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Revision as of 21:35, 23 June 2006 by UltraMuffin (talk | contribs) (→Criticism: typo)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) 1989 video game| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | |
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| Developer(s) | Konami |
| Publisher(s) | Ultra Games/Konami |
| Platform(s) | Famicom/NES Amiga Amstrad CPC Atari ST Commodore 64 DOS MSX ZX Spectrum |
| Release | 1989 (U.S.) August 17, 1990 (Europe) |
| Genre(s) | Platform game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
- This article is about the NES game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. For information on the arcade game with the same name, see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (arcade game).
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (激亀忍者伝 Gekikame Ninja Den in Japan) is a 1989 platformer video game for the NES by Ultra Games/Konami based on the popular cartoon and comic books. It is also the first video game ever to be based on the series. The same year, Konami released Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, an arcade game by the same name but totally unrelated to this NES title.
Gameplay
The game begins with all four Ninja Turtles: Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael, who can be switched between at any time during gameplay. Each turtle is practically identical besides the attack range and speed of their weapon. The player must travel through the first 5 of the levels using an overview map to enter various sewers, warehouses, and other areas which leads to the goal of each level. Along the way the player fights various enemies that range from Foot Soldiers and Rat Kings to bomb dropping blimps and chainsaw wielding baddies. Each turtle serves as a life and there are only 2 continues. Later in the game, the player is given several opportunities to rescue some of the turtles.
Criticism
Although it sold extremely well during its release, probably due to the TMNT name, some consider this game their least favorite of the earlier TMNT games. Part of this could be blamed on the game's difficulty. Some difficult portions appear as early as the second level's swimming area, and many people gave up on this title before reaching the third level.
Because there were only four turtles and you could not rescue fallen comrades until some of the later levels, one had to progress through the game with the equivalent of four lives. A rather harrowing task for a very difficult game.
The use of critical items, such as the grappling hook, was very unclear in the game. Enemies respawned very easily (moving across the screen and back would regenerate enemies) and difficult controls made timed and strategic jumping almost impossible.
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Another reason why this game is often looked down upon among the other Turtle games is because of its gameplay. The straight forward scrolling fighting game gameplay of the popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade Game was featured in most of the future games and used in favor of the platform style of the original game.
However, those who defend the game note that, unlike the later versions, this game retained the gritty tone of the comics and even retained Splinter and Shredder's original designs, even though Splinter's cartoon background is used here. The game's difficult gameplay is seen as an example of the true difficulty of early NES titles, which also include Super Mario Bros. and Mega Man. There is also no sign of Krang, despite Rocksteady and Bebop being present, indicating that Eastman and Laird had a say in the look and gameplay of this in contrast to what followed later.
Trivia
- The box art for this game is actually taken from the cover art for the second print of the TMNT #4 comic book. It was drawn by Michael Dooney.
- The game is briefly seen in the movie The Wizard, where it is played by the character of Sam (Beau Bridges). Interestingly, many critics blasted this particular scene in the movie because of Sam's dialogue (he says that he "almost beat MecaTurtle on level three") and the fact that he's still shown playing on level one. Apparently, these critics ignored the word "almost" in his sentence, as well as the possibility that Sam may have decided to start over.
- The music in this game consists of generic 8-bit video game sounds and the title screen music sounds eerily similar to the Queen song "Stone Cold Crazy." However, in the sewer levels, a distinct blend of bleeps and bloops can be heard that vaguely resembles the theme song for the 1960s television show Batman. Also, the beginning portion of the overworld music on level 5 sounds very similar to The Beatles' song, "Come Together".
- Ultra Games was a subsidiary of Konami created to get around the strict limitations that Nintendo put on North American games released. The division of resources into these two companies may help explain the low quality of many of the mid-80s games that were released by Ultra Games.
- Many official strategy guides for the game mistakenly mixed up Bebop and Rocksteady's names.
External link
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