Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1989 video game)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | |
|---|---|
 The box art was taken from the cover art for the second print of the TMNT #4 comic book. It was drawn by Michael Dooney.[1] |
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| Developer(s) | Konami |
| Publisher(s) | Ultra Games/Konami U.S. Gold |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo Entertainment System, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, MSX, ZX Spectrum, Virtual Console |
| Release date(s) | NES JP May 12, 1989 |
| Genre(s) | Platform game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles in most European territories) is a 1990 platform game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was developed by Konami and originally released through Konami's Ultra Games imprint in North America and its equivalent, Palcom Software, in the PAL region.
The game is based on the 1987 TV series, which was in its second season during the game's original release, but with the style of the original comic series.
The game was ported to various home computer platforms in 1991; a version for the Wii's Virtual Console service was released in 2007.
Contents |
[edit] Gameplay
The game begins with all four Ninja Turtles: Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael, who can be rotated through at any time during gameplay. The turtles are practically identical except for their weapons, which differ in attack speed, range, and damage (e.g. Donatello's bō has the best damage and range, but the worst speed). The player travels through the first 5 levels using an overview map to enter various sewers, warehouses, and other areas which lead to the goal of each level.
Along the way the player fights various enemies which range from Foot Soldiers and Mousers to bomb dropping-blimps and chainsaw-wielding baddies. In a unique gameplay feature, most enemies (excluding mini-boss Bebop and all end-of-level bosses) come in their own unique enemy groups which can change randomly during gameplay. Mini-boss fights occur regularly which consist of the player having to defeat a common enemy to progress through the rest of the stage. Excluding the second stage, every stage concludes with a major boss battle.
In essence, each turtle serves as a "life": when one character is defeated, the player can continue the game as another and so on until all four turtles are defeated. After the game is over, the player can continue and restart the stage with all four turtles again available (the player can only continue twice). The player is also given several opportunities to rescue fallen turtles later in the game, putting them back in action with a full health meter. If the player is down multiple characters at that point, the player will rescue the other characters back in the order they were defeated. The only exception to this rule is the Hudson River stage, where the player has to swim undersea and defuse eight bombs within a time limit. If the player fails the level before time runs out, it is an automatic game over. The player can still switch as normal, however, if one simply runs out of health via the other hazards scattered throughout the level.
[edit] Releases
The game was released in Japan as Gekikame Ninja Den (激亀忍者伝, "Fierce Turtle Ninja Legend"), in Italy as Tartarughe Ninja and in the rest of Europe as Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles.
The game was ported to various home computer platforms in 1991, including the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and Amiga. The MS-DOS version is infamous, as it contains a gap that is impossible to cross without cheating.[2]
It was also released on the Wii's Virtual Console service in Europe and Australia on March 16, 2007 for 500 points. In North America, it was released on April 2, 2007 for the price of 600 points - 100 points more than the average NES game - due to a licensing issue.[3] The game's price in Europe and Australia was later raised to 600 Wii Points.
[edit] Reception and follow-up
The original NES version sold extremely well during its release, selling roughly 4 million copies. It is one of the all-time best-selling NES games not made by Nintendo. Various computer conversions were rushed out in time for that year's Christmas season but did not fare nearly as well, commercially or critically.
The same year, Konami released an arcade game, also called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In 1990, it was ported to the NES as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game, even though it wasn't a true "sequel" to the first TMNT game beyond sharing the basic license. The second game had a more cartoony look, stronger ties to the TV series, more straightforward beat 'em up gameplay, and support for 4-player simultaneous play (2 players for the NES version). This new style became the standard for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games for the next few years.
[edit] References
- ^ "Mirage Studios' TMNT Volume 1 #4!". http://www.ninjaturtles.com/comics/mirage/volume01/04/04.htm. Retrieved on 2009-02-04.
- ^ Scary-Crayon reviews... Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I & II (MS-DOS PC versions)
- ^ Dennis Lee, group manager for Konami. "Konami Talks Virtual Console". IGN. http://wii.ign.com/articles/791/791978p1.html. "As you know, currently we do not hold the video game license for TMNT, so we had to create a new licensing deal for these titles"
[edit] External links
- The game instruction manual
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at GameFAQs (NES version)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at MobyGames
- Complete Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video on archive.org
