Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

So as a developer, what do you do? You have something that is expected to be a terrific, must-have game, but inherently has nothing "gamey" about it. The show was popular for its visual style and TV animation... well, can't replicate that on the NES. It also had some great voice acting and amusing banter, usually between Mikey and Donatello. Kind of hard to work that into a game, and the voices are definitely out on the NES. So what major points are left? Well, they like to eat pizza and fight bad guys. And that you can make a game out of.

I think it would be different if the Turtles were just starting out today, since even with the new movie, every game is forgoing new ideas and just trying to recreate the classic arcade brawler. This one didn't have that luxury, and it would be interesting to see what original concepts they could have come up with using today's technology. But who's to say they would have? It was a different culture for developers back then, who had neither the time, budget, or proof that inventive ideas would result in any more profit returns than putting out an average cartridge with a popular name on the label. And that feels quite a bit like what you get with this first game in the Ninja Turtles series.

The entire game is broken into six missions. Levels involve an overhead overworld, as the Turtles make their way through the mean streets of New York. Open doors or manholes can be entered, and these send you to side-scrolling sewer/building levels. Sewers are primarily used to access areas blocked off in the overworld. Buildings can be entered to find pizza and powerups. There's usually a main building at the end of each level that holds the boss or goal, and occasional items you'll need to collect along the way to get there, but the basic idea of making your way around the city levels remains constant. Enemies rarely appear on the streets, with the most common variety being a large steamroller that shows up to encourage you into the sewers. Enemies are plentiful in the side-scrolling zones, and consist of the walking, charging, flying, and shooting varieties. You'll note that only a handful actually have any roots in the Turtles mythos; really just the purple guys who I assume are supposed to be Foot Soldiers, and the Mousers. The rest come from that strange place game artists draw from to put a new spin on the same AI behavior. Here, you'll get flame guys, some kind of statue man, some flying things, and two legs joined together to create a sort of hopping guy.

But here's where you get ripped off - some Turtles are much better than others. Some attempt has been made to characterize them through their weapons and give them unique attributes, which is thoughtful. The problem is that only certain attributes have practical use in the game. Raphael's sais attack a little faster and do a little more damage, but big whoop when you have to get in touching distance to use them. You'll take more damage than you give. Michaelangelo's nunchuks have a little longer reach, but not as much as your two best Turtles. Leonardo's kitanas slice in an arc, efficiently killing any creatures above, in front, or below him - making for the only situation in Turtles canon where Leo is actually bad-ass. He's the number one guy you want to use in this game. Donatello's staff has the longest reach, even through floors, so he's useful to pull out and remove awaiting enemies before climbing ladders. But Raph and Mikey, although unique, aren't unique in a useful way. Their weapons are functional, but feature no desirable stats like the other two, and their short range can actually get you killed. They're best sent into harm's way, or in areas like driving or swimming where all Turtles are identical. God help you if your other three Turtles are captured and you only have Raphael left.

I do think it's interesting to note that the game does not play the Ninja Turtles theme anywhere. Unless this is an authentic version for another country (which I highly doubt) there's no Turtles theme. Seriously guys, did you only get half the license? Or did they let you pay carte blanche, and you figured you wouldn't need silly old things like the theme music or a suite of enemies from the actual series?

The graphics don't attempt to replicate the look of the show either, though what's here is pretty good. They went a little nuts with the shading, so they take on that "realistic for games" look like Sunsoft did with Batman. Sewers and buildings look appropriate, enemies, well most enemies, look dark and menacing. The rooftops of New York aren't bad either. They did a fairly good job, except that so little of it looks like the style of the show. The Arcade Game at least looks cartoony and takes the same basic look of enemies and characters from the series as if it were the design bible. Here you get an attempt at a new style, or Konami's artists doing whatever they want to. It looks nice, but not what I would expect for a Turtles game.