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This hack brings much needed balance and improvements with better dialog giving a better story too. The heroes have their strengths and weaknesses as no one is OP like the original game's Donatello. As a matter of fact, I found myself not using Don that much as the only advantage is the range but was nerfed as the weakest of all.

And do not be fooled, this is still unforgiving in difficulty with those annoying obstacles that made the original tough so the challenge is still here. And every stage can now be beaten even with Don. (he really got nerfed)

I recommend this due to the balance and a better plot focused on New York. Nice work!

This is a hack I have been following, since I always liked the original game but didn't like how some characters felt useless. This hack has improved on that in all versions but I couldn't get into it since it was not possible to beat the game with all turtles. Newer versions make that technically possible, but I thought some areas were still dead ends since I thought Donatello would not be able to get out of those areas due to his low jump height. Then I noticed that these areas have slight changes to accommodate this, to allow him to escape those levels before he got too far into them. So now this hack is a definite recommend.

These changes makes a good, but at times frustrating game better overall.

Before starting this review, I would like to establish a bit of credibility. I'm very knowledgeable about this game. I know enough about the game to complete it in less than 20 minutes, which I can show here.

Original game: [Video]

Using the hack: [Video]

The hack allows you to complete the game faster. Over a minute faster in my case. This is because of a few design choices that add a lot of depth to the game in my opinion.

One of the biggest flaws in the original game is that there really was no need to select anyone but Donatello. He truly was your crutch character throughout the entire adventure. This is because not only does Donatello have the longest reach, but he also deals the most damage by a considerable margin.

This patch aims to fix that, and it not only succeeds in making Donatello much more grounded (literally) but he still stays fairly relevant and you will find yourself switching to him every once in awhile. Just definitely not at the dominant levels that he was being used before.

The reason being is that there are reasons you'll want to switch to the other turtles. Donatello doesn't hit as hard anymore along with walking slower and jumping lower. You'll want to use Raph for the tanking now because he hits like a truck and absorbs much more damage than the other turtles. If you're trying to beat the game faster, then you'll want to switch to Mike a lot as he runs the fastest now. Leo is your best all around turtle with a slight damage upgrade over the original, and is very capable of safely making your way through the game.

It's true that this patch potentially makes the game unwinnable. If all of the turtles but Don get captured, you might as well reset right there. If you're using Raph and you know the tricks on how to clip through walls, you can make it all the way to the area right after the section in JFK International Airport where you're using the rope to walk across buildings. Unfortunately because of the way the stage is designed, you can't use the clip technique and you'll have to restart your game.

However, even as is, this hack definitely breaths new life into the game and it's definitely worth a playthrough if you thought the original game was far too unbalanced in favor of Don.

I like the changes in the characters. But unfortunately, if you happen to lose Leonardo or Michealangelo before the second level, there is a jump that is simply not possible to make in order to progress in the game since Don and Raph just can't jump high enough.