Let's kick shell!
By:Bahamut Dragons
 
 
Wow. My third article already. Could I become the next Toasty? Well… probably not. Still, I hope people are reading these things. Oh, wait, if you are reading this, then people are reading these things. I will then continue! Thank you, my beloved public!
 
This time, I will discuss about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It might seam strange, considering my other two articles/reviews, but still, TMNT had 3 games on the NES and 2 on the SNES. Since it went on such a long run, I think it deserves a place on NintendoLand.
 
TMNT was first released in , by a company named Ultra Games… Actually, Ultra Games was just a division of Konami, you know, that small company that brought us Contra, Castlevania, and much more great games… Anyway, TMNT was a great game. The mix between side-scrooler and some kind of strange overview was a great idea. Later on, they released TMNT2, which changed styles to a more "final fight" style of game. TMNT3 stayed in the same idea, along with TMNT4 (turtles in time), the first for SNES. TMNT5 became a fighter. After that, I don't remember any other TMNT games for any systems. Here are my reviews for each games. As always, no gameboy games will be reviewed.
 
TMNT1 was the first TMNT game ever. I thought it was great. I was personally a big fan of them. It wasn't actually one story but three. First, you save April, then, you save the town, then you save Splinter. This is very interesting, considering they could have made a no story game when your only goal is to give Shredder a woopin at the end. If you don't remember, Shredder was that guy with the claws. I thought he had a cool look. As a matter a fact, I still do. What was interesting in TMNT was it's diversity. You don't go to one level, beat the bad guys, beat the boss, then up to the next level. It's more complex then that. You can enter many buildings, most of which are no use (except finding more weapons), which gave a realistic touch to the game… Ok, the fact that the buildings were full of foot-soldiers and other stuff like that wasn't very realistic. Other good ideas were different strengths between the turtles. I remember Donnatello being the best, since he had the longest reach and he was the strongest. And, you always had access to all non captured turtles. In this games, turtles don't die, they get captured. No, it's not an anti-violence message, since you can get back captured turtles. All in all, it was a terrific game. Maybe only lacks a save, passwords. Overall: 9 on 10.
 
TMNT2 ranks much lower on my quality scale. First, as I explained higher, it's a more Final Fight type of game. Yes, you can choose between our 4 heroes: Leonardo, the blue turtle with the Katanas, Raphael, the red turtle with the Sais, orange Michalengello, with the Nunchukus and Donnatello, the purple ranger with the Bo (a stick). … Actually, maybe I should of talked about them before getting to the second game. Oh well :). Except colors and weapons, there are no differences between them. After beating up purple, orange, blue, red and white foot-soldiers, and a couple of bosses, you get pretty much tired of this game. Very repeatitive. Overall: 6 on 10.
 
TMNT3. To quote Jacky Chan, in Rush Hour:" What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!" Again, a dull game. Same as the second. The only good point I remember from this game is the code for lifes: Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, (Select), Start. I found this one on my own when I was young. A proud little kid, it was truely a kodak moment. It's just a copy from Contra 1 (also by Konami). That is what kept the fun of the game. It doesn't cut it now through. Overall: 5 on 10.
 
With TMNT4, it's a new beginning. Yes, it's a Final Fight type, but we are now running on SNES power. No, I'm not talking graphics here but new moves. It is now possible to throw the ennemies at the screen, which is the only way to beat a boss at one level. The idea of time travel is also very interesting. All in all, not a game I'd play all day long, but a fairly good game, especially at two players. And it had a two player between then mini battle game which took… at least 5 minutes of our time. Overall: 8 on 10.
 
With TMNT5, Konami again tried something new: a fighter. That idea was very odd, since TMNT4 did fairly well on the market. Personally, I think it should have become back to the style of TMNT1. Becoming a fighter was not a good idea. Sure, it had originality. Well, only fragments. There was a story mode, when you become one of the turtles and fight monsters all over town. And a mode where you compete for cash in a tournament. Just trying to be interesting, as the cash is just your points. Then the other normal modes, like two player mode and that. Heck, it didn't even have the famous evil duo, Bebop and Rocksteady. Very deceaving to me. Overall: 6 on 10.
 
To conclude, I think TMNT is one of those caracter trademark games that could, but sadly didn't for some reason. Still, Konami largely compensates with other series like Castlevania (read my article on that one: "Dare enter the castle"). Last thought: in Europe, TMNT was renamed Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, because if they used the word ninja, all the kids would run around thinking they are ninjas. Does that mean that now, all the kids run around thinking they are heroes? This is Bahamut Dragons… signing off.