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What Ninja Turtles game was your personal favorite?
- Thread starter ScOULaris
- Start date
valkillmore
Member
Turtles 2 The Arcade Game NES version HANDS FUCKING DOWN.
Runner Up is Turtles In Time, which is the one and only game I beat on a rental.
Runner Up is Turtles In Time, which is the one and only game I beat on a rental.
You know your Turtles games. This is the correct answer. I'd love for someone to make a modernized Turtles game. That rumor of Rocksteady doing a TMNT game like the Arkham games was too good to be true. I would love a game like that set in the Turtles universe.
SkylineRKR
Member
Both arcade games are the best. they deliver the True Turtles experience and atmosphere. As far as consoles go, the ports of those 2 were great efforts.
Manhattan Project was never released in Europe, so I never played it back then. On GB I had all 3 games and Back from the Sewers was pretty good, it had great graphics and a lot of the beloved enemies are in this one. Radical Rescue is also surprisingly well done, its a Metroid clone. It might be the best console developed TMNT game.
Manhattan Project was never released in Europe, so I never played it back then. On GB I had all 3 games and Back from the Sewers was pretty good, it had great graphics and a lot of the beloved enemies are in this one. Radical Rescue is also surprisingly well done, its a Metroid clone. It might be the best console developed TMNT game.
Zombie James
Banned
So many quarters...
revolverjgw
Member
The original on NES, pretty decent action/adventure, cool structure. No idea why it has such a bad rap these days. The beat-em-ups were really flashy and impressive for their time, but they're the kind of games that are no fun at all alone, they need that human element to bring the entertainment because there's not much to actually playing them.
kidtamagotchi
Member
TMNT III: The Manhattan Project is my absolute favorite TMNT game! I loved the gameplay, the music, and the graphics. I loved the Turtles' special moves (loved the sound Raphael made when his did his drill attack). It was just fun! I want this game on the Wii U Virtual Console so badly!
TMNT the Arcade game (NOT the NES version) was awesome. Turtles in Time was great, too (both arcade and SNES versions). I also really liked TMNT Tournament Fighters (SNES version mostly, NES version was okay). I loved the graphics and the Super Special moves they had. I liked playing Aska (or was it Asuka?), I thought she was pretty.
The NES version the Arcade game was just tedious to me. My hands would get such cramps playing that game!
TMNT the Arcade game (NOT the NES version) was awesome. Turtles in Time was great, too (both arcade and SNES versions). I also really liked TMNT Tournament Fighters (SNES version mostly, NES version was okay). I loved the graphics and the Super Special moves they had. I liked playing Aska (or was it Asuka?), I thought she was pretty.
The NES version the Arcade game was just tedious to me. My hands would get such cramps playing that game!
Kageshinzo
Member
I remember my brothers and I playing the Manhattan Project for the NES. When the 16-bit era came, we were Mega Drive folks so it was the Hyperstone Heist. I loved Turtles in Time for the arcade though and was a bit disappointed with Hyperstone Heist. 
SkylineRKR
Member
The NES version of Arcade was impressive considering the hardware but it was a far cry from the coin op ofcourse. The problem was the limited animation and thus lack of moves. No throws, no glide kicks etc. Every foot soldier had to be hit twice and would then die. This combined with more and far longer stages, and lack of 4p made it a boring affair. But it was the best you could get back then and loved it despite all this.
It could've been moved to the SNES perhaps but the game came out at the height of the TMNT craze and was a smash hit anyway.
I scoured the thread for more info about the song. I don't have the cartridge myself anymore -- what's this all about?
I was about to point this out as well. Crazy that Konami actually made three totally different games, each with their own story line, setting, roster, art style and fighting engine!
I agree that the SNES version is the best by far (it's also one of my favorite fighting games of that era, I just love the game's atmosphere and style), but from a game historical and TMNT fan perspective, the other two have interesting elements as well. It's a shame that the SNES version didn't get some of the more canonical characters of the other two, like the Triceraton or Casey Jones, even though it's understandable that they saved them for the other versions.
I have also always wondered if Konami were perhaps even working on a planned fourth (Arcade?) game as well, seeing as the game boxes feature 3 of the four brothers (as well as unified art - another unique feature of this sub-series) and Michelangelo is missing out on the fun. Has anything ever come to light about this, like a early screenshot or even a prototype?
As for the topic discussed: apart from Tournament Fighters on the SNES, I just about equally love TMNT 2, 3 and 4 on console. Turtles in Time is perhaps an easy winner to pick, but at the same time my fondest memories are of renting 2 and 3 and playing them co-op with my friends or mum(!). 3, as said here already, is quite underrated game and deserves to be played. Edit: so actually scratch my earlier statement: I do love 2 the least and possibly 3 the most, with 4 falling in the middle.
(Because of this thread I might go on my yearly TMNT nostalgia trip...it's just one of those franchises that keeps pulling me back.)
Peaked with Turtles in Time, and it's been nothing but downhill since. We need another strong TMNT game.
As a kid I still liked TMNT on the NES, even though I could barely get 2/3 through the game (on a good day). It's a pretty terrible game.
TMNT II and III are also strong, with TMNT II being the better (aka The Arcade Game)
As already noted Hyperstone Heist is just Turtles in Time with a few alterations for the Genesis, but yeah I played it as well and it's about at the same level as TiT for me.
I don't know where the idea of Rocksteady doing a TMNT game originated or became such a popular request, but I'd really love for it to happen. They should give Batman a rest, there's a lot of potential with turtles.
Love me some Turtles!
As a kid I still liked TMNT on the NES, even though I could barely get 2/3 through the game (on a good day). It's a pretty terrible game.
TMNT II and III are also strong, with TMNT II being the better (aka The Arcade Game)
As already noted Hyperstone Heist is just Turtles in Time with a few alterations for the Genesis, but yeah I played it as well and it's about at the same level as TiT for me.
I don't know where the idea of Rocksteady doing a TMNT game originated or became such a popular request, but I'd really love for it to happen. They should give Batman a rest, there's a lot of potential with turtles.
Love me some Turtles!
freakzilla3000
Junior Member
Turtles in Time.
The NES Turtles game was my first, but I had Simons Quest at the time and it kind of fell by the wayside. My next Turtles experience was the coin op arcade game. Loved it but at 50 cents a pop I never made it too much past the first level. So my first Ninja Turtle game that I could truly appreciate was the Hyperstone Heist. Played it all the way through and beat it in one evening. Took it back the next day. Only game I ever returned that I regretted. Should have kept it. Can't even remember what I exchanged it for.
This.
stump sock
Member
SNES Turtles in Time by a huge margin
manueldelalas
Time Traveler
Turtles in Time, not even a contest. Second best is the Arcade game.
Especial mention to the third TMNT game on the Gameboy, really great, easy and short.
I think that the GBA TMNT game is really overrated, it's a good game, but that's it.
I would love an Arkham TMNT game.
Especial mention to the third TMNT game on the Gameboy, really great, easy and short.
I think that the GBA TMNT game is really overrated, it's a good game, but that's it.
I would love an Arkham TMNT game.
While Turtles in Time (SNES) is far and away my choice, my brothers and I put hours upon hours into that game for years, I still rather enjoyed TMNT The Video Game (aka TMNT of Persia), even if it wasn't a great game.
Sorry, didn't catch this until recently!
Character roster, overall feel in the gameplay, character weights, movesets, etc. They were almost 3 completely different games, barring the franchise name and much of the main roster. The overall rosters were the biggest thing, for me.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: NES Version (Wiki)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters - Super NES Version (Wiki)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters - SEGA Megadrive/Genesis Version (Wiki)
A Black Falcon
Member
Hmm... well, the best of the console games is TMNT III for the NES. Sure, I know Turtles IV: Turtles in Time is the most popular one, but that game is shorter and easier than TMNT III is, and the level designs aren't nearly as interesting either. Turtles III has the best levels, as none of the levels are the bland just-go-right cooridors that make up most of Turtles in Time and ALL of Hyperstone Heist. The more interesting level settings really help al ot, and I love how the enemies come at you from every direction, not only walking in from the sides. The game is long for a classic beat 'em up too, and it's challenging as well. It's a really great game all around, and is the best beat 'em up on the NES that I've played, too. Outstanding game!
However, my all-time favorite Turtles game has to be the original arcade game. I played that game so, so much as a kid... it was just amazing, and is easily one of my favorite arcade games ever.
The only Turtles home system game I owned back then, though, was that PC port of the first NES game. I never got far enough to reach that jump you can't get across, though; I convinced myself that it was an okay game, but it's definitely not all that good, and it's very hard. Even though unlike the NES version the PC version has saving, it still is a really hard game since it saves which turtles you have lost... Oh, and as a note, you can get around that jump with a cheat code that lets you skip levels by walking over stuff on the overworld. Just use that code and go around the level in question. I never got the PC port of the arcade game, for whatever reason, and didn't get the GB games either; I played the first one sometime in the '90s though, and wasn't too impressed. It's short, easy, and simplistic. Going back later, the second and third GB games are much, much better -- those two are good games, well worth playing. I wish now that I had gotten Turtles III: Radical Rescue for GB when it came out, it quickly became hard to find... and it's tough, but interesting. It's sort of a Metroidvania-esque Turtles game. It's still a side-view beat 'em up/platformer, but in a mazelike area you have to explore.
As for the newer games, I have a few of them, and they're mostly okay, but nothing special. The better classic titles are better. The TMNT movie game isn't okay, though; the three or four Konami titles are bland and generic but okay, as I said, but that TMNT game based on the CG movie is, sadly, no good at all. The movie was good, but the game isn't. Skip it!
However, my all-time favorite Turtles game has to be the original arcade game. I played that game so, so much as a kid... it was just amazing, and is easily one of my favorite arcade games ever.
Nothing compares! And yeah, seeing that cabinet is nostalgic for sure...
The only Turtles home system game I owned back then, though, was that PC port of the first NES game. I never got far enough to reach that jump you can't get across, though; I convinced myself that it was an okay game, but it's definitely not all that good, and it's very hard. Even though unlike the NES version the PC version has saving, it still is a really hard game since it saves which turtles you have lost... Oh, and as a note, you can get around that jump with a cheat code that lets you skip levels by walking over stuff on the overworld. Just use that code and go around the level in question. I never got the PC port of the arcade game, for whatever reason, and didn't get the GB games either; I played the first one sometime in the '90s though, and wasn't too impressed. It's short, easy, and simplistic. Going back later, the second and third GB games are much, much better -- those two are good games, well worth playing. I wish now that I had gotten Turtles III: Radical Rescue for GB when it came out, it quickly became hard to find... and it's tough, but interesting. It's sort of a Metroidvania-esque Turtles game. It's still a side-view beat 'em up/platformer, but in a mazelike area you have to explore.
As for the newer games, I have a few of them, and they're mostly okay, but nothing special. The better classic titles are better. The TMNT movie game isn't okay, though; the three or four Konami titles are bland and generic but okay, as I said, but that TMNT game based on the CG movie is, sadly, no good at all. The movie was good, but the game isn't. Skip it!
Basically the SNES version is a great game and one of the better fighting games of the generation, while the Genesis came is quite awful and not worth playing at all, unfortunately. As with some of Konami's other Genesis games Tournament Fighters on Genesis clearly didn't get the budget or attention the SNES version did, and it shows. The game is 3 button only so it doesn't support the 6-button controller, has poor graphics, and even worse play mechanics. There isn't really anything good about it other than that it's the only one of the three versions with April playable. Genesis Tournament Fighters is a bad, very disappointing game. The Hyperstone Heist is somewhat disappointing too -- it's shorter and blander in design than TMNT IV -- but it is an okay game, and is a lot better than Genesis Tournament Fighters, for sure... though for a great Genesis Konami game, stick to Contra Hard Corps and Rocket Knight Adventures, I would say. Those two are outstanding.
So many quarters...
My dream world has 30 Rock still on TV and one of these babies in my basement rec room.
digoutyoursoul
Member
I actually liked the NES one the music was awesome
the music was awesome
robot
Member
The arcade version.
This game blew my mind as a kid (and judging by the popularity/beat em up boom it started) a lot of other kids minds were being blown. It nailed the cartoon source material, allowed everyone to be a turtle at once, and was just a ton of fun despite being a glorified quarter muncher. This and Street Fighter 2 defined my arcade experiences as a kid.
I actually picked up the arcade PCB a few months ago and the game is still a blast. That intro music. Bebop and Rocksteady. The cutscenes. Everything about it was just awesome. The SNES version of Turtles in Time might be a better game (level variety for one), but the original is still my favorite.
Tournament Fighters was really cool but I remember the CPU being insanely difficult, which kinda ruined it for me. And fuck the NES game, that game was impossible for me as a kid.
This game blew my mind as a kid (and judging by the popularity/beat em up boom it started) a lot of other kids minds were being blown. It nailed the cartoon source material, allowed everyone to be a turtle at once, and was just a ton of fun despite being a glorified quarter muncher. This and Street Fighter 2 defined my arcade experiences as a kid.
I actually picked up the arcade PCB a few months ago and the game is still a blast. That intro music. Bebop and Rocksteady. The cutscenes. Everything about it was just awesome. The SNES version of Turtles in Time might be a better game (level variety for one), but the original is still my favorite.
Tournament Fighters was really cool but I remember the CPU being insanely difficult, which kinda ruined it for me. And fuck the NES game, that game was impossible for me as a kid.
Irate Drake
Neo Member
They have all been good or decent IMO.
Toitles in Time, most def.
Though I do have a few amazing memories of 4P co-oping the first arcade game with strangers and friends. Oddly, I don't remember ever doing the same with TIT Arcade, the cabs seemed to be much rarer.
Also, god, the cabinet art on those games were so bad. It's sad that such an iconic arcade experience for so many people doesn't have the amazing cabinet art to match.
Though I do have a few amazing memories of 4P co-oping the first arcade game with strangers and friends. Oddly, I don't remember ever doing the same with TIT Arcade, the cabs seemed to be much rarer.
Also, god, the cabinet art on those games were so bad. It's sad that such an iconic arcade experience for so many people doesn't have the amazing cabinet art to match.
digoutyoursoul
Member
Have you played the recent one, Out of the Shadows?
Mr. PlayStation
Member
The Manhattan Project was my all time favorite, that final Super Shredder boss battle, that bgm which plays during the battle, so good, so freaking good! Instant Classic!
Turtles in Time is my favorite. Me and my younger brothers saved up for a long time to get the cash for the game, we bought it and finished it in 45 minutes and decided to never save up money to buy a game again. The game is great we just didn't expect it be so short.
I asked my mom to get me Tournament Fighters when it came out, I didn't tell her which system though so she bought me the Genesis version, probably one of the hardest fighting games I ever played.
I asked my mom to get me Tournament Fighters when it came out, I didn't tell her which system though so she bought me the Genesis version, probably one of the hardest fighting games I ever played.
hypostatic
Member
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES) is the correct answer.
Sir Alemeth
Member
1) TMNT Arcade
2) Turtles in Time Arcade
3) Turtles in Time SNES
4) Hyper Stone Heist
5) Manhattan Project
6) TMNT NES
7) TMNT Arcade Game NES <-yes, this one's my least favorite.
2) Turtles in Time Arcade
3) Turtles in Time SNES
4) Hyper Stone Heist
5) Manhattan Project
6) TMNT NES
7) TMNT Arcade Game NES <-yes, this one's my least favorite.
bumpkin
Member
TMNT: The Arcade Game or bust. Turtles in Time is a very close second though.
Although it can't hold a candle to either of those classics, I couldn't help but be impressed by the TMNT game -- based on the CGI movie Imagi did -- that came out for GBA years back. I snagged it for $5 on clearance at TRU and was surprised at how good it was. I expected crappy movie shovel-ware, wasn't expecting something with quality.
Actually liked it so much I went back and bought a second copy to give to my nephew. He loved it too.
Although it can't hold a candle to either of those classics, I couldn't help but be impressed by the TMNT game -- based on the CGI movie Imagi did -- that came out for GBA years back. I snagged it for $5 on clearance at TRU and was surprised at how good it was. I expected crappy movie shovel-ware, wasn't expecting something with quality.
Actually liked it so much I went back and bought a second copy to give to my nephew. He loved it too.
secretanchitman
Member
TMNT 4 - Turtles in Time. Fantastic gameplay, amazing soundtrack (I prefer the SNES version), and great replay value for me. It really is one of the best beat-em-up games of all time.
TheKastorian
Member
Man....I teared up when I saw this. Aahhh....good times.
Irate Drake
Neo Member
Manhattan project was by far my favorite too. Looking back on it it's one of my fave NES games of all time actually, definitely one of the most played.
Also it blows my mind that this game wasn't well known. I always thought of it in my kid-mind as the most well known because it was obviously the best one.
As far as I know, there weren't any plans for a 4th game. However, the interesting part?
TMNT Radical Rescue (GB) was a game that was released at around the same time frame as the the Tournament Fighter games in 1993, and even featured Michelangelo as the main turtle (re: you played as him before rescuing the other Turtles in a vaguely Metroid 2-like exploration-based hub).
However, even in spite of Mikey being the main, he didn't even get the poster boy nod. Leo did instead.
test_account
XP-39C²
Turtles 1 for me. Partly due to nostalgic memories (it was the first NES game we bought, besides Super Mario Bros and Duck Hunt that was included with the NES), but also that i think its actually a pretty good game. It gets pretty hard on the last level though, but still.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiOSiIxiTXQ
Seems that they fixed it in the european version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiOSiIxiTXQ
Bog
Junior Ace
posted this in off topic but even though I played turtles in time first I liked Hyperstone Heist more.
Kevin Eastman (Co-Creator of TMNT) was at New York Comic Con, he signed them and had a good talk about the upcoming movie while signing em.
Hate to say it, but that probably devalued the SNES game.
I'm not seeing "Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles" on Amiga... Or the awful "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" on Amiga.
...Yes, it was an identical game ported by two different companies, with two different aesthetics and two different control schemes.
The former holds a lot of memories for me. Not the best I've played, that'd go to 1989 arcade. But yeah.
...Yes, it was an identical game ported by two different companies, with two different aesthetics and two different control schemes.
The former holds a lot of memories for me. Not the best I've played, that'd go to 1989 arcade. But yeah.
Uhhhh...didn't really enjoy that one myself. The first 10 mins were fun, with the effects and the combat system. Then it got incredibly repetitive with the voices, amongst other things.
Definitely the highlight of that game. SS was beastly in that game. Gave me chills.
On TMNT (Arcade):
I think people are just nostalgia-bombing this game. As a brawler, it was awful: The mechanics weren't remotely balanced or rewarding. Bosses were absurdly overpowered. Obstacles that were placed in ridiculous locations just to suck quarters. Weird animations in combat.
But it did a lot of things right, when it came to giving what fans wanted: Classic original cartoon graphics. Simple storyline. The full cast and cameos. 4 player gameplay. Vibrant graphics.
In my book, the game tumbles a bit on my all-time list; and I'm someone who used to own a Konami 4P cab with many of Konami's different PCBs for it. I'd give the definitive version award to either TMNT: TAG (NES) or to Turtles in Time (SNES). Turtles in Time was really well balanced, for a brawler. Donny was easily the most powerful and coveted amongst fans of the game. But the different signature moves, coupled by combat that made much more sense to the player, and overall solid mechanics gets my praise. The boss battles were incredibly memorable, for me. From the Battletank Shredder battle, to Slash wrecking my friend and I for all of our lives (ugh). And then playing that Technodrome stage, which was simply awesome-looking and NOT featured in the arcade version of the game. Wow, just wow for me.