This 1989 classic is made for the arcade halls and it shows. It looks gorgeous, is full of details and the soundtrack kicks ass. But this machine is made for devouring your hard-earned quarters and the game plays accordingly. Even the regular foot soldiers are a severe threat either because the game throws many of them in your way or because the hit detection is pretty wobbly. In fact, the whole game feels imprecise. It doesn't feel like you are hitting an enemy. There is no real impact. Also, it feels like you have to be right in front of them but they can hit you slightly above or below you. And then most of them hit back without a real pattern that you can learn and anticipate. Same for the stage bosses. They look cool and just like in the SNES and Genesis games have a lot of charm. But you never really know how to get out of combat because they will throw a punch or a kick at you. At least the enemy throwing looks so satisfying. But also here I am missing a certain noticeable punch to it. The regular enemies and stages look awesome too but it misses the variety of Turtles in time. The fun of the game here comes entirely from the design and style of the Ninja Turtles setting. There are rarely any real tactics due to the spongy hit detection. If you want more beat 'em up turtle action, take a look here. Fortunately, with MAME you don't need real quarters any more. Also, I bet it is a lot more fun when you play with friends.

Technically played via the Cowabunga Collection on Nintendo Switch.

After the heroes in a half shell made their less-than stellar video game debut with the piece of sadistically designed torture masquerading as the NES title, naturally Konami saw fit to bring the Turtles over to the arcade for a slice of beat em up action.

To say this game was popular would be an understatement. In fact it went on to become one of the biggest arcade games around for the company with countless people, kids and fans all gathering round the machine to quench their "Oh just one more go even though deep down I know I'm never gonna beat that damn Shredder boss" thirst.

While it definitely has aged especially where difficulty is concerned (and yes, the later sections are filled with the classic arcade bullshit such as cheap shots and a Shredder boss you'll have probably never beat unless you were rich back then), it still manages to be a slice of good ol' fashioned quarter munching fun from back in the day.

And hey, it sure beats the NES travesty where the Turtles had to deal with pesky seaweed and getting run over by giant trucks even in the early sections of the game.

The turtles’ first attempt at a video game didn’t really work out so well, with it having some level of promise, but being held back by horrible level design, awkward-ass movement, and just a general lack of care, which isn’t something you would expect to see from an early Turtles game made by Konami. But hey, at least the worst is behind us, and we can now move onto the good stuff. Like I mentioned in the TMNT NES review, Konami was primarily responsible for developing a good handful of the early TMNT games for a while, and a good number of them are held in high regard, so needless to say, I was in for some good ol’ fashioned arcade beat-’em-up fun… at least, that’s what I thought going into it, and yet, I had a somewhat different experience with TMNT for the arcades.

Going into this game, I was expecting an absolute BANGER of an arcade beat-’em-up, similar to what TMNT: Turtles in Time gave me and many others. After all, it was made by Konami, and Turtles in Time was made afterwards, so surely the original arcade game has to have some sort of similar quality that Turtles in Time borrowed from, right? Well, I mean… it kind of does. Don’t get me wrong, this game isn’t bad at all, as it does lay the groundwork for what TMNT back then games should be, and it does have some good qualities that hold up to this day, but… it is pretty rough, for more then one reason. For these reasons, I can only say that the game is alright, and nothing more. Yes, I did enjoy my time with it (to an extent), but there are several big factors holding this game back from being great, or even that good.

The story is your average TMNT affair: Shredder’s fucking about, go stop him, which is pretty much all you need for one of the earliest TMNT games, so I will allow it, the graphics are really damn good, being very colorful, with enjoyable animations from the turtles, and extremely well done sprites for the characters, the music is absolutely fantastic, having some of the best, and dare I say, raddest tunes of any liscensed arcade game out there, the control is very solid, with all the usual actions you would expect, and the gameplay is… extremely basic, which would usually be enough for me to get behind, but again, there are some issues with it that we will get to.

The game is your average 2D side-scrolling beat-’em-up, where you take control of one of the four Ninja Turtles, go through several stages of a very hostile New York (even more hostile than normal), beat up as many Foot Soldiers or other threats that attack you, grab any pizza that is lying about (which is probably all moldy and disgusting by now) to give you and edge up on your foes, and take on plenty of iconic bosses from the comics and TV show that will certainly put you to the test. Now, all of this should make a pretty incredible arcade experience, and for a good chunk of it, it does, as the presentation is still absolutely fantastic, but the gameplay does hold it back from reaching that potential.

First and foremost, the game is way too basic in terms of a beat-’em-up. Yes, that is to be expected for a game like this released around this time, but there is a way to provide a memorable environment while still sticking to the basics for your gameplay. Captain Commando is a good example of it, and even Konami’s own The Simpsons Arcade Game could also fill out these roles. Sure, those did come out later, but they both have a very unique world and energy to them that still makes them endearing, and therefore, more fun. With this game, however, it is pretty much a checklist for what you would expect to see in a TMNT beat-’em-up, and nothing more, which was all that players and fans needed back in the day, but considering the leaps and bounds that future games would take, like with Turtles and Time and even Shredder’s Revenge much later down the line, it does make this one seem less preferable, and just stands as “the first one” as a result.

And secondly, with this being the main problem I have with this game… this game is pretty damn hard. Now, I know what you are thinking, “Yeah, no shit, it’s an old arcade game, of course it is hard”, but something about the difficulty of the game doesn’t feel right, and even feels somewhat unfair at times. There are many times where you can easily be ganged up on by both enemies and bosses, take a lot of damage before you can do anything about it, and your pocket full of change will quickly diminish as a result. Seriously, there were many points where I could barely get a good amount of hits on a boss before I then got smacked down for even trying to attempt to play the game. The part that fully encapsulates this unfair difficulty balance would be with the fight against Shredder. It is appropriate that he would be the hardest part of the game, as he is the final boss, but good GOD, the amount of damage he deals to you and how fast he can kill you is ridiculous, with clones that will happily interrupt your attacks on the regular, attacks that you can’t avoid too easily, and one attack that INSTANTLY KILLS YOU. Yeah, that is bullshit, and I don’t care what anyone says against my statement on that.

Now, with all of that said, it is still a good game. Like I mentioned before, the presentation is absolutely incredible, and the gameplay still serves as the basis for what all other TMNT beat-’em-ups should be, but again, it’s the difficulty and the somewhat blandness of the game that makes it less than desirable when compared to other titles. Would this be sufficient enough for someone who hasn’t played any other TMNT game, as well as being one of the first games from the turtles? Absolutely, but considering where we have come since then, and the things that I mentioned earlier, it is definitely a game that I am not gonna be coming back to in the near future.

Overall, while the game has great graphics and music, while also giving off the exact feeling of what a TMNT game should be, the gameplay is basic enough and unfairly challenging enough to the point where I can only consider it alright in comparison to other similar titles. I would only recommend it for those who are either fans of the later TMNT games, or for those who are fans of TMNT in general, but otherwise, there are plenty of better options out there. Also, can we just talk about how, for the promotional illustrations of this game, the Ninja Turtles themselves are illustrated, but April ‘o Neil and Shredder are being portrayed by real people. The fuck’s that all about? Let’s just hope that those two actors got paid a hefty sack of cash for that, because they look really stupid in those poses.

Game #303

Given the choice between Konami and Capcom arcade brawlers, I will almost always take Capcom. I'm not good at either, but Capcom beat-'em ups have a lot more complexity to them, while Konami beat-'em ups tend to be fairly straightforward and basic with little mechanical experimentation.

The original TMNT Arcade is the poster child of that for me - just a very standard belt-scrolling beat-'em up where there isn't much to do but use the same two or three attacks on similar enemies across multiple levels. Maybe I'd get more out of this if I had any attachment to TMNT or if I'd played with friends; I do not and I did not. All that left me was endless Foot Clan guys and cheap bosses (giving the final boss an honest-to-goodness insta-kill is dastardly).

Minor Introduction
Ah, teenage mutant ninja turtles. A franchise I used to watch a lot during my childhood (specifically the 2003 cartoon, which remains the best tmnt cartoon, fight me). Nowadays you can call me a casual fan rather than the hardcore one I was as a kid, but nevertheless it’s a franchise very fond to me. I recently happened to pick up the new cowabunga collection, which contains basically the most played tmnt games released during the arcade to snes era (for better and for worse). As a result of that, I have decided to dedicate a little marathon of sorts, starting with the original arcade game and ending with the recent tmnt game, shredder’s revenge. Soooo let’s get started!

First Impressions
Where it all started! The original tmnt arcade game is very much a standard beat’em’up game…one which hasn’t quite aged as well with time for multiple reasons. I still had a fun time with it…specifically because I was playing co-op with my little sister, so this score reflects that. It may be a different story if I played alone.

Gameplay
The obvious attraction to a beat’em’up is obviously its gameplay…and it is the aspect where this game hasn’t aged as well, and also disappointing in how little I can talk about it. The actual combat is surprisingly basic, coupled with the limited combos. You have a punch button, a jump button and a special attack button for each turtle, with very limited possibilities to take advantage of them. As a result, while the loop remains fun in coop (beating up baddies is still fun), it can get repetitive as a result due to this basic mentality. The turtles themselves aren’t much distinguishable in combat, outside of their attack animations and iconic designs. The game does control well though and the hitboxes from my experience worked well too. There are some other cons that I will mention later on, but the gameplay is above average.

Story
Well ok let’s make this quick. The stories in tmnt games never were the attraction and this is one of them. It’s the usual “shredder does something bad or kidnaps april, turtles to the rescue, they beat krang and shredder at the technodrome, cue credits” deal. It’s not much, but it’s a fun story and the level environments (coupled with the gameplay) do make it feel like you’re playing the usual episode of the cartoon (the original 80s cartoon at that time).

Presentation
This is one aspect where the game has aged beautifully. The spritework, animation and music remain great and the general sound design is really good. They all work together to give the turtles and this game a sense of energy to them.

Negatives
That’s about where my positives end for the most part. Outside of the basic feeling of the gameplay that I already talked about above, my two main complaints are with the difficulty and bosses…they’re just bad. This is definitely an arcade game alright, as it’s not ashamed to throw cheap bullshit at your face to eat up quarters for the entire way through. The bosses are a major contributor to the bad difficulty as well…by being badly designed themselves lol. They’re just brick walls that counter your every attack without being stunned, forcing you into essentially an endurance contest against them. There is some pattern to be learned, but you have to be damn committed, perfect and insanely patient to execute a no-damage run on these bosses.

Final thoughts
This review really makes it sound like a bad game, worthy of a 2 or 2.5 stars (or even lower)…so why the forgiving 3 stars? Well, I played in coop. No exaggeration when I say that playing with friends helps remove the sting a little, as the bad bosses and difficulty is made more tolerable when you’re playing with them and having a fun time joking around and beating up baddies in an interactive tmnt episode. So yea, just for nailing that vibe with other people and also serving as a blueprint for the best tmnt games to evolve from, I am willing to be more merciful towards it with this score. If you’re playing alone however…yea take 1 star off of this score. Final Rating: 3/5 with friends, 2/5 alone.

played on my switch as part of the konami cowabunga collection. i have to say being able to give yourself extra lives at any point by pressing the start button sort of ruins the tension. altho that’s probably the only way you could ever roll credits on this thing without spending like $40 as it’s very clearly designed to eat your quarters. difficult but not in an interesting way; there’s no way to master this it just throws tons of enemies at you and gives you very little health. nothing to be done really you’re gonna die a bunch no matter what. it’s pretty fun to stand at an actual tmnt machine with your friends and mash some buttons but it does very little for me at home alone on a console. what i want more than anything out of a beat em up is for the repeated mashing of one or two buttons to make me feel skilled and badass and the stiff and sluggish little combo here wasn’t doing it for me so much. what i really felt like was a sad sack near-30 year old sitting on a couch hitting a button over and over again in a game made for small children which is NOT something i’m interested in feeling!! moving around the map isn’t that fun, either, and there’s absolutely zero variation to the level design outside of cosmetics so…not much going for it. it looks nice i suppose, and i guess it isn’t two terribly painful to spend like 30 minutes with if you like the turtles but it’s basically a nothing game sadly. if you are compelled to play it raphael is definitely the guy to choose; sliding around with his special attack is the funnest thing you can do in the game by far