Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (arcade game)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Arcade - USA - Cabinet.

Developer Konami Publisher Konami Published 1989-??-?? Platforms Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Arcade, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, NES, ZX Spectrum Genres Beat 'em up, Licensed Themes Action, Cartoon, Martial Arts, Ninjas, Science Fiction, Superhero Series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Multiplayer Simultaneous co-op Distribution Commercial

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a beat 'em up video game developed and published by Konami for the arcade in 1989 and was later ported to several home platforms. A modified version was published by Ultra for the NES under the title, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game. The game is set in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universe, specifically the version from the 1987 cartoon.

In the game the players play as the Turtles and discover that April O'Neil's apartment is on fire. They rush in to rescue her only to discover that she's been kidnapped by Shredder and his goons. They then set about rescuing her and defeating Shredder.

Personal

Own?	No.
Won?	Yes. NES port.
Finished	Early 1990s

I remember playing the game in arcades in the early 1990s. I was a big fan of the Ninja Turtles, and the game was really impressive looking to me at the time, although especially difficult. I think I first played it at a pool hall my father took me to, and I kept stealing more quarters from him to get further in the game. I also remember playing it in the arcade of one of those ridiculous Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park camp grounds. Another kid I met there and I would scour the trash cans for bottles to get refunds for quarters to play the game. At our best, we made it all the way to stage 6.

I bought the NES port as a child. I remember seeing the advertisement for a free personal pizza on the cover and, while I would have bought the game regardless, I was looking forward to getting a free pizza in the near future. My family never went to Pizza Hut (we always used cheaper takeout alternatives), but I figured, if I had a coupon, I could insist on having them take me. However, when I opened the game, I realized that the coupon had already expired, and I felt ripped off. I still got a lot of enjoyment out of the game though.

I used to own the NES port, but I no longer do, but I still have the manual, now with a missing the cover.

Review

5	5	7	8	3

Best Version: Arcade

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• For most of the ports, the graphics are very well drawn and animated with attractive cut-scenes.
• The game is closely tied to the TV series. All of the main characters are included and play their roles properly, and a lot of the characters are included yielding a lot of variety. Also, unlike the NES version, there aren't a bunch of generic enemies thrown in the mix.
• The arcade game allows for four player simultaneous game play which adds to the fun.
• The levels have various breakable objects that can be used as weapons against your opponents, which is pretty cool. There are also various hazards that must be avoided.
• I also love how the enemies interact with the environment. The foot soldiers have all sorts of interesting ways of entering the playing area like breaking through doors, popping out of sewers, and jumping through glass windows. It's also hilarious to see thrown foot soldiers splat against walls and watch Bebop and Rocksteady smash into each other.
• The background music is upbeat and even incorporates a digital rendition of the first portion of the television show's theme song.
• The speech sounds like it's taken from the show because the voices match properly.
• The NES port adds two additional levels.

Bad

• Like with most beat-em-ups, in order to survive in the game, you can't just walk up to enemies and attack them. Most of the time, you have to dance around enemies, evading them as much as possible while using a lot of jump attacks and the special attack to avoid getting trounced by your enemies. This makes the fighting look silly rather than cool.
• Despite the variety in levels, the game is still pretty monotonous because there is little in the way of player control, and you're basically just smashing the Foot Clan for a half hour.
• The arcade cabinet art is awful.
• The NES port has several graphic glitches.
• The NES port has a lot of shameless Pizza Hut product placement.

Ugly

• The game is extremely difficult. It seems to be designed to drain quarters rather than be enjoyable.

Media

Box Art

• 

  Arcade - USA - Cabinet.

• 

  Arcade - USA - Marquee. Shredder and April O'Neil look stupid.

• 

  Arcade - USA - Control panel.

• 

  Arcade - USA - Instruction stickers.

• 

  Arcade - USA - Better turtles sticker.

• 

  Arcade - USA - Side art - Left. April's wig is a bit jacked, and she's standing in an awfully precarious manner.

• 

  Arcade - USA - Side art - Right.

• 

  Famicom - Japan. The four turtles are breaking through a brick wall like the Kool-Aid man and are riding skateboards while brandishing their weapons. Pretty awesome!

• 

  NES - USA. It uses the same art as the Japanese release but adds the subtitle "The Arcade Game" to differentiate it from the other NES game. A large Pizza Hut advertisement obscures much of the art.

• 

  NES - Europe. Used the Konami brand instead of Palcom (the European equivalent of Ultra), so it used the art-obscuring gray box layout.

• 

  European home computer releases. The turtles from the NES box are retained, but they're skating down a sewer pipe rather than bursting through a brick wall, which makes a lot more sense. This is my favorite art.

Documentation

• 

  Manual - Arcade - USA.

• 

  Manual - NES - USA.

• 

  Manual - Famicom - Japan.

• 

  Manual - Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum - Europe.

Maps

• 

  NES, scene 1.

• 

  NES, scene 2.

• 

  NES, scene 3.

• 

  NES, scene 4.

• 

  NES, scene 5.

• 

  NES, scene 6.

• 

  NES, scene 7.

• 

  NES, scene 8.

• 

  NES, scene 9.

Screenshots

• 

  Commodore 64 - Loading screen.

• 

  NES - Scene 1.

Videos

Longplay - Arcade.

Longplay - Commodore 64.

Longplay - NES.

Longplay - ZX Spectrum.

Let's Play - Amiga.

Play Online

Arcade (Japan), Arcade (UK), Arcade (USA), Arcade (World), Famicom, MS-DOS, NES (Europe), NES (USA)

Representation

Strong female character?	Fail	The only woman is April O'Neil, and she's just a damsel in distress and a reward.
Bechdel test?	Fail	There is only one woman.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	Shredder is Japanese, but he's not strong in this game.
Queer character?	Fail	There are no queer characters.

Titles

Language	Native	Transliteration	Translation
English (Europe)	Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles: The Coin-Op!
English (Europe, NES)	Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles II: The Arcade Game
English (North America)	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
English (North America, NES)	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game
Japanese	スーパー亀忍者	Supa Kame Ninja	Super Turtle Ninja
Japanese (Famicom)	ティーンエージ ミュータント ニンジャ タートルズ	Tineiji Myutanto Ninja Tatoruzu	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Links

       

• arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10052 - The International Arcade Museum.