Producer: Ultra
System: NES
Year: 1989
Overview: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was one of the greatest icons of 80s pop culture. A video game about them was inveitable. Their first game, on the NES, has garnered mixed reviews from their fans.
Story: Not the most captivating story ever; Shredder's kidnapped April and it's up to the Turtles to go rescue her and whoop Shredder's shiney metal ass. Get used to this story, folks; nearly all of the TMNT games use this basic plot. Oh well, as long as we get to kick plenty of Foot Clan butt, the story's not that important, right?
Graphics: The graphics are okay. Could be better, but not too bad considering.
Sound: Sound's pretty good. Not the best music I've ever heard, but it seems to fit the atmoshere alright. I do like how each turtle gets a different sound effect for his weapon, which was a nice touch for an early game.
Gameplay: The game plays mostly as a side-scrolling platformer, with a little bit of Zelda-style overhead action thrown in. The overhead parts make parts of the game exploration-based, while most of the fighting is done in the side-scrolling portions. There are six areas total, and you are free to switch Turtles at any time, each of them operating somewhat differently (Rapheal, for instance, has the quickest attacks but very short range). Shredder, of course is the final boss, but there were a lot of gripes about how the game had little in the way of characters from the TV series. However, I hear this game was based more on the original comic book than the TV show; in fact, the box art is taken from an early issue of the comic book.
Challenge: This is a hard game. The first level is easy enough, but after that it gets marred by difficult jumps that were way more tricky than they had to be. The turtles aren't easy to control in mid-air, resulting in it being very easy to miss a jump. You also have limited continues with no save option.
Final Rating: 7/10 The game was alright, and I still enjoy playing it. But it's also somewhat aggrivating. Still, if you're a TMNT fan, you'll probably want to at least give it a try.
