Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game
Reviewed by MarioKnowsPokeshippy
Well, I've always been a fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles cartoon, and this is a conversion of the TMNT Arcade
game. According to the instruction manual, Shredder wants
revenge for what happened at the end of the first movie, and
has trained over 700 Foot Soldiers in Taekwondo ninjarobics.
Actually, Konami released this game in 1989, before anyone
even heard of the Ninja Turtles movie.
So what's the real deal? Shredder's Foot Soldiers start the
mess by setting fire to April's apartment building. So the
Turtles leap down to the building and fight Rocksteady in
April's apartment, only to see Shredder show up and take
April for a ride. So we head off with the rest of the game.
Graphics: 2 out of 5
"It's the arcade classic, only better"???? Gimmie a break! These
graphics are inferior! Next time you read Nintendo Power's strategy
for this game in Volume 21, look at the difference between the
original arcade game and this conversion. The backgrounds looked
more realistic, you could see graphite on the Times Square walls,
you could see famous city landmarks while riding your CheapSkates,
and the Turtles were actually able to look different from one another!
Chalk up one Turtle for the arcade game!
Music and Sound: 5 out of 5
This one's a tie! The music from the arcade game was NES-ified for
NES. The music in Vinnie's Parking Garage is killer. And Shredder's
theme music ("Tatsujin" in The Manhattan Project) definitely fits
a villain like Gary Oak!
Game Challenge: 3 out of 5
Ahh, the bosses are too easy! As Nintendo Power suggests, use Flying
Kicks on them. But it's also easier to use Special Attacks. I doubt
you'd be able to take Krang out with 110 Flying Kicks and Slashes.
Baxter was easiest, especially when his sprite is overlapping your
Turtle's sprite. However, the stages are longer here then they were
in the coin-op. But what was really taken out was that, in the arcade
game, Shredder split into two Shredders for each Turtle that was
being played. 1 Turtle, 2 Shredders. 2 Turtles, 4 Shredders. 3 Turtles,
6 Shredders. 4 Turtles, 8 Shredders! Here, he only splits into two no
matter how many Turtles you have.
Game Play-Fun: 4 out of 5
What's fun is that you can boost your points fighting Baxter. If you
take out the Mousers his machine spits out, you can get more points.
Overall: 5 out of 5
This is, overall, a great game, but it's sad that you fight Baxter as
a mutant in the parking garage, when in the arcade, you fought Bebop
and Rocksteady as a team. It's also good to see Tora and Shogun from
the comics. And don't listen to the manual: Baxter does NOT become
Gnatman by nightfall!