Game Review: Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles

Game: Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles
Console: Nintendo Entertainment System
Developer: Konami
Release Date: 17th August 1990

As the first game to be released in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, this NES game was understandably hotly anticipated. If it was an enjoyable game, it would set the tone for future TMNT releases and join the ranks of other NES classics of the time. Having sold over 4 million copies, placing it as one of the best selling 3rd party NES games, you'd be forgiven for thinking that it achieved this goal. It seems, however that the excitement over the game was somewhat misplaced as many critics found it to be one of the most difficult and frustrating NES games ever released.

After a start screen which features an 8-bit theme which sounds a little like "Stone Cold Crazy" by Queen featuring each turtle's stats and weapons, the game begins with a top down map screen. The player chooses to enter buildings or open drain covers, inside of which there are platforming levels with enemies roaming around. At the end of these levels there's a boss, after which the player receives a health power-up and continues from an exit, further along then map than they were.

On first playing one of the platform stages, you'll notice that your attacks don't reach particularly far unless you're using Donatello who uses a bo staff as a weapon. As any of the other 3 turtles, you have to get almost close enough to be damaged by the enemy to even have a chance of hitting them with your weapon. Jumping is another strange element of the game; while holding it for longer makes your turtle jump higher (which is good), there are a lot of jumps which are made difficult by ceilings or spawning enemies on the other side of them. If you miss one of these jumps due to hitting a ceiling or not timing it correctly, you have to trudge through re-spawning enemies to attempt it once again.

In the middle of the very first platforming stage, there's a mini-boss who's exactly the same as a regular enemy on the level which seems pointless. The enemies and bosses all seem to be unrelated to the cartoon series, as you're faced with a variety of flying legs, insects and other crazy adversaries. Later on in the game there's other frustrating levels such as timed swimming through electric kelp, and driving around the city in the Turtle Wagon, trying to avoid being steamrollered. The overall plot seems pretty directionless and haphazard.

Graphically it's hard to assess whether the game is good or not. Obviously it's in the classic 8 bit NES style, but some of the choices for platform textures and enemy sprites are questionable. The choice to include the overhead Turtle Van stages was also perhaps not as wise as other parts of the game. Musically, there's not a whole lot to enjoy, besides the Queen sounding intro screen song, and the sound effects could use some improving also.

Overall the game's controls and level design make it frustrating and difficult to enjoy, adding to the lack of characters besides the turtles from the cartoon series. The plot itself also seems fairly unrelated to anything that ever happened to the turtles, and the fact that you only have 4 lives to complete each area before you're forced to start over doesn't help. Konami could have done a lot better with this game, and it's sequel ended up setting the precedent for the next few Ninja Turtles titles, featuring more Beat 'Em Up orientated playstyles.

Rating: 36/100
Grade: E