TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES ----TURTLE POWER !!!!!
While I can agree with any expert reviewer who claims this game was "poorly designed" I will still give this game a great score simply because it was very challenging yet, it was possible to complete the challenge with some practice and mastery. It really is quite similar to ZELDA II in its handling of adventure/melee fighting. Many fans of ZELDA hated ZELDA II though, but for those who loved it, this game is definately for you. (minus the RPG elements).
If there is one thing dissapointing about the game, is that its TARGET AUDIENCE was merely a bunch of children (younger than 13) and it was probably too much of a challenge for such an age group. They see a video game with the TMNT on it and they want it immediately - regardless the difficulty level. Nowadays we have the ESRB to tell us how difficult (or how violent) a game is. Back in the 80's...with every new game cart, you were gambling with your money. Fortunately, the following TMNT games (the Arcade game and TMNT 2 specifically) were much easier to play. However, they mostly focused on side scrolling MELEE COMBAT wherin this arcade game was a mix of Adventure and combat.
The Graphics of this game is impressive for the 8-bit NES. Every single possible color is used...enemies and the turtles move as fluidly as you would expect SPRITES to be able to and the levels are richly detailed and quite gigantic. The music is memorable even after having not played it for over 14 years. Unlike some NES games with cheesy sound effects and MIDI tracks, TMNT had some great sounds, themed in similarity with the cartoon. The CONTROL of this game is simplistic. Using the new WII controller (the gamepad is better than the wiimote), you only need use the B and A buttons for hack/slashing and jumping...and the select button for switching turtles. The game basically has it all. In addition to the side scrolling fighting you'll have to endure, there is plenty of platform jumping - a swimming level and a driving level where you'll use the TURTLE VAN to drive around a large town as transportation. You will make use of a mini map, where you will wander around in a "top-down perspective" and still have to fight enemies (roaming foot soldiers) until you reach a building or a sewer. Entering them will switch the game to a side scrolling perspective. Stage 1 starts you off fighting through the sewers trying to find captured April Oniel. You will fight Bebop and Rocksteady in two seperate, easily winable confrontations - s long as you understand how to avoid their pattern attacks.
In Stage 2 you must fight your way through a DAM and then jump in the water to locate 8 bombs that are on a 5 minute timer. This level can be easy, however as you must swim, you must be able to avoid the jellyfish and the electrified coral less they give you a shock. There is also a SEA ANEMONE like enemy that will kill you in a single touch if you get near it- --so STAY AWAY.
Stage 3 is where you explore a city with the TURTLE VAN by driving around...shooting enemies with the machine guns or destroying barricades with the van's rockets. This city is a maze of sorts, and you need to experiement with the area so you know the shortest route to the objective - less you waste all your rockets and be forced to search for more. In this level, you will gain much more experience with secondary weapons such as ninja stars and scrolls (a powerful arc which kills everything in its path). You will also find tight ropes which you must use to get from one building to the next. Your final boss will be the MECHATURTLE on a rooftop. Mechaturtle can copy your character's weapons, style and movement.
In the 4th stage - if you make it this far - you must fight through the sewers of an AIR BASE. During the overhead map scenes, you'll be shot at by jet airplanes. underground is much harder as you'll need to fight several types of enemies and avoid a plethora of stage hazards. This is probably the most difficult level in the game considering after Stage 2 the game's difficulty ramps up considerably - but after a couple plays you should be able to win easier. The final boss is a GIANT MOUSERBOT.
The 5th stage takes place at night in the FOOT SOLDIERS BASE. You're job is to use the overhead map to wander from sewer to sewer searching for the TECHNODROME. One of the interesting things about this map is the TECHNODROME randomly moves from place to place and in some cases, you may fight bravely to a DEAD END just to be forced to turn around and leave. The game doesn't torment you buy moving the Technodrome continuously, after about 3 tries (at most) YOU WILL FIND IT. To beat it, you must hit it in its periscope eye about 25 times. After which you will jump inside it.
The Final Stage has you fighting through the Technodrome attempting to locate the Shredder. This level has brightly detailed walls and many robotic enemies meant to display a state of the art war fortress. This level to is a bit of a maze, but once you find the right path and memorize it, you'll be ok. The Shredder is in a pit like room with spikes on the floors. You must fight him and avoid the spikes. Using throwing weapons works VERY WELL here so hopefully you haven't used em up. Each turtle comes complete with their Television show weapons and each of them has their own advantages and disadvantages. You only have 4 turtles from beggining to the end of the game. If one of them loses all their health, they are "captured". If all your turtles are "captured" the game is over.
Along the way, it is possible to find a captured turtle (tied to a chair in a far-off secret room) in order to regain him to the staff, but, this only occurs about 3 times in the entire game. I suggest you get a strategy guide to locate the spots where you might find captured turtles.
After playing the game extensively, I learned to use the turtles in a specific order to maximize my efficiency.
Michelangelo is an average character all around. Michelangelo does not have a downward attack like Donatello or Leonardo. While his nunchaku weapon is weak, once he has taken half damage his weapon becomes as strong as Donatello's. Michaelangeo is the best turtle to start off with - as his weapon is a good melee weapon. It is easy to breeze through more than half the game if you know what you are doing with him. Donatello has great reach with his BO, but it is slow to strike and doesn't hit small targets with a standing swing (meaning you'll have to let the target get close and then aim downwarda at it. Donatello's Bo staff does the most damage of all the turtles and is strong against bosses.
Raphael's Sais have the worst reach and flexibility of all the weapons in the game. They are noticeably slow, but he does the most damage to some flying enemies, as he can kill them quickly with one hit, while it takes the others a few. Raphael is probably best saved as the third or last play because of his shortcomings. BEsides, you would not want to face Shredder, or The Technodrome with him. Leonardo's ninja swords have long reach and the greatest weapon range when swinging, but do little damage. Leonardo is probably best saved as either the last or second to last use. Though the sword doesn't do as much damage as it should, his range, and his high speed of attack make him very flexible to the experienced player. OVERALL, this just like Contra and Gradius is part of a collection of the best games KONAMI ever dished out. Bringing back the classic games is the only possible reason I could have had to buy a WII and I just hope WII keeps releasing classics that rocked as much as this one.
I hope they'll release:
CONQUEST OF THE CRYSTAL PALACE
METAL STORM
AIR FORTRESS
SECTION Z