OVERVIEW
 
Just like the majority of TMNT games, your friend April gets captured and it is up to you four Turtles: Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello to rescue her and also take on the Shredder and his goons. The turtles in this game are based more on their hardcore original selves as opposed to the cartoony selves that everyone has grown accustomed to. Each turtle has different strengths and weaknesses that gives them one advantage or disadvantage over the others.
 
GRAPHICS - C+
 
Everything seems OK to me. You can easily tell what objects are which in the game for the most part such as which turtle you are controlling due to the different color mask they wear. However, the colors in general are not as vivid as the other games in the series as in a few levels where the level design can throw you off on where to go as seen in level 5 because you can't tell which is part of the foreground and what it is part of the foreground. In Level 4, some graphics are actually part of the background but they don't look like you could go through them and you will often make the mistake of trying to get around it and pay for it. There are other times where you will probably be saying, "What the hell is that thing?" You got men on fire, guys with chainsaws, ninjas that look like dinosaurs, weird boomerang throwing guys that look like turtles themselves, and a whole bunch of enemies that didn't belong in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In fact, the only enemies that even appeared in the cartoon series were the mousers and the bosses: Bebop, Rocksteady, Shredder, Giant Mouser, the Technodrome and Slash. I assume those dinosaur looking ninjas are supposed to be the Foot Clan. However, some of the graphics do alert you to dangers that can kill you in an instant or hinder you in other ways: seaweed in Level 2 underwater that drag you in, electric algae that sap your energy bit by bit in the same level, level 3 introduces water that escort you out of the premises, lava that will instantly kill you if you fall in it. Spikes will also occur and they even do damage to you when you are standing directly next to them. This is not a graphics flaw but more of a programming flaw but if you see a narrow gap between platforms, you can actually walk across the gap. It's crucial for that low ceiling in level 3 but in level 4 it will most likely get you killed by the closing walls.
 
I am not talking about the NES game in this paragraph here but I will advise you to stay the hell away from the PC port of this game. Aside from the unpassable area which you need to cheat to get by, the PC version of April O'Neil is nightmare inducing especially the ending where she totally looks like a scary Ronald McDonald.
 
SOUND - B
 
I do like the music in the game. Each level or scenario has catchy music that is easy to dig. My favorite music is inside the building areas where it sounds like something straight from the 40s or 50s with the thought of same era cartoons fitting it. Other good songs were the miniboss theme, the boss theme, and the mission complete jingle. As far as the sounds are concerned, the majority of them were recycled from other Konami Games. Let's remember that Ultra Games was a subdivision of Konami USA used to get around that NES rule of five 3rd party games per company per year. Most notable borrowed sound was the pause sound that was also used in Track and Field 2. The most annoying sound in the game is when you are super low on energy and that alarm gets so frustrating.
 
CONTROLS - C+
 
The controls are super strict and it is hard to do the thing you want in some levels. In some levels, jumping can be a chore as you have to control your downward motion carefully after a jump and then there is that case of walking across the narrow gap I mentioned before that could lead to your death in level 4. Controls are further hampered by the type of turtle you have because some can't even attack crouching enemies next to them and you have to do some constant pausing and switching of turtles to remedy the situation. In the underwater level, swimming is extremely hard because you often slow down if you are moving to the left and it can get you hurt.
 
GAMEPLAY - C+
 
This is going to be a long one folks because I got a lot to say about this section. The game will take a pro to get through all the nonsense this game throws at you. First I will discuss the turtles you control. Donatello is the best character to use for all bosses and minibosses and other bosses because he dishes out the most damage. He can also hit enemies from a safe distance on a plane above him or below him. However, his attacks are slow and he has a hard time hitting enemies on the ground close to him. Raphael has the shortest range and is not always a good turtle to use in the game. However, his attack is quick and does almost as much damage as Donatello so if you are lucky enough to kill an enemy with one hit, then stick with him in situations that is hard for Donatello to combat. Leonardo is the default turtle. His katana is not to powerful but he has a little bit of reach to hit enemies from afar. His weapon does double damage when he loses half of his energy. He can also attack some enemies on the plane above or below him but does not has the same reach as the Bo staff. Finally, we got Michelangelo with his nanchackus. Like the katana, they are not so powerful until Michelangelo loses half of health and he can easily hit enemies close to him on the ground level.
 
For the game itself, level 1 is not so bad as the only danger is the steamrollers that will kill you in one hit. The first miniboss is Bebop. He is easy to dispatch of with Donatello. Be warned that you can still take damage from touching Rocksteady who is holding April hostage above. The boss is the aforementioned Rocksteady who also falls easily to Donatello with a simple trick of standing on the upper platform and continuously attacking downward and hitting him as he jumps. Level 2.... Good luck beating this level because most because most beginners will not even make it out of this level. Inside the dam is not the problem but when you go underwater, you have to disarm several bombs within a time limit. If the time runs out, instant game over. Along the way you have to deal with the seaweed and electric algae. Towards the end, there is a section of algae that you can't avoid getting hit so you will need a sacrificial turtle or two to take damage to get through the section and switch out afterwards. Once you make it to the final bomb and disarm it, then you are making good progress. Level 3 introduces the turtle vans and allows you to take damage from the steamrollers without dying instantly. One building contains missiles which you will need to bomb the barriers away. This is the instance where walking across the gap is required. Pitfalls do damage to you but will not kill you. In fact, if you fall down off the building with little energy left then your lifebar is empty but you are not dead. Slash is the boss of the 3rd level. His slash is damaging and he must be dealt with from a safe distance. When he is defeated you face a robotic version who is just as deadly. Avoid his attacks and switch turtles if needed. Level 4 is like a maze. You know if you are on the right track if the number goes up and not down. You will see a few fire pits here and there and some magnets that function oppositely. They pull if you are not level with it but do not pull you if you are level with them. Area 18 is the final part, you must be careful dropping down as the closing wall will kill you on touch. The Giant Mouser is very easy with Donatello. Wait for it to open its mouth and expose its weakness then pause and unpause and it will close its mouth but leave its weakness exposed and Donatello can stand under it and kill it with ease. Level 5, is where you can get lost but all you got to do is go to the left on the overview and enter the manhole. Get through this to face the Technodrome. Wait for the electricity to recede then take out the guns then go for the eye on top. Leonardo can take this guy out just as easily as long as he doesn't jump to high. The final level is super tough so if you got any special weapons, use them to take out guns from afar. The final part is tough because you got easy enemies that alternate with tougher ones. Kill the easy ones then let the tough ones go off screen. With Donatello or a scroll item, Shredder is the easiest boss of them all. Keep knocking him off the platform until he dies. Don't get hit by his beam or you will be turned into an ordinary turtle at that is instant death. 
 
REPLAYABILITY - B
 
It was a tough game but it was still a little bit fun to play as it forced the player to adapt to certain situations and remedy them in a timely manner. Some enemies pissed me off here and there and some of the jumps were extremely harsh but once you get past them then you can beat this game a little easier. 
 
OVERALL - C+
 
Had a lot of rage inducing moments when I first played the game and it took a while to get through it. I swear the difficulty of this game was beyond hard. This was one of the games that gave the meaning to the difficulty Nintendo Hard. Shredder was more of a saving grace since he was super easy to beat.

I remember this game from when I was a kid. I was a huge TMNT fan like most kids and so I had to try it out. I'm not sure I ever got past level two with those bombs, as honestly that's all I really remember about the game. Of course I was only four or so, so nothing surprising if I couldn't beat it.

Nice work on the review too. Detailed and clear about your ratings. Keep it up.