Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

"Not what I had in mind"

Introduction

You know this game was not what I expected it to be when got it in Christmas of 1990. I really wanted it to be the arcade version of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." You know the side-scrolling game we all learned to love not this generic RPG like mess that sadly was made by Konami and licensed to Ultra. I utterly hated this game because, it was not the arcade version and the only strong character was Donatello. The other three, they were kinda a the dark. However, as the years went on, I became more and more fond of the first "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" on the NES for challenge reasons. Also, I began to like that generic TMNT game more than ever when I started beating it. The thing that really ticked me off about TMNT is when I got to the technodrome because I got my clock cleaned by those space men carrying laser guns every time I got there. But, after learning a few tricks to get around those space creeps and also to kill them sometimes I can finally say that this was a well made game but, not so many people are going to agree with me. However, try it out if you like I hope you like as you play it more but, for the start you may want to curse this game.

Gameplayability 7

Oh boy, a game genie could do wonders for some of the gameplay that goes on in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. To start, you have you four turtles, Leonardo-weapon: katana Michaelangelo-weapon: nunchucks, Donatello-weapon: bo staff, and Raphael-weapon: sais. They all can strike upward, downward, left, and right. But, they are all different in range and power. Donatello has the longest range of attack, Leonardo has the second longest, Michaelangelo has the third longest, and Raphael has the shortest. In terms of power, Donatello is the strongest, Raphael is the second strongest, Leonardo is third strongest, and Michaelangelo is the weakest. The turtles can also pick up extra weapons like: shurokens, triple shurokens, mr. invincible, boomerangs, missiles for the truck, and scrolls. There are also extra items the turtles can grab as well like: rope, pizza slice, half of pizza, and whole pizza. All of these items can help made the game more easy to go through and the weapons will be a big help to Michaelangelo and Raphael. It seems that your best player is Donatello because he is the strongest and has longest range of attack. However, if Donatello dies you will have to try to hold your own with Leonardo which will be nasty but, if he dies too then to all goes down hill from there unless you keep the extra weapons. The turtle's enemies come in different types. Type 1 has the foot solders, the mousers, and the flybots; type 2 has the chainsaw cads, the clay men, the floating UFO's, and the spike heads; type 3 has the fire freaks, the diving bombs, the eye walkers, and the frog giants; type 4 has the boomerang pirates, the cyber mosquitos, and the laser walkers; type 5 has the torch bots, the balloon bombers, the splitting zombies, and the space monkeys; and type 6 has the dinobots, the flying satlelites, and the laser pack space men. These are the bosses and mini-bosses of each area of the game. Area 1's bosses are Bebop and Rocksteady, Area 2's bosses are time bombs, Area 3's bosses are evil turtle and Hotsuit, Area 4's boss is the giant mouser, Area 5's boss is the technodrome, and Area 6's boss is Shredder. The hardest parts in this game is the second part of Area 2 because the seaweed in the river will either try too shock you or eat you and you might have to change turtles halfway through the level, the second to last part of Area 3 because your enemies will try to knock you off into the water to cause you to start the level all over again, the last part to level 17 in Area 4 because the walls will come together to crush you and you must try to get through the small hole in each platform, and the technodrome because the space men give a lot of damage.

Story 4

Shredder is causing trouble once again. He has not only wreak havoc on the citizens of New York but he has kidnapped April O'Neil and Master Splitter as well. So, it is up to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to defeat Shredder once again with their ninjitsu skills they have been developing for years under their master. They must succeed not only for April and Splitter but, for the whole city! So it's time to kick some shell!

Audio/Video 3

The sound is not the best I ever heard but, it is okay. The characters look a little cheap and Konami could have did better on April because they made her look like some 1930's pin-up poster. She didn't even look like she did off the cartoon. Also at the end of the game when Splitter turns back to Homato Yoshi, Komani made him look like John Wayne!! All the characters were small and the enemies explode when they die. The most gruesome scene I ever saw in the game had to be when Shredder dies because he disintergrates into glowing dust, eww!!

Challenge! 10

With only one really strong character, one mid-grade, and the other two scraping at the bottom of the barrel. Also, not to mention pitfalls at every peril, HELL YEAH!! this is a challenge!

Replayability 7

I might find myself play this game again but, I doubt anyone else will.

Rent or Buy 5

Buy if you can bare it!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/29/04