There have been several TMNT video games since the four emerged from the sewers back in the late 80’s/early 90’s. In today’s post I’d like to cover the various games from arcade to console I’ve played, along with their pros and cons..
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game. I remember spending Saturdays at the local Putt-Putt with my friends or even complete strangers banding together to vanquish Shredder and The Foot. My favorite arcade game of all time- followed closely by Konami’s other hit: X-Men.
Pros: Captured the spirit of the cartoon with multiplayer side-scrolling beat-’em-up action.
Cons: Foot Clan is relentless-often cheap, Losing health for falling down a manhole cover?, and the final battle with ‘one hit kills’ Shredder
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: NES. The Turtles first game on the Nintendo. Unexpected follow up to the arcade game, this was a dramatic let down in terms of graphics, gameplay, you name it. I tried really hard to like this game- but man it drove me nuts.
Pros: It uses the TMNT license on the box art. Catchy opening theme. The ability to switch between the four turtles on the fly.
Cons: Everything else.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Arcade Game, NES. What should have been released instead of the mess above. This was the closet thing I could get to playing the arcade game and was highly addicting.
Pros: The best arcade to NES port I’ve ever played. My first true side scroller that started my love of two player side-scrollers (Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, Altered Beast, Contra).
Cons: Graphics took a step down from the arcade version. No four player option. Missing levels from arcade replaced with so-so levels. Fighting a Polar Bear who throws rocks at you?
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: The Manhattan Project, NES. An interesting sequel to TMNT 2, this game featured unique special moves to each turtle. This game showcased many character from the cartoon and comics- making it feel closer to the original arcade game.
Pros: A true sequel to TMNT 2, improved upon the series in every way. Fun level design.
Cons: Special moves hard to pull off for the most damage, graphics didn’t seem much better from previous game.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist, Sega Genesis. AT LAST! A good version of the arcade game from Sega. Graphics and gameplay were exactly what I had been missing in all the previous NES games. It helped too, that I had upgraded to a new 16-bit gaming system.
Pros: Graphics, gameplay, it’s all here.
Cons: Not quite the same games as Super Nintendo’s TMNT: Turtles in TIme- but I hadn’t played it yet- so I thought this was the best game ever in the series. Later, I found this game to cut out quite a lot from the arcade and SNES versions, making it a shorter less thrilling experience. Also again, no four player support.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, Super Nintendo. The game that made the SNES. A great home edition of the arcade with added extras. Turtles on hoverboards, fighting dinosaurs, and Krang?? THIS IS GREAT!
Pros: Graphics, gameplay, unique boss fights- flinging the foot towards the screen was an added bonus.
Cons: No four player support. Otherwise perfect!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Playstation 2. The debut of the new TMNT ‘toon along with a Zelda cell shaded look. The first ‘new’ turtle game I played on the next-gen systems. I should’ve kept my Super Nintendo…
Pros: Good use of the cartoon license and sound.
Cons: No four player support. Annoying catch phrases uttered every time you attack. Bad camera angles. Two player co-op and controls a mess. No jump kicks? Ugh….Konami what happened?
Unfortunately, this was the last TMNT game I played. The PS2 has a string of similar but less than great hits. I thought maybe with the debut of the new TMNT cgi movie, games based on it would finally get back that Konami magic. Sadly, it didn’t. Luckily, the arcade original was recently available for download on the Xbox 360. Now I can finally play until my hearts content.
