Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

"An unfairly unappreciated mutant classic."

Why?, that the big question, why everyone hates this game so much?. This game was one of my fist video games ever once I got my brand new Nintendo many moons ago, as I was a total Turtles freak I was craving for this game like only a few things in the world, and Konami didn’t disappointed me, I think this game is a great action title even nowadays. The only thing I dislike is the difficulty, but only sometimes, because I think this game is a game worthy of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles title.

Objective: In each scenario we have different objectives, yes we will have to rescue April again in the end, but we will also have to neutralize bombs and some other nice stuff.

Graphics 10/10:
Splendid, the enemies are not exactly like in the show, but they are nice, and there is plenty of variety, we even have guys with chainsaws. Also, instead of a cheap looking map, Konami made it very nice, the overhead view is very cool. Everything is great graphically.

Music 10/10:
I really like the music, I don’t know why but I think it fits the game’s perfectly, it is funny and serious at the same time. For an action adventure title, and as we are talking about a Nes game, the music in my opinion deserves a perfect rating.

Gameplay 9/10:
The Turtles are a bit stiff and sometimes a bit hard to handle, but the gameplay is excellent. We will have to use all the turtles, and we can switch between them whenever we want, but we have to be careful because when they get hurt, their energy bars will remain low until we get some pizza to heal, this is very important because if one of turtles dies you will have a hell of a time trying to save it, and that if you can find it.

What I liked the most about this title is that it is not just a simple action game, we have to explore a lot sometimes. We always start in an overworld, and we will have to reach a certain part of the scenario exploring the sewers, of entering buildings, etc, and we can go back and visit the places we have already been to look for new items if we want. Once we enter a place the game becomes a typical side scrolling view. Really cool.

Also, this game is one of the few where some turtles are actually better than the others, mainly, ok, mainly not, “only”, because of their weapons. For example, Raphael is my favourite turtle, but his sais (that is the way those knives of his are called if I am not wrong) become pretty useless later in the game, because they have a very short attack range, in the other hand Donatello, with his long stick you’ll be able to kill things from a safe position. Aside from their standard weapons, there some others scattered around some places, like throwing stars and knives and some other things.

My only complaints are about the difficulty and the impossibility to save our game, because this title is pretty long. If you loose Leonardo or Donatello in the latest scenarios better try again because your chances to beat the game are not very high.

My final thoughts:
I don’t know why this game is so underrated, it’s a fantastic action adventure title, one of the best I can remember, it has a lot of interesting ideas, lots of variety, and while too challenging sometimes, it is great fun. Unlike its sequels this game requires some time to be enjoyed, but that doesn’t make it worst.

”My lack of vocabulary and grammatical errors (if there’s any) are because I’m not from an English speaking country, sorry about that.”

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/20/04