Finally! I finally was able to reach the end of the original NES Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! It's 2am here as I decide to write this review nonetheless.
Did you know Turtles can drown in water? Like instantaneously? That's a thing I learned from this game...
Find more TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA REVIEWS on this very same blog!
VGR: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
From Konami
Played on NES
Also available on Amiga, Amstrad, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MSX, Spectrum, PC & Wii
Type Action-adventure
First released in Japan as the Fierce Turtle Ninja Legend, the game was then quickly released on the NES worldwide under its proper "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (well, except UK and their
"Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles").
This marked the first TMNT video game and the beginning of Konami's work with the franchise.
After it's fantastic launch and impressive sales, it was later ported on several home computers and arcade systems.
Rather than being a proper simpler action game, they went for an action-adventure gameplay, pretty similar to Nintendo's Zelda II (which was released shortly before TMNT).
The game features a surprisingly big amount of cutscenes and story for its time.
Each stage plays like a mini-scenario or episode.
It all starts when the villainous notorious TMNT foe The Shredder has his minions Bebop and Rocksteady capture the reporter April O'Neil.
Now it's up to our heroes in a half shell to rescue their friend hostage from those creeps.
But it's not going to be that easy...
The game will take our heroes all over New York City, from the city's harbor to the sewers, a dam, the river, warehouses, Wall Street buildings, JFK where they'll use their Blimp to get to Shredder's headquarters, an underground cave and finally... to The Technodrome itself!!
The story parts take some direct inspiration from Eastman & Laird's classic run (such as the Turtle's lair's ravage while they were occupied and Master Splinter's capture).
The gameplay wants itself that of an action game, but it's really more of an action-adventure with some light RPG elements to it.
You start with an overworld view where you can explore freely a map. But beware or the Foot Clan soldiers will get to you! You can be attacked and killed on the main map.
Later on you will get access to the Turtle's Party Wagon and be able to attack back. Don't defeat them all (running over them, for example) or you will reset the map to a new set of generated enemies. Careful, because they can get just as harder or easier, it's completely random.
From their you can access or get inside levels, be it sewers, buildings or just obstacles in your path.
The levels are full of Foot Ninjas, mousers, mutants and other original critters invented specially for the game.
Your Turtle has a main weapon at the start. You can play with Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Donatello and Raphael. You can select and change Turtle whenever you want.
There are no "lives" per say. Once beaten, a Turtle will get captured until you rescue him, hidden somewhere hidden in the stages. Lose all of them and then you will get a Game Over screen.
Each Turtle has his own abilities. And yes, they're completely uneven.
I can tell you right away, Mickey's the worst one in this game. Donnie has the better reach with his Bo staff, moves his weapon faster and his an all-around well rounded character. Leo is the strongest and his attacks are the best (but with a lesser reach than Donnie). And finally Raph's pretty strong as well but cumbersome to use. Yes, Mickey is weak, dies quickly and the least useful, use him on "filler" segments.
Character will get stronger, some like Raph at certain points of the game (getting better in the long run), other needs time being used or just power-ups. Mickey never upgrades.
You can get several secondary weapons or items. Find Pizza slices for health.
There are shurikens you can throw at enemies from a distance, better upgraded shurikens, boomerangs and finally "Kiai Scrolls" which are basically magic powers than even damage boss on screens.
And finally, no save feature.
The game is equally based on the popular 1980s cartoon from that time as the original Mirage comic book series. (just look at the cover!)
For example Shredder's clearly an amalgamation of both his original and cartoon counterparts. You will meets some original foes (robots, thugs, stuff... did the crew even know the Ninja Turtles?).
The main problem with this game is that despite its original concept and ideas... the gameplay simply doesn't follow! At all!
It's awkward at best, even after getting used to it. Jumps are way to high and slow. Hits need to be really precise, there's no margin for errors. And enemies are simply too fast, strong and smart.
And despite all this, it's a pretty fun game. Somehow.
The level design is much more challenging than the actual boss fights. Such as the badass Mecha-Turtle (a would be-Metalhead) and a great looking Giant Mouser.
Which means in the end, there's a lot of strategy involved.
You don't want to go around blindly. Splinter or April will be given clues and hints to you via the "Stats Screen" on the menu pause.
The objective is not just finding the correct end of level amongst the stages in the map. Sometimes things might change around, like finding and defusing the bombs underwater in the second episode at the dam.
The maps also get bigger and bigger, with more enemies on foot.
The music was composed by Jun Funahashi. It's "classic Konami", meaning quite catchy and memorable.
Finally, let me end this review with my own list of tips if you want to get far in this game. And believe me, you'll need all the help in your favor you can get.
- Use the Konami Code to get additional necessary continues!
- There's a useful trick to replenish your health. If you find some pizza slices near the beginning of level simply grab it, get out, get back, back and forth, repeat until full and do so for all Turtles.
- You can "multiply" boomerangs amongst your Turtles, simply throw as much as you can in the air (3 at max), change Turtle and grab 'em! Magic, you didn't need to find boomerangs on the ground with that Turtle.
- Finally, Donnie has the better and longer reach. So keep him alive for Boss fights at all costs. You can sometimes even trap bosses beneath you and spam them to death (picture in my drawing above).
Overall, it's a game worth a look, don't let its difficulty rebut you.
It easily became one of the best selling games at the time... I suppose Konami can thank the popularity of the TMNT at time for that, which was at its peak back then, more so than the quality of the game itself.
Actually, once you gotten used past its strange concept and high difficulty, it's actually genuinely a pretty nice game. And original too.
It was re-released on the Virtual Console back 2007, so why don't you give it finally a chance? It also marked the first old school licensed videogame ever re-released. (which goes to show there were some good, or at least original tie-in commercial games back in the day)
It never got an actual proper sequel. Instead the other Konami TMNT Arcade game released the same year had a console port the year after. Which was renamed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game. That game would go on to have its own beat 'em up series, playable up to 2-4 players co-op depending on the versions.
It easily became one of the best selling games at the time... I suppose Konami can thank the popularity of the TMNT at time for that, which was at its peak back then, more so than the quality of the game itself.
Actually, once you gotten used past its strange concept and high difficulty, it's actually genuinely a pretty nice game. And original too.
It was re-released on the Virtual Console back 2007, so why don't you give it finally a chance? It also marked the first old school licensed videogame ever re-released. (which goes to show there were some good, or at least original tie-in commercial games back in the day)
It never got an actual proper sequel. Instead the other Konami TMNT Arcade game released the same year had a console port the year after. Which was renamed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game. That game would go on to have its own beat 'em up series, playable up to 2-4 players co-op depending on the versions.
I give it:
Cool illustrations from the game
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