Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - NES Review
A Decent Game Hampered Mostly by Its Punishing Difficulty
Oct 20, 2009
Originally introduced in a comic book, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise would take the world by storm producing several cartoon series and movie iterations throughout the years. The franchise made its way onto the Nintendo Entertainment System in the late ‘80s, and while a certain amount of novelty accompanies the title, it’s not enough to take away from the fact that the game is too punishing and too frustrating for the most part.
TMNT Storyline - Rescue April and Splinter
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles begins with a cutscene that sets up the story of the game. The Shredder and his Foot Clan have kidnapped April O’Neil and Master Splinter. In true Ninja Turtles form, it is up to Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael to save their friends and defeat the Shredder.
TMNT Gameplay – Brutal Difficulty and Questionable Level Design
The gameplay in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles combines platforming with beat ‘em up elements. The Turtles must go through each stage, defeat enemies, and fight bosses. The level design can make for some taxing platforming in that sometimes the Turtles will hit an obstacle, like the roof, and fall straight down, causing the player to backtrack and try again. This repeats too often and eventually becomes a nuisance.
Even more annoying are the enemies. Oftentimes, touching an enemy will deplete the Turtles’ life bar exponentially. This is due to the fact that there’s no recovery time after taking a hit like in most games. The worst part about the enemies is that they respawn even if the player moves a single screen to the left or right. So, players are forced to fight seemingly countless enemies and take incredible amounts of damage.
There are health power-ups, but these are few and far between. And while they do aid in prolonging inevitable doom for the Turtles, it’s only a matter of time before a pugnacious boss drains the overly sensitive health bar.
All four Turtles are playable. Leonard wields his katana; Donatella carries around his bo staff; Michelangelo holds his nunchucks; and Raphael utilizes his sai. The most useful characters are Leonardo and Donatello, as their weapons have a long range. When one Turtle is defeated, the player must choose another to play as. Additionally, the Turtles can be swapped via the pause screen.
Before engaging in the side-scrolling levels, one of the Turtles is placed in a top-down environment. Here, players must make their way to the various stages. Sometimes, there will be multiple doors. In these cases, the player must figure out which doorway moves the game along and which simply provides health or weapon pick-ups. These situations only cause more strain on the Turtles’ health bar due to the enemies the player will undoubtedly run into.
While the gameplay in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles may be overly difficult, there is some fun to be had with the game. The combat and platforming mechanics may not be perfect or even great, but they are decent. Players will likely enjoy the game for its novelty as a Ninja Turtles video game as well as its nostalgia factor.
Graphics and Sound
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ presentation is one of its stronger aspects. The graphics are colorful and detailed, and there is a good amount of variety in regards to enemies and bosses. While not the clearest or most richly-detailed sprites of the NES era, most of the characters look good enough.
The soundtrack in the game is an action-oriented package with some variety. Most of the music is fast-paced and NES-centric. The exclusion of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme is a big letdown, but other than that, the musical score is enjoyable to listen to for its old-school sound.
Lasting Value
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles does not contain a bevy of levels. To be blunt, most of the game’s replay value likely comes from the several attempts it takes just to get past a stage. Taking the time to explore every single area rewards the player with power-ups and health, but there’s not too much content to be found in this game.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – A Mixed Bag
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles can be a fun game, but it can also be a frustrating experience. While some of the platforming and fighting can be entertaining, it’s the odd level design, high enemy difficulty, and limited continues that will put most gamers off. Those in need of a side-scrolling Turtles fix would be better off playing one of the later games in the series. This game is purely for the hardcore.
Score 6.5/10
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