Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time is the only Ninja Turtles game for the SNES that is worth even considering playing. It is basically a port of the arcade version of the game but has some minor differences to it as well. There were more levels in the SNES version than in the arcade version and some of the music was changed. The differences are minor and likely don’t affect the overall feel of the game when comparing the versions. Overall this game is considered the best of the 4 games made the NES or SNES systems. It is similar in style to TMNT 2 for the NES but is better in basically every way. Graphics, music and gameplay were all improved upon for this game.

Graphics 8/10 – I loved the look of this game from the moment it started up. The starting cut-scene involving April and Shredder and the all the Turtles watching the TV was well done. I also loved the look of the levels. The backgrounds and foregrounds had lots of stuff going on all the time and were well designed. I especially loved once the Turtles started going through time and all the unique level designs that resulted from that. Really kept the look and the feel of the game fresh. I do question how there were foot soldiers in every time though. That doesn’t quite make sense to me. Not really a graphics issue though.

The other thing I really loved was the animations for the Turtles. Each one had quite unique animations for their weapons and special moves which made playing each one nice. They also all have slightly different stats. Raphael, for example, is the most powerful and Donatello has the longest reach. One of my favorite things to do was to throw enemies. The back and forth slam was good because it hurt other enemies and the throw through the screen was great. Especially because it becomes an important gameplay mechanic in the game so getting good at it is important.

Another thing I liked was how the level was used as a mechanic. The blowing up barrels were great if you timed them right. I really liked the Sewer Surfin and Neon Riders levels because they were fast paced and looked awesome. I also liked when barrels would get dropped at you in levels or the stalagmites, I think, would drop from the ceiling when you got too close to them. The cannon fire on the boat level was awesome too. Oh, and Krang shooting lasers in the first level is a great visual. The developers could have just had enemies to fight but instead they made the levels also be dangerous to the player which is great.

The enemy variety isn’t great visually. Foot soldiers were different colors based on what they could do. That helped identify them quickly but didn’t make them overly interesting. There were a handful of other enemies that were nicely designed but overall having 75%+ of the enemies as foot soldiers left me wanting more in the way of enemy variety.

Sound 8/10 – The sound for this game is good and suits the overall feel of the game. It is a bit cartoony for my liking but that is to be expected really. The whole feel of the game is a bit cartoony. The sound fits that feel quite nicely. There are some really enjoyable level tracks and others that are alright. The music isn’t the fun part of this game though.

Where this game really excels is in the sound effects and few moments of talking that you get. The sound effects from the fighting are fun. Throwing foot soldiers through the screen doesn’t get old. The back and forth slam throw is also good. The rest of the fighting sounds are also well done. Even better than these though are the sounds when the Turtles step on something. “My toes! My toes!” was awesome. I also liked when you fell into a man hole. So good!

So, while the music wasn’t as good as it could have been the sound from the gameplay itself made up for that and kept the game interesting.

Addictiveness 10/10 – This game is seriously one of the most fun games I have ever played. I taught my kids how to play and they ask to play this game all the time. The main game itself is super fun to play on its own whether you are playing 1 or 2 players. The levels are a challenge but not frustratingly difficult. The graphics and sound make the game nice to look at and listen to. Overall it is just a well-made game that should keep players coming back for more.

There are also 2 other modes besides the main story mode that are available in the SNES version of the game. The first is a time trial mode where you can try and complete levels as quickly as possible. This is kind of fun for after you’ve beaten the game or as practicing levels without having to play all the way to them. This only applies to levels 1, 2 and 5 (I think) but it does give you a chance to practice nonetheless. The other mode is a versus mode where you get to fight as a turtle against the one of the other turtles. It’s not the most exciting thing to do but it is another mode to the game which is nice.

Story 6/10 – To describe the story now just seems silly but this is the story they came up with as the reason why the Turtles needed to defeat Shredder: Krang, in his giant exo-skeleton suit thing, flies into New York and steals the Statue of Liberty. Not sure what he is hoping to use it for but that’s what Krang did. Then Shredder hijacks the TV signals and brags about what he’s done. It’s the Turtles job to track down Shredder and Krang and defeat them in order to get the Statue of Liberty back. It’s not a terrible story line but it feels sort of lame. If the Turtles do nothing then the statue is lost and likely no one gets hurt so I fail to see the urgency. However, I’m not from New York and maybe I’d understand better if I were. It’s not the worst story for a game to take but it just feels like there are holes in it. It could have been done better than this in my opinion. This is probably the worst part about the game.

Depth 7/10 – I was surprised when I looked over all the levels to realize that this game has 10 of them. 2 of them are referred to as bonus levels (Sewer Surfin’ and Neon Riders) but that doesn’t really change in my mind. Even those levels have bosses at the end of them. So, 10 levels worth of game and each level is fairly in depth on their own. The game is totally linear so there is no variety when you replay the game but it’s a long enough game for this genre that you don’t care too much about that.

The option to play 1 of the 4 Turtles keeps the game interesting. Each turtle has his own weapon and special move which adds a bit of variety to the game. Not tons but it does help add a bit of depth and replayability to the game.

The extra game modes don’t add much to the game but I don’t think the time taken to make those detracted from the overall quality of the game itself.

Difficulty 9/10 – this rating was tough for me because of how many times I’ve played this game now. There is a difficulty setting for the game (Easy, Normal, and Hard) which decides 2 things: difficulty of the enemies/bosses and number of continues available. There is also an option to decide how many lives you start with at the beginning of the game or after you continue (3, 5 and 7). These options do allow for a lot of variability in the difficulty of the game. On Hard with only 3 lives I could see this being a very difficult game to complete. Not because of the normal enemies you face but because of the bosses.

I find that after the first 2 bosses of the game that it is nearly impossible to beat a lot of the remaining bosses without dying at least once. Especially Slash. I think he is probably the toughest boss of the game after the Final Shredder. Tokka and Rahzar can be a challenge if you don’t manage your position around them properly but not impossible to do without dying. Bebop and Rocksteady only need 1 to be defeated in order to beat them both so they aren’t too bad. Your first encounter with Shredder is simple as long as you can do a throw. The Rat King I nearly always die against though. Most of the bosses are tough enough that they can pretty easily kill you if you aren’t really careful. With 5 continues and 7 lives per continue it doesn’t matter too much but if you only have 3 lives and 3 continues then it’s vitally important that you learn the boss mechanics. And on hard the bosses are all faster than on the other difficulty levels so you need to be even better while fighting them.

Overall though the game can be easy enough for someone to complete casually in order to learn the game but the difficulty can easily be ramped up so that every hit against you counts a LOT. I really like the ability to change the difficulty that much in a game like this. This allows you to have fun or to have a challenge when you want either one.

Overall 8/10 – I feel like this is by far the best NES or SNES Ninja Turtles game that was made. The gameplay, graphics, and music all exceed anything that was done before (or after, but I don’t really like to talk about that game). Konami created one of the best and most enjoyable side-scrolling beat em up games of the NES or SNES eras.

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