Hey guys, it's Razor-987 here with another game review, today I will be reviewing Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles for the NES! Overall I think this is a great game and I think it is definitely worth your time to play this game if you are a fan as well. So without further delay, let's get on to the review!
Gameplay:
Okay, as far as gameplay goes, it starts you off with an overview map type look of the game where you can see where you are going on the screen and the view changes to a side view when you enter a sewer or a building, when you are in, you face off against several enemies such as foot soldiers and fire freaks and mousers and a bunch of other enemies. In order to defeat them, you can use your respective weapon for whichever turtle you are playing as. You can regain health by eating pizza of course and your health bar will fill back up. There will also be a small map of the area so you can navigate where you are going next. If your turtles is captured by the roller cars while on the mission, you can rescue them one at a time starting in level 3. The objective of the game is to rescue April by going through the levels of the game. So overall the gameplay is rather simple and easy to follow.
Graphics: 7
The graphics are pretty good considering when the game came out in the late 80s, the enemies have some decent detail and they don't all look the same, the foot soldiers and mousers are fairly easy to make out and they at least aren't fuzzy or cartoony in their design. The map and the background graphics are also pretty good. Overall the graphics aren't amazing, but keep in mind that this is the first TMNT game and the ones later to come are a lot better in many aspects, so because of this I scored the graphics an 7 out of 10, they aren't great, but they suffice and at the very least they are pretty clear and you can tell apart what each of the enemies are supposed to be.
Sound: 5
If anything, I think the music and sounds of this game were the best part, because it is pretty catchy and I think it just goes really well with the game for some reason. While the sound effects themselves aren't that great, I don't think it is enough of a reason to not bother playing the game, they are kind of fuzzy and they don't really sound like what they should, sometimes if I hit an enemy or attack them with my weapon, it doesn't really sound like what it should sound like, so even though the sound effects aren't the best out there, they still function to do their purpose fairly well which is all that really matters in the game. Plus it is good to know that the sounds and even the music gets a lot better in later TMNT games! Since the music of the game is kind of catchy and the sound of the game isn't really the best out there, I averaged the two scores and gave the overall sound a 5 which is pretty neutral considering it isn't horrible, but it isn't amazing either.
Addictiveness: 4
This game is fairly addictive I guess you could say, I have only played it once since I have played several TMNT games before and I haven't given this on a try. I wasn't really wowed by this game, but it wasn't a horrible game that I would advise you to stay away from because I can assure you there are far worse games out there. All I can say is if you are new and have never played a TMNT game before, you could give this one a try if you want, but you aren't really missing out on much if you don;t decide to play this game because there are a lot better TMNT games out there. I don't really see myself playing this game anytime soon because I personally think that TMNT 3 or Turtles in Time are both much better games and they look a lot better as well, but if you are willing to give this game a shot, go for it, it's your call. Overall, this game isn't that bad, but I don't think it is one of those games you MUST play because you aren't really missing out on much if you decide not to play it, so because of that I scored the addictiveness a 4, but that really depends on you, I just don't see myself playing this game again to be honest. I don't think it is nearly as addicting as some of the later tmnt games because they really draw you in more with better sound and graphics as well as easier controls and they offer more of a plot and a better challenge without it being frustrating due to the controls. So if you are looking for a good tmnt game, I'm not going to say you shouldn't play this game and give it a try, but I will say that there are much better tmnt games out there that you should give a try.
Story: 4
The story of this game is rather simple and there are two parts two it, the first part is where April gets kidnapped which isn't really a shocker, and the second is when Splinter is taken by the shredder and you have to rescue them both by making your way through 6 levels of fighting foot soldiers and a bunch of other enemies in order to rescue them. This rescue April from shredder type plot has been used a lot before, but in the end, I don't really think this is a big deal, and this is the first game of the series, but it doesn't really matter that much since this is pretty much a beat em' up game to begin with. Overall the story is pretty much the same as it always is and this game really isn't much of an exception even though it is the first to follow this plot. Because of this I scored it a 4 overall since the plot is pretty simple and basic.
Depth: 4
The game has a decent amount of depth to it, it does offer 6 levels and each of them have few different areas within the level, and a lot of the times you will end up going back and forth since some areas lead to a dead end, so you will have to keep trying if you want to beat the level. There really isn't that much more to it other than that, so the depth isn't high since this is a simple game that you probably aren't likely to play all the way through too many times. Although it offers 6 levels, each of them are fairly quick and it shouldn't take you that long to beat. Overall I think the depth deserves a 4 overall, there is a good amount of stuff to do in the game, but I don't really think it compensates for the shortness of the levels and the low likelihood that you will end up laying this game again and again. But it is up to you and how you feel about the game because you may find it more challenging, I just don't think there was that much going for this game to really keep me interested like the other tmnt games for example.
Difficulty: 10
I will admit that this game is pretty challenging and I would say that the most frustrating part is probably the controls, they were really annoying at times, even though they were rather simple, you have to react quickly and think on your own because some of the stages in this game are pretty complicated and difficult as well. It is especially annoying when you are going against the bosses in the game, just be prepared to die a lot in this game if you decide to try it out because if you wait too long or if you aren't able to get to the nest area, then you have to re defeat some of the enemies in that area which can be really frustrating and can waste your time. Out of all the turtles, I would say that it is best to either go with donatello or leonardo because their weapons have better range and that is going to be beneficial to you in this game because raphael and michaelangelo don't have any range at all, so when you are playing the other two, be sure to make them last as long as possible before you have to end up switching. Control wise, I am not all that crazy about it, they are rather simple and it is just one button to jump and one to swing your weapon, but the difficult part about it is the way you switch your weapons around, you have to go all the way to the start screen and then select the other weapon to use. Overall I didn't really like or feel comfortable with the control setup of this game and I think it is pretty uncomfortable at many times throughout the game so let that be a heads up for those of you who want to give this game a shot. Because of the controls and how annoying it can be to switch weapons combined with the difficult bosses and stages and how the enemies can really pile up, I scored the difficulty a 10 out of 10, I think that this has to be one of the most difficult aspects of the game.
Overall: 8.4
Overall, this game isn't half bad, but would I force you to play it? Probably not because there are a lot better tmnt games out there, but I am not going to discourage you from playing it because this game is the stepping stone to such a fun, catchy and classic series. So if you are a tmnt fan, you can try this game out if you want, but in my opinion, there are a lot more exciting tmnt games out there that are worth a play.
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