Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (arcade game)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Cover artwork of the NES version, which was retitled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game.
Developer(s)	Konami
Publisher(s)	Konami, Image Works, Ultra Games, Ubisoft
Composer(s)	Mutsuhiko Izumi (Arcade) Miki Higashino (Arcade) Kozo Nakamura (Arcade, NES) Yasuhiko Manno (NES)
Series	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Platform(s)	Arcade Famicom/NES, PlayChoice-10, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, ZX Spectrum, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox Live Arcade
Release	1989 Arcade 2 players JP: 1990 Europe: EU 1989: OC 4 players NA: 1989 JP: 1990 Europe: EU Famicom/NES JP: December 7, 1990 NA: December 1990 EU: November 14, 1991 Home Computers EU: 1991 Xbox Live Arcade NA: March 14, 2007 AU: October 31, 2007
Genre(s)	Beat 'em up
Mode(s)	Single-player Up to four players, simultaneous
Cabinet	Upright
Display	Horizontal, raster, standard resolution

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up released by Konami as a coin-operated video game in 1989.^[1] It is based on the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series which began airing in the winter of 1987. Home versions of the game were released for various platforms.^[2]

Gameplay

The player chooses from one of the four Ninja Turtles: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael. Depending on the version of the game, the characters are either, chosen at the start of the game or assigned by control panel. After Shredder kidnaps the Turtles' friend April O'Neil and their mentor Splinter, they must give chase, save their comrades, and defeat the evil Shredder. Up to four players (two in some versions) can take control of any of the Turtles. Donatello has slower attacks but a longer range, Michelangelo and Raphael have faster attacks but a shorter range, and Leonardo is a well-rounded Turtle with average range and speed.

The eight-way joystick controls the movements of the Turtle, the jump button makes them jump and the attack button makes them hit in front of them using their weapon. In addition to this, some combinations are possible. The Turtles can throw Foot soldiers overhead, and by pressing the jump and attack buttons, a special attack is performed. Raphael rolls along the ground and finishes with a kick, while the other Turtles do a sweeping jump attack with their weapons. Turtles can also spring off the wall in certain areas. Enemies can be defeated more quickly by slamming them into walls or solid objects. Many objects such as traffic cones, parking meters, fire hydrants and exploding oil drums can be hit or damaged with attacks in order to help defeat nearby enemies. In the attract mode, the game showed the first part of the cartoon opening, along with a portion of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme song.

Most of the enemies the Turtles face are the Foot Soldiers, all color-coded to indicate their attack patterns and weapon of choices. Some enemies, such as the standard purple-clad Foot Soldiers and Roadkill Rodney robots, have the ability to restrain the Turtles' mobility and drain their health, leaving the player open to attack for other enemies. The bosses in the game include Rocksteady and Bebop (individually at first in that order, and later the two of them together), Baxter Stockman, Granitor, General Traag, Krang, and Shredder himself.

Releases

Arcade

A printed circuit board of the game.

The arcade game was distributed as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in North America and Oceania, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles in Europe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Super Kame Ninja (ティーンエイジ・ミュータント・ニンジャ・タートルズ 〜スーパー亀忍者〜, Tīneiji Myūtanto Ninja Tātoruzu: Sūpā Kame Ninja) in Japan. The game was released primarily as a dedicated four-player cabinet in all regions except Japan, where it was sold only as a 2-player conversion kit. 2-player conversion kits of the game were also released in other regions, serving as less expensive alternatives to 4-player cabinets.

Nintendo Entertainment System

The Snowfield level added to the NES port.

This game was ported to the NES in 1990 under the title Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game.^[3] The Japanese Famicom version was simply titled "T. M. N. T. Mutant Ninja Turtles" (T.M.N.T. ミュータント ニンジャ タートルズ).^[4]

This version includes two new levels (the first part of Scene 3 and all of Scene 6), which feature new enemy characters, including two new bosses: Tora (a dog-like "blizzard beast") and Shogun (a robotic samurai), both characters created for the game. Most of the original stages from the arcade version were extended as well and the second half of Scene 3, the parking garage stage, replaces the arcade version's end battle with Bebop and Rocksteady with a battle against the mutated fly form of Baxter Stockman. The NES version of the game was once slated for release on the Wii Virtual Console, but was quietly canceled. The NES port also appeared in Nintendo's PlayChoice-10 arcade system.

The NES version featured notable product placement advertising: Pizza Hut logos. The rear cover of the instruction manual provided a coupon for one free Personal Pan pizza at the restaurant, with an expiration date of December 31, 1991.^[5]

Reception

Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu gave the Famicom (NES) version of the game a 26 out of 40 score.^[4]

GamesRadar ranked it the 25th best NES game ever made. The staff attributed the Ninja Turtles' continued success to the game and praised its visuals, audio, and combat system.^[8]

Zzap! reported on the game after it appeared at Amusement Trades Exhibition International, calling it a "great coin-op which is best in four player mode."^[9] Time's Jared Newman named to his list of "14 Important Arcade Games Not Available for iPhone or iPad", citing the game's pioneering 4-player simultaneous play.^[10]

References

External links

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at the Killer List of Videogames
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at MobyGames