Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an
arcade gameAn arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, typically installed in businesses such as restaurants, public houses, video arcades, and Family Entertainment Centers...
produced by
Konamiis a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
in 1989. It is a scrolling
beat 'em upBeat 'em up is a video game genre featuring melee combat between the protagonist and large numbers of antagonists. These games typically take place in urban settings and feature crime-fighting and revenge based plots, though some games may employ historical or fantasy themes...
based on the 1987
Teenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an joint-venture between American/Japanese animated television series produced by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson and Shogakukan Studios. It premiered December 28, 1987, first as a five-part mini-series animated by Toei...
animated series. As with all merchandise relating to the
Ninja Turtles, the name of this game was altered to
Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
. It was released for the
Nintendo Entertainment SystemThe Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe and Australia in . In most of Asia, including Japan , China, Vietnam, Singapore, and the Philippines, it was released as the , commonly abbreviated as the...
under the title of
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game.
Gameplay
The player chooses from one of the four Ninja Turtles:
LeonardoLeonardo is a fictional character that appears in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and all related media.In the Mirage comics all four turtles wear red bandanas but in mainstream versions he sports a blue bandana. His signature weapons are the ninjaken , which are universally referred to as...
,
MichelangeloMichelangelo is a fictional character, the youngest of the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles . His mask is typically portrayed as orange outside of the comic series and his weapons are two nunchakus, though he has also been portrayed using other weapons, such as a grappling hook, tonfa and a...
,
DonatelloDonatello is a fictional character that appears in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and all related media.In the Mirage/Image comics all four turtles wear red bandanas but in mainstream versions he sports a purple bandana. His signature weapon is the bō staff...
, and
RaphaelRaphael , a fictional character, is one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles . Unlike his brothers, his bandanna remains red and he carries two sai. He is usually depicted as being aggressive, sullen, and rebellious...
. After
ShredderShredder is a fictional character from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. At one point or another in every incarnation of the TMNT stories, he has been the archenemy of Splinter and the Turtles. He is also known as the leader of the Foot Clan.Shredder's physical appearance remains fairly...
kidnaps the turtles' friend
April O'NeilApril O'Neil is a fictional character in the Mirage Studios franchise Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In each of the many TMNT continuities, she is a good friend of the Turtles: Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo.-Comics:...
and their mentor
SplinterMaster Splinter, or simply Splinter is a fictional character in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universe. Splinter is a giant anthropomorphic rat who is the master and adopted father of the Ninja Turtles.- Origin Story :...
, they must give chase, save their comrades, and defeat the evil Shredder. Up to four players (two in some versions) can take control of any of the turtles. Donatello has slower attacks but a longer range, Michelangelo and Raphael have fast attacks but a short range, and Leonardo is a well-rounded Turtle with average range and speed.
The controls are fairly straightforward. The eight-way joystick controls the movements of the Turtle, the jump button makes them jump and the attack button makes them hit in front of them using their weapon. In addition to this, some combinations are possible. The Turtles can throw Foot soldiers overhead, and by pressing the jump and attack buttons, a special attack is performed. Raphael rolls along the ground and finishes with a kick, while the other Turtles do a jump attack with their weapons. In the attract mode, the game showed the first part of the cartoon opening, along with a portion of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme song.
The majority of the enemies the Turtles must face are the
Foot SoldiersThe Foot Clan is a fictional Ninjutsu clan in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universe, and the Turtles' main antagonists. It is usually led by The Shredder....
. They wear a different colored uniform depending on what weapon they have. The bosses in the game includes
Bebop and RocksteadyBebop and Rocksteady are fictional characters in the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series and the Archie TMNT Adventures comics as well as most of the classic TMNT video games. They follow the orders of series villain The Shredder, leader of the Foot Clan...
(individually and together),
Baxter StockmanDr. Baxter Stockman is a fictional scientist who has appeared in several versions of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shows, videogames, and comics. In each version, he is depicted as the creator of the Mousers, machines meant to seek out and destroy sewer rats...
, the Stone Warriors Granitor and Traag,
KrangKrang is a fictional supervillain who appears in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universe. An alien Utrom, a race of aliens in the Mirage comics, Krang appeared most frequently in the 1987 TMNT cartoon and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comic book, as well as most of the classic TMNT...
, and Shredder himself.
Nintendo Entertainment System
This game was ported to the
NESThe Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe and Australia in . In most of Asia, including Japan , China, Vietnam, Singapore, and the Philippines, it was released as the , commonly abbreviated as the...
in 1990 under the title
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game to disambiguate it from the previously released
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game for the NES. The Family Computer version in Japan retained the original title since the first game was titled differently in Japan. This would later affect the numbering of the game's immediate sequel
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan ProjectTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project is the third video game iteration in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released in Japan on December 13 1991, and in North America on February 1992. Like the previous games, it was...
, which was titled
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 in Japan. The NES version includes two new levels, termed "Bounty Hunter Stages" in publicity with new enemies, the first part of Scene 3 and Scene 6), each with a new end boss: Tora and Shogun respectively (both characters created for the game). Most of the arcade version's stages were extended as well. The second part of Scene 3, the parking garage stage, replaces the arcade version's end battle with
Bebop and RocksteadyBebop and Rocksteady are fictional characters in the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series and the Archie TMNT Adventures comics as well as most of the classic TMNT video games. They follow the orders of series villain The Shredder, leader of the Foot Clan...
with a battle against the mutated fly form of
Baxter StockmanDr. Baxter Stockman is a fictional scientist who has appeared in several versions of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shows, videogames, and comics. In each version, he is depicted as the creator of the Mousers, machines meant to seek out and destroy sewer rats...
.
Computer ports
The computer ports of the arcade game released by
Image WorksImage Works was a publishing label of video games publisher Mirrorsoft created in 1988. The first two games published under the Image Works label were Fernandez Must Die and Foxx Fights Back...
in 1992 for the
ZX SpectrumThe ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd. Referred to during development as the ZX81 Colour and ZX82, the machine was launched as the ZX Spectrum by Sinclair to highlight the machine's colour display, compared with the...
,
AmigaThe Amiga was a family of personal computers originally developed by Amiga Corporation. Development on the Amiga began in 1982 with Jay Miner as the principal hardware designer. Commodore International bought Amiga Corporation and introduced the machine to the market in 1985...
,
Amstrad CPCThe Amstrad CPC is a series of 8 bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-'80s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself, especially in the UK and the rest of...
,
Atari STThe Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was commercially available from 1985 to the early 1990s. It was released by Atari Corporation in 1985...
,
PCIBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
and
Commodore 64The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January, 1982. Volume production started sometime in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$ 595...
. Although the computer versions bore the same title as the NES game (
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game) on their packaging, the title screen for each version simply said
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and lacked the extra stages and bosses from the NES game.
Xbox Live Arcade
An
Xbox Live ArcadeXbox Live Arcade is a term used to refer to a type of video game available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for Xbox 360...
version of the game was released under the name
TMNT 1989 Classic Arcade on March 14, 2007, published by
UbisoftUbisoft Entertainment S.A. is a French computer and video game publisher and developer with headquarters in Montreuil-sous-Bois, France. The company has facilities in over 20 countries, with studios in Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City, Canada; Bucharest, Romania; Barcelona, Spain; Shanghai,...
and ported by Digital Eclipse. Like other classic arcade games on the
Xbox 360The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft, and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles....
platform, portions of the original arcade game are emulated with network code and other new features added. Players can earn achievements as well as play 2-4 player co-op (both online and offline). Certain aspects, such as the character select screen, were based on images from the 2007 movie.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus
The arcade version of
Ninja Turtles is included as unlockable extra in the 2004
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle NexusTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus is a video game of the fighting game genre released in 2004 by Konami. The game is based on the 2003 TV series....
video game for the
PlayStation 2The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony. The PS2 console is the sequel to the original PlayStation console. The successor to the PlayStation, and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation 2 forms part of the PlayStation series of video game...
,
XboxThe Xbox is a video game console produced by Microsoft. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console market, and competed with Sony's PlayStation 2, Sega's Dreamcast, and Nintendo's GameCube...
, and GameCube. The music was altered and most of the voice clips edited out.
External links