, 2021 Patrick Hickey Jr. Video Games 0

Review Fix chats with Martin Nguyen about his completed TMNT/Streets of Rage 2 ROM hack, TMNT Gaiden!

Review Fix: How do you feel about the finished product?

Martin Nguyen: Quite satisfied with where it’s currently at. I did plan to release the previous version back in March, but my gut-instinct told me to delay it.

It was a good decision since me and a few others encountered more issues from the previous build. I just didn’t want to risk a Cyberpunk 2077 type of release. *laughs*

Review Fix: Any cool moments during development?

Nguyen: There were quite some speed bumps along the way, but it was an overall great learning experience.

Got to learn and do more things I wasn’t able to before, or brush up some old skills. Of course I had some guidance from experienced game hackers or programmers in the community.

In the end, the development process certainly opened new doors for me when it came to meeting new gamers and fans of TMNT and Streets of Rage.

Review Fix: How is it different from other ROM hacks?

Nguyen: Compared to the previous TMNT rom hacks released by Eskayelle, Savok, and others, theirs’ try to incorporate the traditional Konami TMNT console or arcade gameplay style.

Meaning, all characters can run and jump, or have more of the Konami-style physics and some newly added features compared to regular Streets of Rage 2.

In addition, their hacks have the original four Turtle siblings for their roster, so I had to change up the line-up and sprites for my hack.

It’s also the reason I went with the SNES Tournament Fighters sprites since they gave me a chance to experiment with different character body styles and attacks.

Lastly, I wanted each character to represent a different part of the TMNT franchise, whether they are villains or were only exclusive to video games, cartoons/movies, or comics.

Review Fix: Why else should someone download it?

Nguyen: That’s quite a tough question. *laughs*

I would say this hack may offer a new experience for people who haven’t played much Streets of Rage (SoR) games as of late, or are new to the series and TMNT.

However, I noticed several non SoR or TMNT fans have taken interest in it, mainly from the retro gaming, fighting game communities, and gamers from foreign countries. 

Review Fix: What are your hopes for it?

Nguyen: I just want more people to try it. They can like or dislike it, but as long as they give it a shot, then I should be completely satisfied.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Nguyen: I did have some other hack projects requested by other gamers or modders. Got a friend who wants me to do a Shining Force II hack real soon. I should quickly get back to him, haha.

I also have others who requested me to do more SoR hacks or projects. I’ll jump into more complex projects when I can learn to program or draw better.

One day I would like to work on a fresh game from scratch with a team of like-minded developers and programmers.

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Nguyen: : Not much to say, but always work hard to chase your goals and dreams, even if your friends and relatives give you any doubt.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14262 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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