Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pro (Stern 2020)

TL;DR

TMNT Pro gameplay stream with mixed sentiment: strong artwork, fun rules, but frustrating van rejects and flipper issues.

Summary

Key Claims

• Kyle at Stern Pinball creates the tutorial animations shown in TMNT using After Effects

  medium confidence · I just learned Kyle does the Stern tutorials that show on screen... Kyle is uh Kyle's an After Effects whiz... He does these things

• The van rejection mechanic occurs repeatedly and frustrates players, happening at least three times during the stream

  high confidence · It comes in there. It stays in there for a little while... It looks around and goes, I don't want to be in there in the truck. And then it comes back out... That's the third reject... Those rejects are for real

• Backhanding the left ramp becomes difficult as the flipper coil warms up during play

  medium confidence · the fact that backhanding the left ramp becomes difficult as the flipper coil warms up

• A ROM mod exists that substitutes the standard Stern game with 1987 cartoon artwork and animations

  high confidence · this is a mod of the ROM that substitutes obviously the 1987 cartoon with the actual Stern stuff... Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is so much better with the cartoon code hack

• Stern's EULA enforcement is primarily protective rather than actively litigious against ROM modifiers

  medium confidence · I have it on good authority that that EULA is pretty much just to protect Stern against whatever they want to be protected against... In reality, Stern doesn't really care. It's more to cover their butt

Notable Quotes

• “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a great rental. I think that's where we're... I think that's the solution we're coming up with guys.”

  Host (Manu)@ 37:58 — Consensus opinion that TMNT suits rental model better than ownership, suggesting the game has limitations for long-term appeal

• “I don't own pinball machines because I hate pinball machines. I want to rent... There's a reason for you to buy. And there's a reason for me to rent.”

  Host@ 35:06 — Host explains philosophy of renting vs. owning machines, relevant to streaming/content creation lifestyles

• “This game, I like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Okay, I like totas... I want to like it... This game could be awesome. But it would have to be physically changed completely overhauled.”

  Host@ 13:45 — Mixed sentiment on the game—appreciates design intent but sees fundamental flaws requiring overhaul

• “Jeremy Packer is a freaking master. I just stare at this... You just want to pull the playfield out and put it on your wall.”

  Jon Hey (Don't Panic Flip)@ 19:16 — Praise for artwork/aesthetic design by Stern artist Jeremy Packer (Zombie Yeti)

• “I don't mind the one really tough shot on the game. But then there's one sucker shot... that's not fair because I actually hit the truck if I can't hit this shot it's because I'm not being accurate enough.”

  Host@ 48:36 — Distinguishes between legitimate skill shots and poorly-designed 'sucker shots' that feel unfair due to technical issues

Entities

Signals

• ?

  community_signal: Active streamer community engagement with live chat participation, score tracking, and viewer interaction during gameplay

  high · Multiple chat interactions, score leaderboard tracking (son's 39M as high score), viewers asking for machine identification and gameplay tips

• ~

  sentiment_shift: Strong consensus that TMNT works better as rental than owned machine; hosts express content with temporary ownership model

  high · Multiple hosts conclude 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a great rental.' Host notes rental allows trying different machines without long-term commitment.

• ?

  design_philosophy: Van rejection mechanic causes repeated ball returns; occurs at least 3 times during single gameplay session, frustrating players and raising quality control questions

  high · Host describes ball entering van, pausing, then exiting multiple times. 'That's the third reject... Those rejects are for real. I wonder what they could do about that.'

• ?

  design_philosophy: Designer Dwight Sullivan characterized as struggling to balance difficulty across games; noted for both success (TMNT) and failure (Monsters)

  medium · Host: 'Dwight Sullivan struggles, I think, to satisfy everyone... He kind of nailed it with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' and 'Blame Dwight Sullivan for monsters.'

• $

  market_signal: Secondary market activity: hosts trading machines frequently (TMNT for Deadpool, Congo for The Walking Dead); suggests active rental/trade economy among collectors

  medium · Host mentions trading TMNT back for Deadpool after 2-month rental. Other host mentions straight trade of Congo for The Walking Dead.