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Remembering the amazing games of the heroes in a half-shell

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are quite popular right now. The Nickelodean cartoon and the movies keep the hype going, but their peak had to be about 25 years ago. The years 1989-1994 were the best years to be a Turtle fan. During this time, the Turtles cartoon dominated the viewings of kids everywhere, three live action Turtles movies were released, and Konami gave us some really amazing Turtles games. If you were a Turtles fan during this time, you were living the dream!

This blog focuses on the games by Konami. From the Arcade to the NES to the Game Boy to the 16-bit consoles, the Turtles dominated the gaming scene with some of the best beat 'em ups of all time. So let's wax nostalgic as we look back at the impressive amount of high quality games during these few years. Cowabunga! 

Turtles in the Arcade

Most kids were probably introduced to Ninja Turtles games in the arcades. Released the same year as the first TMNT NES game (1989), the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game wowed everyone with its fluid animations and fun co-op play. Just watching it was like watching an episode of the cartoon. The turtles' expressions and movements were spot-on, and all the character models looked like they had been taken directly from the cartoon. The best part was that it was four player! What kid wouldn't want to play Turtles with three friends? 

The arcade game kicked off everything to a great start, but after just a couple years, this astounding gem was starting to lose its shine. Other Turtle games on consoles were usurping its position, so Konami decided it was time for an arcade sequel. In 1991, TMNT: Turtles in Time was released in the arcades. With a more interesting story (time travel), bigger and better character animations, larger movesets, and great detailed animations, this one surpassed the first arcade game and cemented TMNT as something special in the minds of gamers.

Konami had somehow captured the look and feel of the Turtles, and their success in the arcades made them synonymous with beat 'em ups. I can't over-emphasize the importance of these two arcade games. 

Turtles on the NES

The very first console game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was released for the NES in 1989. It seems that Konami wasn't sure what kind of game to make. It's an action platformer, but it has an overworld map and uses certain RPG-type trappings. The game is only one player, but you can switch between the turtles at any time. Sadly, the game is not very good, infamous especially for the dam level. The success of the arcade game pushed Konami to follow that direction, meaning that this first game is the only action platformer in the series. The rest would be beat 'em ups. 

So Konami was wise in porting the arcade game to the NES. TMNT II: The Arcade Game was released in 1990. This was a bold move. Obviously, the game did not look nearly as good as the arcade game, but it was all there and more; Konami added two new levels and extra characters which weren't in the arcade game. The animations for the turtles and enemies were stiff and the colors didn't "pop" like they did in the arcades, but it was a two-player Turtles game which kids could play at home. It was a step in the right direction. 

Konami learned from its mistakes for the next game. TMNT III: The Manhatten Project was released for the NES in 1992. It smoothed out the animation and gameplay problems of the previous game. Most impressive is the fact that this was an original game (not tied to any arcade games) and it seems that a lot of effort was put into it. In this one, the turtles are on vacation when Shredder somehow raises Manhatten into the sky. So they have to stop him! Great levels and plenty of bosses follow (including Tokka and Rahzar from the recent Turtles movie). TMNT II may have been the template, but TMNT III really fills in the details, and finally brought the NES series up to par with the arcade and subsequent 16-bit games. 

Turtles on the Game Boy

Konami took no time at all getting the Turtles onto the Game Boy. TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan was released in 1990, just one year after the Game Boy's launch. Like the first NES game, FotFC is very rough around the edges. The turtles' sprites are large and not distinct at all. Levels are bland, going from left to right with nothing interesting to offer. A few mini-games spice things up, but don't save the game from being pretty generic. Also, if you lose all your health, the turtle you were using will get captured. The worst sin here is that the game is short and easy. A kid could easily finish the whole game in 30 minutes or less. But, like the NES games, Konami would learn from its mistakes and get better with each sequel. 

The sequel, released in 1991, was TMNT II: Back from the Sewers. While the turtles were still big and clunky, this game improved on many of the first game's shortcomings. The gameplay was simple, but the graphics were more detailed and the game also had attitude. If a turtle got captured, you could play a rescue game to try and free him. If you pause the game, "Pizza Time" would appear onscreen and you could enjoy a relaxing tune. The music especially is impressive for a 1991 Game Boy game. This was Konami trying to give us a handheld Turtles game that came as close as possible to the arcade experience. At its core, though, Back from the Sewers was a simple action game. What if Konami took a risk and tried to make a different kind of Turtles game?

Well, that's exactly what they did with TMNT III: Radical Rescue, released for the Game Boy in 1993. The most unique of any of the games, RR isn't a beat 'em up, it's a Metroidvania! (I guess we could call it a Turtlevania) In the game, three of the turtles are captured and Mikey has to rescue them. You can look at a map when you pause the game. Once you find the other turtles, you'll need to get keys to unlock their prison cells. You have to defeat bosses in order to get the keys. But that's not all. Each turtle has a special ability that you can use to get past certain obstacles. You'll need to use them all if you want to make it to the end. Sadly, this game was overlooked at the time because of the focus on the console games. But it truly is an underrated gem and is more satisfying than the other Game Boy games. 

Turtles in the 16-Bit War

The peak of the TMNT games came with TMNT IV: Turtles in Time on Super NES. This 1992 game added a few things from the arcade game (a whole new stage and extra bosses). Many say that it's actually superior to the arcade version because it fleshed out the game better and truly is a perfect arcade port. The gameplay is fluid, characters are expressive, and co-op play is a blast. The game also has a mode that allows two turtles to duke it out (a premoniton of the fighting games just around the corner). I consider this game one of the greatest beat 'em ups of all time, if not the greatest. What's really amazing about the main series is the fact that each game got progressively better, with TMNT IV being the peak. Like TMNT II, Turtles in Time became a staple game for the system it was on; you had to have it if you were a Turtles fan and an SNES owner. It made a big impact in homes, becoming one of the most beloved TMNT games twice over. 

On the other hand, Sega fans got TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist on Genesis. This was one of only two Turtles games to be released on any of Sega's consoles. It re-uses many of the same sprites and backgrounds as Turtles in Time, but changes the story and adds different areas. Ray Barnholt calls this game "Turtles in Time: The First Draft." It's not as good, but is certainly still a fun game. It's also a little more dark and edgy. Konami probably changed the name of the game along with the story in order to make Sega fans feel like they were getting something special (and not just a port of Turtles in Time like the SNES). However, the end result is a game that is inferior to the SNES beat 'em up. 

Fighting Turtles

The rise of Street Fighter II in 1991 caused a massive explosion of fighting games. The popularity of this new genre caused developers to take notice. It seemed natural that fight-heavy kids' shows would also get to throw their hats into the proverbial ring. In Japan, it was Dragon Ball Z, and later in the West it was Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, but in between them was Ninja Turtles. In 1993, Konami launched the TMNT Tournament Fighters series. They also went the extra mile by releasing a version on three consoles that had TMNT presence: the Genesis, Super NES, and even the NES. However, each version was handled by a different team, making each one vastly different. 

The Genesis version released first. In this game, the Turtles travel to Dimension X in order to fight Turtle clones and rescue Master Splinter. The game's eight playable characters include the four turtles, Casey Jones, April O'Neil, Ray Fillet (who appears in the comics), and Sisyphus (an original character). The game's bosses include Triceraton, android Krang, and Karai. There are only two attack buttons (the third button is used for taunting). The actual fighting is quite clunky, but it IS cool to be able to see Dimension X, which gives us a lot of giant creatures and strange terrain for backgrounds. This was the only game to let us see Dimension X. Overall, this game (like Hyperstone Heist), seemed like an evil clone of the real deal. SNES Turtle fans would be much happier. 

That's because the SNES version of Tournament Fighters was developed by mostly the same team that did Turtles in Time, and they prove that they understood the fighting game concept. Playable characters include the four turtles, Shredder, and several characters from the Archie comics: War (ugly purple dude), Armaggon (a mutant shark), Chrome Dome (a mechanoid built by Shredder), Wingnut (goofy mutant bat), and Aska (ninja girl). Bosses include Cyber Shredder, Rat King, and Karai. The entire game has an over-the-top visual style that lends an arcade-style faithfulness. Besides the stages, the characters are big and detailed, have voices, move fast, and have plenty of animations. Even the menus are glitzed up with stars and stripes. It's seriously on the level of games of the Neo Geo renaissance, and it wasn't even an arcade game. This is the Turtles fighting game to play! 

The final game was actually released for the NES in 1994, making it one of the last games on the console. It was also the last TMNT game for awhile. The ridiculous story has Shredder challenging the Turtles to a bare knuckle fight in the streets of NYC. That's right, the turtles don't use their weapons in this game! Playable characters include the four turtles, Casey, Shredder, and Hothead (a warrior from the comics). Despite the simple gameplay (the controller only has two buttons), the fightint part is decent. Plus the game offers good and bad endings based on the difficulty, a tournament mode, and even a bonus stage where you try to bust through several wooden walls in under 30 seconds. Not bad. Some say that this game is even superior to the Genesis version. 

That's a lot of Ninja Turtles games! What are some of your most nostalgic memories of playing these oldschool Turtles games? Let us know below!