Game Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Arcade)

Quite possibly the finest arcade game I ever played in my youth! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles burst into my childhood in the late eighties and the amount of merchandise I accumulated back in those days was frightening. I once smuggled a giant toy of Michelangelo back from Florida. Paid for it of course but still an achievement to get it back to the UK given its size! In 1989 Konami released an arcade version based on the popular franchise and looking back now it remains just as good.

With the option of up to four players, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pitches the four turtles against primarily the foot soldiers but along the way you have some truly classic face offs against Rocksteady, Bebop, Baxter Stockman, Krang and ultimately Shredder. Initially you have to rescue reporter, April, from the clutches of the enemy and then your master, Splinter, carelessly gets himself captured as well. As in the TV series the turtles have different weapons with Leonardo having a sword, Donatello a staff, Raphael daggers and Michelangelo nunchucks. This does vary the combat somewhat with Raphael’s task being somewhat trickier having to get closer to the enemies while Donatello can attack from a distance. While foot soldiers are your main quarry you do have to fend off robots too but rather than just rely on your weapons you can use random items on the street such as fire hydrants to help out and if those foot soldiers are becoming too much why not hurl them against the nearest wall?

It’s frightening how much of this game I remember more than twenty years on. That early tussle with Rocksteady is one of the clearest memories but I distinctly recall when the game gets trickier, making you fight Rocksteady and Bebop at the same time. Later scenes including a frantic highway chase on your skateboards before the ultimate assault on Krang and Shredder’s headquarters in the Technodrome. The graphics are faithful to the TV series and the game is a thrill a minute with little respite between the many battles you’ll be forced to have. As side scrolling beat ‘em ups go, this one is arguably the best of them all.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles astonished me when I was a pre-teen and today it remains a fantastic beat ‘em up. The likes of Asterix, Final Fight and The Simpsons would compete for this one’s crown but for me they don’t quite reach the same heights. I shudder to think how much money I spent on this game twenty years ago but I have no regrets. It remains one of the best of its time.

Verdict: 5/5

Game Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | Thank you for reading Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave