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. It shows all turtles wearing red masks and belts, though only Raphael wears red. |
|
| 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 | NES JP May 12, 1989 |
| Genre(s) | Platform game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, released in Japan as Gekikame Ninja Den (激亀忍者伝? lit. "Fierce Turtle Ninja Legend") and in all of Europe (except Italy) as Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles (in italian Tartarughe Ninja), is a 1989 platform game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, later ported to home computers. 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 Ninja Turtles TV series, which was in its second season during the game's original release.
The game was converted for many home computers (the DOS version is particularly infamous, as it contains a gap that is impossible to cross without cheating[1]). 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: [2]
"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."
—Dennis Lee, group manager for Konami
On a recent, unknown date, the game's price in Europe and Australia was raised to 600 Wii Points, due to it being, in a way, an import, since it keeps the Ninja title.
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, all of the 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 nine 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] Stages and bosses
Stage One: Sewers -- Boss: Bebop, and later in the level, Rocksteady
Stage Two: Dam
Stage Three: City -- Boss: Mechaturtle
Stage Four: Air Base -- Boss: Giant Mouser
Stage Five: Foot Clan Base -- Boss: Technodrome
Final Stage: The Technodrome -- Boss: Shredder
[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. It received negative reviews from the gaming press, however. 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, and there was never another video game adaption of the franchise that was anything like the original NES game. Although many would argue that the era of the arcade-style games (early to mid-1990s) was the height of the TMNT game adaptions, the original is considered a classic and is still a fan favorite, in spite of (or perhaps due to) its stark contrast to all the other games that followed.
The game was also reviewed by The Angry Video Game Nerd.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on GameFAQs
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at MobyGames
- Complete Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video on archive.org
