Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project

"Best of the three NES Turtle games"

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 is one of the best NES games. It is a side scroller, very similar to the second game, but it is better. The selectable characters are of course the four Turtles, Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michaelangelo, and each has a normal attack, a toss attack, a dropkick and a special attack which requires energy to use. Enemies include Foot Soldiers of various colors and abilities, mousers, Rock Soldiers, and an assortment of bosses, including old favorites Bebop, Rocksteady, Shredder, Super Shredder and Krang, as well as newbies Slash, Groundchuck, Dirtbag, Toka and Rahzar. Pizza again restores energy, and several continues push the action along.

Graphics: 10/10

Just about the best the NES has to offer. Nice colors for the system, and the bosses look good. The backgrounds are littered with interesting things that catch your eye.

Sound: 9/10

Again, you won't find much better on the NES. Some catchy tunes, and the boss music just SOUNDS like boss music. Decent explosions also when Foot Soldiers and some bosses meet their end.

Gameplay: 10/10

Great control, improved over Turtles 2. No move is hard to pull off; even the special move is executed by pressing A and B simultaneously. The levels are nicely paced, getting progressively harder. The bosses can be predictable, but many are pretty tough. This game is not as easy to finish as Turtles 2. Two players can play simultaneously, adding to the fun. Really, no complaints about gameplay.

Replay: 8/10

Personally, I find this a fun game to play again. As stated above, you can play with a friend, and this adds to the replay value. Pounding on Foot Soldiers can be pretty fun, acutally.

Overall: 9/10

A top notch game. It has it all: graphics, sound, gameplay and fun. No glaring flaws are apparent. If you still have an NES, and have not played this game, I would recommend you do so.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99