Worst ninja turtle game

[Mad Dog McMutt]

What is the worst ninja turtle game everyone has played? I have played a ton of them and I gotta say that arcade attack for the ds is by far the most boring and uninspiring turtle game. All you do is break some boxes to get maybe a weapon and some health, and then fight a group of enemies only to encounter 2 more boxes with either health or weapons to help prepare for the next group of enemies. That cycle continues until the end of each stage with nothing interesting going on in the environment. Each level you are just walking in a straight line to the right. Tmnt for the ds is pretty bad as well, but I will save that for another day.

[snake]

TMNT (2007) for the GBA is probably the worst I’ve played. There’s a lot of contenders for “worst game” considering most of them aren’t good, but that one’s just a generic beat-em-up, and not even a fun one.

[Mad Dog McMutt]

TMNT (2007) for the GBA is probably the worst I’ve played. There’s a lot of contenders for “worst game” considering most of them aren’t good, but that one’s just a generic beat-em-up, and not even a fun one. really? I thought tmnt for the gba was the best version of the tmnt games. It kinda reminded me of the old school games. It has been awhile since I played it though.

[frank_one]

Probably the first one, released in 1989 on the NES and ported to a variety of consoles and PCs the following year. It is so badly programmed you can't actually finish the game on the DOS port without cheating.
TMNT for the GBA was a very good game. My only complain is that it is based on the movie, which I don't like.

[lonewarrior20]

the tiger games are pretty bad too.
https://www.handheldmuseum.com/Konami/Konami-TMNT.jpg

[Mad Dog McMutt]

the tiger games are pretty bad too.
https://www.handheldmuseum.com/Konami/Konami-TMNT.jpg

I swear I had that exact version while growing up. I remember thinking that it was one of the better tiger games. I think I even managed to beat it back in the day.

[Mad Dog McMutt]

Probably the first one, released in 1989 on the NES and ported to a variety of consoles and PCs the following year. It is so badly programmed you can't actually finish the game on the DOS port without cheating.
TMNT for the GBA was a very good game. My only complain is that it is based on the movie, which I don't like it. the first one is kind of on the bad side, but I had some fun beating it with save states and an online guide. Luckily I did not play that one when I was a kid. I loved the angry video game nerd episode about it.

[snake]

Probably the first one, released in 1989 on the NES and ported to a variety of consoles and PCs the following year. It is so badly programmed you can't actually finish the game on the DOS port without cheating.
TMNT for the GBA was a very good game. My only complain is that it is based on the movie, which I don't like.

really? I thought tmnt for the gba was the best version of the tmnt games. It kinda reminded me of the old school games. It has been awhile since I played it though.

Maybe! I wasn't a huge fan of it back when I played it because I've always disliked the GBA as a platform for certain games. It felt tiny and the controls were too simplistic. I think the sprite-work in it is great, but I prefer the arcade and console sidescrollers.

It is better than the NES game, yeah. lol

[Leo656]

Battle Nexus on Gamecube is one of the all-time worst goddamn games I've ever played in my entire f*cking LIFE.

Not just "a bad TMNT game". Just a plain terrible game. Nothing works, nothing is fun, nothing makes it worth playing. The first and third games based on the 2003 cartoon have some good stuff going on. Battle Nexus is dogsh*t. That game is so bad it's physically painful to play.

I can't say enough bad things about it, even though I've said it all a million times. I can't help it; I've played a million games and it's rare that I ever encounter anything that bad. It's like whoever made that one was specifically TRYING to piss me off on purpose.

I also dislike the original NES game. BUT. At least it's a functional, working game. It's just brutally unfair and needlessly frustrating and pretty much unbeatable unless you have Save states, a Game Genie, and/or an entire weekend with nothing at all else to do. But "Bad"? Eh. I can see it being fun if you're a masochist, and some people are. First level's fun. After that, I think it's All Show and No Go. But at least it's not completely broken to the point of being unplayable, like Battle Nexus.

[Powder]

Probably TMNT: Smash Up on DS.

[Ninjinister]

Probably TMNT: Smash Up on DS.

Homie what

[Mad Dog McMutt]

[QUOTE=Leo656;1879621]Battle Nexus on Gamecube is one of the all-time worst goddamn games I've ever played in my entire f*cking LIFE.

Not just "a bad TMNT game". Just a plain terrible game. Nothing works, nothing is fun, nothing makes it worth playing. The first and third games based on the 2003 cartoon have some good stuff going on. Battle Nexus is dogsh*t. That game is so bad it's physically painful to play.

Out of the 3 home console versions of the 2003 ninja turtles games I do agree that battle nexus was the worst. I had a really hard time beating one specific level that involved a lot of platforming. I did manage to beat that game though, but I clearly remember getting frustrated at certain parts. I did not collect everything in the game either because I just wanted to get the game over with. I thought mutant nightmare was a fantastic game though and a step in the right direction. The first game was good as well but the 3rd one was by far the best. However, the battle nexus gba game was really fun and I totally recommend it.

[Mad Dog McMutt]

Probably TMNT: Smash Up on DS.

I didn't know smash up came out for the ds. I have never played smash up, but sometimes I think about buying it.

[Leo656]

Mutant Nightmare was definitely a lot better. I've played the first one the most but I think a strong case can be made that the third one is the best of the trilogy.

I forced myself to beat Battle Nexus, and then I went back and tried to get as many of the hidden items as I could, and I got close, but it wasn't any fun and at some point I just stopped. My completist mindset tells me that I'll probably go back and get the last few ONE day, but I'm not looking forward to it.

I hadn't played it in years until a few months ago, but had nothing but bad memories. Playing it again recently and spending more time with it than I ever did the first time around... oof. That game is SHOCKINGLY bad. And anyone who thinks it isn't needs to play more goddamn video games, that's all I can say.

I did pick up the GBA version on several strong recommendations, but I haven't played it yet. I expect it to be better; surely nothing can get worse. I cannot stress enough how Battle Nexus is one of the most unpleasant experiences I've ever had in my 35+ years of video gaming. If I had the power, I would take everyone responsible for it and boil them in oil for wasting my precious time in such a grievous fashion.

[Powder]

Homie what

I didn't know smash up came out for the ds. I have never played smash up, but sometimes I think about buying it.

Meant to say Arcade Attack. I mix up all the later TMNT game titles, they're all trash.

[The Deadman]

Probably TMNT: Smash Up on DS.

Why are you playing that on the DS when it came out on actual consoles?

[Mad Dog McMutt]

Meant to say Arcade Attack. I mix up all the later TMNT game titles, they're all trash.

Then we both agree that arcade attack is the absolute worst.

[Mad Dog McMutt]

Mutant Nightmare was definitely a lot better. I've played the first one the most but I think a strong case can be made that the third one is the best of the trilogy.

I forced myself to beat Battle Nexus, and then I went back and tried to get as many of the hidden items as I could, and I got close, but it wasn't any fun and at some point I just stopped. My completist mindset tells me that I'll probably go back and get the last few ONE day, but I'm not looking forward to it.

I hadn't played it in years until a few months ago, but had nothing but bad memories. Playing it again recently and spending more time with it than I ever did the first time around... oof. That game is SHOCKINGLY bad. And anyone who thinks it isn't needs to play more goddamn video games, that's all I can say.

I did pick up the GBA version on several strong recommendations, but I haven't played it yet. I expect it to be better; surely nothing can get worse. I cannot stress enough how Battle Nexus is one of the most unpleasant experiences I've ever had in my 35+ years of video gaming. If I had the power, I would take everyone responsible for it and boil them in oil for wasting my precious time in such a grievous fashion.

I will probably never play battle nexus again because it felt like such a chore to beat. I have no interest in going back to it. Plus I own the other 2 as well and if I want to play a 3d turtle game I will just play one of those. Battle nexus for the gba was one of the more stand out titles in my opinion. There are some stealth elements in that game, and some parts can be frustrating. However, not as frustrating as the home console version. It was actually fun collecting all of the Crystal's in the gba version.

[Leo656]

I can't abide a "beat-'em-up" that actively discourages you from engaging with enemies, and instead all but forces you to just race through the levels to the finish line. The console version of Battle Nexus is a bad joke.

Conversely, all the stuff I've heard about the GBA version is good! Which is odd, but whatever. I plan to play it whenever I get around to switching the wires and hooking my Gamecube back up.

[Mad Dog McMutt]

I can't abide a "beat-'em-up" that actively discourages you from engaging with enemies, and instead all but forces you to just race through the levels to the finish line. The console version of Battle Nexus is a bad joke.

Conversely, all the stuff I've heard about the GBA version is good! Which is odd, but whatever. I plan to play it whenever I get around to switching the wires and hooking my Gamecube back up.

I looked it up. Level 11-3 was the one that I had a really tough time getting through.

[slashpieturtlemix]

I still hate the original NES game :tlol: I also didn't like the smash up game on wii but that was mainly because I felt like they tried to make something good then quit. They could have added so much more to it but all we got was a tmnt game with a ton of raving rabbit characters.

[Leo656]

Hah! Yeah, that's exactly what "Smash-Up" feels like.

[CyberCubed]

All the "classic" games are good, meaning everything from the NES/SNES/Genesis and original Gameboy. Yeah TMNT 1 on NES has some awful difficulty curves, but its plenty playable. The rest are great beat 'em ups and the Tournament Fighters are great.

Obviously once you move on to the PS2/Gamecube/Xbox era and beyond, the games suffer from what most licensed games do, in which they're rushed to the market and the games themselves aren't great. Still they are enjoyable, I had them all in the early 2000's when I was a teen. Although I'd probably get really bored of them quick if I were to play them now.

[TigerClaw]

The NES game is a classic. The weird thing about it once you beat it, Splinter magically turns back into a human all of a sudden. No explanation why.

[Prowler]

Keep in mind I haven't played every single TMNT game.

I'm going with the Genesis/Mega Drive version of Tournament Fighters. TMNT 2 BattleNexus was also quite a mess.

[Mad Dog McMutt]

All the "classic" games are good, meaning everything from the NES/SNES/Genesis and original Gameboy. Yeah TMNT 1 on NES has some awful difficulty curves, but its plenty playable. The rest are great beat 'em ups and the Tournament Fighters are great.

Obviously once you move on to the PS2/Gamecube/Xbox era and beyond, the games suffer from what most licensed games do, in which they're rushed to the market and the games themselves aren't great. Still they are enjoyable, I had them all in the early 2000's when I was a teen. Although I'd probably get really bored of them quick if I were to play them now.

There were a couple of worthy turtle games after the classics like you said. For anyone who doesn't want to dig through the crap to find the good ones I will recommend a few. The 1st and 3rd games of the console versions of the 2003 series are pretty good. The 2nd one is alright but ruined by some difficult parts. I think all 3 of the gameboy advanced games are good. However,the 1st one based off the 2003 series is very short. I had a lot of fun playing danger of the ooze for the 3ds. Even though it is short it reminded me of radical rescue for the gameboy due to the metroidvania style. The other 3ds game based off the 2012 series isn't that bad either but it is kind of bland. Totally worth the 7 bucks I paid for it though. Mutant nightmare for the ds could have been great but there are some super difficult parts that just ruin everything. Maybe somebody looking for a challenge could appreciate it. All the other games I have played aren't worth mentioning. I have yet to play out of the shadows or the remake of turtles in time. I also refuse to play any game involving the hideous Michael Bay turtles.

[shihe]

My least favorite is either:

Arcade Attack:
It was a bit bland, and enemies took a LOT and I mean A LOT of hits to defeat. Making the game drag for no reason. Had this award camera angle as well.

Battle Nexus (GBA)
The whole forced crystal finding gimmick was a deal breaker for me, tbh. Also, I think you had to find your weapons first? Awful.

Back from the Sewers (GB)
Turtles have terrible hitboxes, weapons are so short, might as well lose their weapons and just punch. The turtles themselves look pretty derpy, and the bosses have huge heads for some reason.


But taking a step back, I don't think I've played a BAD TMNT game.
Some are clearly much better than others though.
Also completely ignored Bay Turtles games.

[DragonSoul]

In my opinion the worst TMNT game has to be TMNT Battle Nexus. The Battle Nexus only accounts for a small fraction of the game! The whole story is mainly about snippets of the 4kids cartoon with a small dash of Battle Nexus sprinkled in at the last second. The game's combat, sound design, character design, and animations are poor quality as well. TMNT Battle Nexus is a terrible game because its content has nothing to do with its title and its gameplay is overall just bad.

I too also ignored the odd Bay turtles, that is the obvious first choice for anyone lol.

[Mad Dog McMutt]

In my opinion the worst TMNT game has to be TMNT Battle Nexus. The Battle Nexus only accounts for a small fraction of the game! The whole story is mainly about snippets of the 4kids cartoon with a small dash of Battle Nexus sprinkled in at the last second. The game's combat, sound design, character design, and animations are poor quality as well. TMNT Battle Nexus is a terrible game because its content has nothing to do with its title and its gameplay is overall just bad.

I too also ignored the odd Bay turtles, that is the obvious first choice for anyone lol.

Are you talking about the main console version of battle nexus or the gba version?

[sdp]

5QFOzfWXuiU

[Prowler]

The best thing about TMNT Battle Nexus was having the original TMNT arcade as an unlockable in it. First time you could do play that game outside of an arcade. A shame they removed the voice overs and just used the same two tunes throughout the whole game. But oh well, Konami just didn't have the rights to the OST, I guess.

Slashuur was also an interesting OC as were a few cutscenes created in purpose for the game. I was actually a bit disappointed Slashuur turned out to not exist outside of the game.

[sdp]

The best thing about TMNT Battle Nexus was having the original TMNT arcade as an unlockable in it. First time you could do play that game outside of an arcade. A shame they removed the voice overs and just used the same two tunes throughout the whole game. But oh well, Konami just didn't have the rights to the OST, I guess.

Slashuur was also an interesting OC as were a few cutscenes created in purpose for the game. I was actually a bit disappointed Slashuur turned out to not exist outside of the game.


I know some cutscenes have stuff that didn't happen in the show but were animated exclusively for the games. How much original stuff do the 3 2k3 games Konami released have?

I had no idea about slashuur, any other characters even if not main villains?

[Coola Yagami]

I know some cutscenes have stuff that didn't happen in the show but were animated exclusively for the games. How much original stuff do the 3 2k3 games Konami released have?

I had no idea about slashuur, any other characters even if not main villains?

I remember the turtlebot had all new cutscenes cause that was before he was in the actual show. The new scenes were drawn kinda simplistic and didn't animate as well as the scenes cut right out of the show.

[MikeandRaph87]

I only played 1987 era and 2003 era games aside from Mutants in Manhattan and played them all. The worst was easily the first Nintendo game. The enemies were random and generic instead of foot soldiers of different weapons and I never could get past the second level until I was an adult.

Also, TMNT:Smash Up was so poorly advertised it is the product I cite as the one that let me down the most. I was expecting TMNT characters of all incarnations and all we got was Fugitoid and Utrominator, a made up character with the 2007 film designs. Then there is the Rabbid insertion that was unnecessary. The game mode was so easy I beat it in an hour and the only fun was beating up rabbids at the site of the Technodrome. If it was not teasing reveals of any potential character and the way Ubisoft handled it was upsetting.

I cannot speak for the 2012 related games since I did not play them.

[Prowler]

I know some cutscenes have stuff that didn't happen in the show but were animated exclusively for the games. How much original stuff do the 3 2k3 games Konami released have?

I had no idea about slashuur, any other characters even if not main villains?

F*ck I remember. I haven't played that game since 2005.

Slashuur was an OG character for the game. He was an utrom in an exosuit who had some backstory with Chrell. He also told the turtles about the Battle Nexus tournament. Which is different from how they found out about it in the 2k3 series.

[CyberCubed]

All the cutscenes for the games are on youtube if you want to see the story again.

[Prowler]

Battle Nexus is the best example I can think of of a bad game with a pretty good OST.

I did have fun with the game when I was 14 however. But it had very frustrating parts. And I've never been able to beat every single category in the Battle Nexus tournaments.

Be honest, guys, how many of you used the cheat codes to get through the game at times?

[D-ray]

Mmmmh, very likely the first 2003 game on PS2/Gamecube/Xbox.
It's just like Turtles in Time, but is as long as a Easter church morning (I remember being extremely long when I was a kid). Also, the VS mode is kind of messed up.

Battle Nexus had it's flaws but was a good solid game; and Mutant Nightmare was the best among all of them in my opinion.

I tried the Nes game recently and it's not bad either (except the controls; they are clumsy as hell).
Never played Tournament Fighters, so I can't say if they are bad or not, but I guess they are fine since they are very basic BeatEmUps.
Turtle's in Time and the majority of the arcade TMNT titles are ok. They definitely didn't age well, but they are not bad.

Battle Nexus is the best example I can think of of a bad game with a pretty good OST.

I did have fun with the game when I was 14 however. But it had very frustrating parts. And I've never been able to beat every single category in the Battle Nexus tournaments.

Be honest, guys, how many of you used the cheat codes to get through the game at times?

Omg, Battle Nexus had an insanely great ost. Thanks for noticing it comrade.
About the frustrating part: yes, it is kind of frustrating.
But just because some game mechanics are TERRIBLY explained.
Like, did you actually know that Michelangelo can DEFLECT arrows by guarding?

And don't get me started on my 10 years research on how to get S+ as rank. The game, for whatever reason, counts your Attack and Aerial on which combo you use (???), and the Defence rank is based on how much blows you parry (????????????).

But whatever it ain't that of a bad game tho. The boss fights are probably one of the reasons why I still play it to this very day!

[IMJ]

I know some cutscenes have stuff that didn't happen in the show but were animated exclusively for the games. How much original stuff do the 3 2k3 games Konami released have?

I had no idea about slashuur, any other characters even if not main villains?

Dude. The chick in your signature doing that repeating GIF motion is like the tease of an adult scene that will never pay off.

[Leo656]

Mmmmh, very likely the first 2003 game on PS2/Gamecube/Xbox.
It's just like Turtles in Time, but is as long as a Easter church morning (I remember being extremely long when I was a kid). Also, the VS mode is kind of messed up.

Battle Nexus had it's flaws but was a good solid game; and Mutant Nightmare was the best among all of them in my opinion.

I tried the Nes game recently and it's not bad either (except the controls; they are clumsy as hell).
Never played Tournament Fighters, so I can't say if they are bad or not, but I guess they are fine since they are very basic BeatEmUps.
Turtle's in Time and the majority of the arcade TMNT titles are ok. They definitely didn't age well, but they are not bad.



Omg, Battle Nexus had an insanely great ost. Thanks for noticing it comrade.
About the frustrating part: yes, it is kind of frustrating.
But just because some game mechanics are TERRIBLY explained.
Like, did you actually know that Michelangelo can DEFLECT arrows by guarding?

And don't get me started on my 10 years research on how to get S+ as rank. The game, for whatever reason, counts your Attack and Aerial on which combo you use (???), and the Defence rank is based on how much blows you parry (????????????).

But whatever it ain't that of a bad game tho. The boss fights are probably one of the reasons why I still play it to this very day!

I can't sign off on any of this. When's the last time you played it? I know, I know... 'pinions. I just... I cannot find a single redeeming thing about "Battle Nexus". It was, by far, one of the all-time worst and least-fun experiences I have EVER had in playing video games. If that game was the only game I owned, I'd start collecting stamps. It is so completely goddamn broken.

"Mutant Nightmare" was definitely the best overall of that trilogy, though. But the first one is way better than Battle Nexus. If it weren't for "Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six" for NES I think it would be the most hated game in my collection.

I'm sorry, I just can't find anything redeeming or even tolerable about it, and I'm completely baffled as to how anyone could actually enjoy it. I've had bouts of food poisoning that I'd rather revisit before I'd ever play that thing again.

[D-ray]

I can't sign off on any of this. When's the last time you played it? I know, I know... 'pinions. I just... I cannot find a single redeeming thing about "Battle Nexus". It was, by far, one of the all-time worst and least-fun experiences I have EVER had in playing video games. If that game was the only game I owned, I'd start collecting stamps. It is so completely goddamn broken.

"Mutant Nightmare" was definitely the best overall of that trilogy, though. But the first one is way better than Battle Nexus. If it weren't for "Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six" for NES I think it would be the most hated game in my collection.

I'm sorry, I just can't find anything redeeming or even tolerable about it, and I'm completely baffled as to how anyone could actually enjoy it. I've had bouts of food poisoning that I'd rather revisit before I'd ever play that thing again.
Gimme a break comrade, I already know your hard time with the game.

But dunno, I kinda always liked it. I played it literally 5 days ago because I finished working early and I said: "Why not? I want to fool around abit with Traximus and Leatherhead."
As a single player experience it ain't nothing special, but in multiplayer I remember it being a very fun game!
Again, I'm not saying that is a masterpiece; I joke about it, but no, TMNT 2 Battle Nexus is FAR from being a masterpiece. It's just a fun little game.

The fact that you don't like it, but prefer the first and third game, is very likely because you are more used to the "arcade-y" type of TMNT game.
Battle Nexus, having platforming and other stuff, may be bad for some type of TMNT players because of that.
I always fought against people who said that it was a terrible game, just because is not. It has it flaws, but can't be considered complete trash. In fact, even those dumbheads at IGN changed like 2 years ago their vote from 5 to 6. Which, I might say, is perfect for the game.

Also, I still think that it might be the version you played that might be broken. I never heard any big complain from who played the Ps2 version.

[Leo656]

I doubt it. All the problems like the platforming being terrible, the enemies taking more hits to kill than a tank and the fact that it's a "beat-'em-up" where 99% of the time your best strategy is to simply run away from enemies are still there from everything I've ever heard. It's a fundamentally broken game. My dislike of it comes simply from the fact that I've played a hundred platformers, and a hundred beat-'em-ups, and that I've rarely seen a game fail so much at either of those things as this one does.

I hated it the first time I played it, and I've hated every second of playing it every time I've ever gone back to it. I gave it more chances than it deserves, and I hate it.

I'm glad it's managed to somehow enrich your life in some way, so I guess its existence isn't altogether worthless. I'm just saying, you could explain it to me a hundred times and I confess that I just cannot understand it. There's certain things I just can't understand, and this is one of them. In a world where thousands of better games exist, and at least a handful of MUCH better TMNT games exist, if I live to be 200 I will never understand anyone willingly spending any of their time playing... this.

You can keep it, that's fine. I just don't understand it at all. I've looked, and I've tried, and I can't find one singular thing of value in it. ((Shrug))

[Prowler]

Mmmmh, very likely the first 2003 game on PS2/Gamecube/Xbox.
It's just like Turtles in Time, but is as long as a Easter church morning (I remember being extremely long when I was a kid). Also, the VS mode is kind of messed up.

Battle Nexus had it's flaws but was a good solid game; and Mutant Nightmare was the best among all of them in my opinion.

I tried the Nes game recently and it's not bad either (except the controls; they are clumsy as hell).
Never played Tournament Fighters, so I can't say if they are bad or not, but I guess they are fine since they are very basic BeatEmUps.
Turtle's in Time and the majority of the arcade TMNT titles are ok. They definitely didn't age well, but they are not bad.



Omg, Battle Nexus had an insanely great ost. Thanks for noticing it comrade.
About the frustrating part: yes, it is kind of frustrating.
But just because some game mechanics are TERRIBLY explained.
Like, did you actually know that Michelangelo can DEFLECT arrows by guarding?

And don't get me started on my 10 years research on how to get S+ as rank. The game, for whatever reason, counts your Attack and Aerial on which combo you use (???), and the Defence rank is based on how much blows you parry (????????????).

But whatever it ain't that of a bad game tho. The boss fights are probably one of the reasons why I still play it to this very day!
I totally had forgotten about the ranks. Yes, I think the best I did was finish the game with a B or A rank?

Well, Konami had been making Turtles games for nearly 20 years by then. They knew how to make fitting music for a TMNT game.

Yes, I know Mike can block arrows.

Battle Nexus had good ideas on paper but was probably rushed. Konami done some good stuff in the mid-2000s. Battle Nexus probably wasn't where all their focus was at and they probably also had a tighter deadline.

Anyway, I had to get some cheats to beat some levels. Like the one underground where you gotta fight some monsters in the very first world. The difficulty at times was BRUTAL in the game. Especially the Ancient Japan world, holy hell.

I own the GameCube version. It comes with 2 discs. You gotta change discs when you get to the Tricerwton Republic map. I guess all those cutscenes are up the GameCube's game disc space or something...

Anyway, I haven't played the game since 2005 or 2006. I knew it was flawed from the beginning, but still enjoyed myself nonetheless. I'm not interested in playing it today, though.

[Andrew NDB]

The worst Ninja Turtles game is TMNT 2-5. Yes, I realize I said 2-5... they're all exactly the same game.

[Prowler]

The worst Ninja Turtles game is TMNT 2-5. Yes, I realize I said 2-5... they're all exactly the same game.

You're not wrong that developers have played safe with TMNT videogames for most of history. That being said, Turtles in Time and the original Arcade game are pretty fun.

BUT! I'm really annoyed how it's become a trend to consider Turtles in Time thr GOAT beat em up game only because ScrewAttack listed it #1 in their top 10 beat em ups ever list.

The GOAT classic beat em up game is Streets of Rage 2. Then comes Final Fight 1 or 2.

[Andrew NDB]

That being said, Turtles in Time and the original Arcade game are pretty fun.

Yeah, don't get me wrong. I blew tons of quarters on the original arcade game and Turtles in Time in the arcade... good times! But after that, I was definitely "good" on "that game."

I would've loved to have seen like a new take on the general scope of something like TMNT 1 on NES on SNES, or N64. That would have been great.

[D-ray]

All the problems like the platforming being terrible, the enemies taking more hits to kill than a tank and the fact that it's a "beat-'em-up" where 99% of the time your best strategy is to simply run away from enemies are still there from everything I've ever heard. It's a fundamentally broken game.

Blah blah can't hear you. I'm getting infinitely double kicked in the face by a Feudal Japan Ninja.

Jokes apart. At the same time, I can't really explain why I liked it so much either. Maybe because I used to play it with my brother, and in multiplayer can be more fun because of how silly it is.
I could list some things that I found likeable and not, but if you think it will be uselees, I'm fine. Some games are just bound to be hated by us.
Hell, I hate Serious Sam (the first encounter) with all of my heart. Some games just can't get off your mind as BAD games.

Yes, I know Mike can block arrows.

I guess I was the only moron who didn't read the manual back then.

Anyway, I had to get some cheats to beat some levels. Like the one underground where you gotta fight some monsters in the very first world. The difficulty at times was BRUTAL in the game. Especially the Ancient Japan world, holy hell.

Carambola, was THAT hard?
I always used cheats to make the game harder!
Well sure, that's because I'm a HARDCORE power YES g a m e r, professional... MLG player.

The Feudal Japan levels were kind of hard because almost all of them required you to beat all the enemies in the stage. And having like 3 bastards shooting explosive arrows at you, ain't so fun.

[Leo656]

I would've loved to have seen like a new take on the general scope of something like TMNT 1 on NES on SNES, or N64. That would have been great.

I keep telling you that "Danger of the Ooze" for PS3 and Xbox 360 is a thing. They purposely mimicked a lot of the gameplay elements from the NES game for it. It's... okay.

[Mad Dog McMutt]

Battle Nexus is the best example I can think of of a bad game with a pretty good OST.

I did have fun with the game when I was 14 however. But it had very frustrating parts. And I've never been able to beat every single category in the Battle Nexus tournaments.

Be honest, guys, how many of you used the cheat codes to get through the game at times?

I used no cheat codes, but at certain times I thought about it. However, I only beat the game. I did not fully complete it.

[D-ray]

I also dislike the original NES game. BUT. At least it's a functional, working game. It's just brutally unfair and needlessly frustrating and pretty much unbeatable unless you have Save states, a Game Genie, and/or an entire weekend with nothing at all else to do. But "Bad"? Eh. I can see it being fun if you're a masochist, and some people are. First level's fun. After that, I think it's All Show and No Go. But at least it's not completely broken to the point of being unplayable, like Battle Nexus.

The original Nes game has some unfair parts (like you have to take atleast a little bit of damage), but is definitely far from being impossible. I finished it in like 2 weeks of barely playing it. It's an easy mode of Castelvania if I can say, definitely not that hard as people usually describe.
Also, very easy to exploit since it has the classic "tricks" of Castelvania.

[Prowler]

I used no cheat codes, but at certain times I thought about it. However, I only beat the game. I did not fully complete it.
Yeah I haven't completed it either.


The original Nes game has some unfair parts (like you have to take atleast a little bit of damage), but is definitely far from being impossible. I finished it in like 2 weeks of barely playing it. It's an easy mode of Castelvania if I can say, definitely not that hard as people usually describe.
Also, very easy to exploit since it has the classic "tricks" of Castelvania.

Could never go any further than the airport level myself. Those spikes always get to me.

But most of the time I end up getting a game over on level 3. Timing THAT jump in the sewers is a bitch. As is the mecha turtle boss.

I'll never beat NES TMNT. I don't like it that much anyway.

[Sumac]

From classic games first two games: Back from the Sewers and Fall of the Foot Clan. Both are pretty horrible as platformers, bad hit detection, strange art choices (like characters appearing to be deformed) and enemies falling from every corner. I made their playthrough on YouTube more than a decade ago and it was a big pain.

As for the others, I like pretty much all the other TMNT games from that era. All of them, even Tournament Fighters on Sega Genesis has merit, even though gameplay-wise it is a garbage. But art and soundtrack are magnificent.

First NES games is honestly one of my favorites. It was not hard for me mechanically, but I always lost my way in the 3rd level, until I got my hands on a full playthrough from the game magazine, I borrowed from a friend. All in all it is a fun game and I like for i being different from majority of other classic TMNT games.

From the new ones, I only familiar with Konami offerings. And Battlenexus is quite bad. Beat'em up which encourages running away, with fighting system which is just boring, with hit points sponge enemies, atrocious stealth mechanics - its like game was created by people who didn't know what they were doing, even though TMNT 2003 was a pretty, if simplistic beat'em up. At least both games have amazing soundtrack.

Mutant Melee was also crap, but it was just a small game, so I don't think anyone was interested in it or remember it.

Back from the Sewers (GB)
Turtles have terrible hitboxes, weapons are so short, might as well lose their weapons and just punch. The turtles themselves look pretty derpy, and the bosses have huge heads for some reason.
Yes! This!

I only played 1987 era and 2003 era games aside from Mutants in Manhattan and played them all. The worst was easily the first Nintendo game. The enemies were random and generic instead of foot soldiers of different weapons and I never could get past the second level until I was an adult.
Foot Soldiers were in the game, but it was hard to recognize them.

Be honest, guys, how many of you used the cheat codes to get through the game at times?
I've completed game three times, first time as Raph and then two more times as Slashuur by moving clock on the PC forward to unlock him. Not sure if it counts as cheat or not.

[Leo656]

Castlevania for NES is way, way easier than TMNT for NES.

[Prowler]

Castlevania for NES is way, way easier than TMNT for NES.

I haven't beaten either game, but I'd rather try beating the 1st NES Castlevania game than NES TMNT, I'll tell you that.

[CyberCubed]

The great thing about re-releases is suspend points and save points for difficult games. NES games would make you restart from the beginning of the game and do everything all over again if you lost all your credits. Now with suspend points and save points in the Castlevania collection they released on PS4/Switch etc, all those old outdated problems no longer matter.

[Prowler]

The great thing about re-releases is suspend points and save points for difficult games. NES games would make you restart from the beginning of the game and do everything all over again if you lost all your credits. Now with suspend points and save points in the Castlevania collection they released on PS4/Switch etc, all those old outdated problems no longer matter.

You can do that on the NES Castlevania games since the Wii Virtual Console days.

Which reminds me, one of the prime reasons we got a Wii was because of its Virtual Console. It was the first home console to have something like that. Compilations of older games already existed before that, but a console where you could buy and play SNES, Genesis, Turbographix 16, and NES games?! That was unheard of at the time.

[Leo656]

Castlevania's levels are really short and there's infinite continues, though. I'd argue that's a bad example of a game needing Save states and checkpoints and whatnot to be able to beat it. Other NES games, definitely.

I'd also argue that a ton of NES games could use that "Rewind" gimmick that they put into the Aladdin/Lion King package that came out not long ago. So many NES games used one-hit kills (or at least bad/cheap hitboxes) to pad out the length that they're borderline unplayable now. But a lot of them would still be fun if they were a LITTLE more forgiving, difficulty-wise.

Like, for example I really wanted to like "IronSword", after hearing my whole life how great it is. But the cheap hits and constantly being back at the Password screen make it unplayable. That game COULD be good, but as it is it's garbage. With a Save Anywhere feature and a Rewind to avoid the constant, CONSTANT "That didn't even touch me! WTF?!?!" cheap hits, though? Might actually be a fun game. First one wasn't bad, although it had some of the same problems.

I had a ton of fun over the past year dusting off a ton of old NES games, but for every one that I think still holds up there's one or two that are only considered "good" because we either didn't know any better or had nothing else to play so we had to make the best of what we had. But even most of those games COULD be really good with just a little bit of tweaking.

[Prowler]

You're right. It's been so long since I've last played NES Castlevania that I forgot that.

Some older games had a good way to work around the lack of save feature by having passwords. The Mega Man series being a prime example. They're hard games and you'll die a lot and get several game overs, but fortunately there's a password system to go back to where you were at.

Long games without password systems and save features really suffered though. Super Mario Bros. 3 being the prime example of it. I know there's the magical flute or whatever but it's not as easy or fast to get it compared to what a save feature would be. That game came out after the first ever Zelda game which HAD a save feature. No excuse. Plus, SMB3 can be quite hard in the later stages. I've NEVER beaten it to this day. World 8 is BRUTAL.

[D-ray]

Castlevania for NES is way, way easier than TMNT for NES.
Well, if you understand how OP the holy water is: very likely.

[CyberCubed]

Mario 3 is very easy to beat, you have the whistle warp to skip ahead and the all-stars version on SNES has save points.

[Sumac]

Shameless plug-in, my own playthrough of Castlevania:
Cseo7cHmNJQ

The game is difficult, but when you know what weapon to use where and learn what the game will throw at you, it becomes significantly easier.

But overall I'd say TMNT'89 is much easier and "fair". Very few instant kill bottom pits, you can constantly renew pizzas to get your lives back and even rescue captured Turtles. Jumping physics are much better and if you low on life you can switch to another turtle until you get to the pizzas.

[frank_one]

Why did you stop to make these playthroughs, (Shadow)Sumac)?

Here's an honest review of the DOS version of the 1989 Turtles game:
cvLJeps0zis
I really like this guy's channel.

[Prowler]

When I was a kid I didn't see muc discussion of NES TMNT online other than the occasional "decent game but hard as hell!" comment.

Then AVGN made his review of it and suddenly it became cool on the Internet to absolutely hate it and consider it one of the worst games ever made.

And, some years ago, it seems like people began to view the game more rationally again... and some even went as far as considering it a hidden gem, which is a bit of an exaggeration.

NES TMNT is, imo, essentially a great concept on paper that ended up as a mediocre game with some flaws that knocked its quality and enjoyability down in practice. Particularly those faulty jump controls.

Most people who have grown up playing NES TMNT haven't beaten it. It's fine for a game to be hard if it's a well-functioning game like the Mega Man series, but NOT if said difficulty is a consequence of the faulty controls and gameplay like TMNT NES.

[Tortuglio]

I agree with almost everything said.
I remember trying Arcade Attack like for 5 minutes and being so bored that never tried it again.
Can't talk about the 2000s turtle console games since i've never played them. i did played the handheld ones, GBA and DS, and they are fine. Not very memorable, but good games nevertheless. Although if they'd come out when i was a child i would've played the heck out of them, i believe.
The first GB games were bland, except for Radical Rescue, which ironically never finished.
Smash up definitely not the worst, but a huge disappointment. Could've been so much and ended it up being so little. What a shame.

But, all that aside, this, THIS, hurt so much:
If it weren't for "Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six" for NES I think it would be the most hated game in my collection.
Just kidding :trazz: i know it's not a good game, but once you learn how to actually use those faulty controls, it becomes somewhat enjoyable. Something a kid with a LOT of time in his hands is only capable of doing.

[Leo656]

I had good memories of "Sinister Six", somehow. I know for a fact as a kid I beat it, and I was looking forward to playing it again until I actually did a few months ago. Just f*ckin' brutal! I had like, no games as a kid so I used to stretch those rentals down to the last minute, that's the only way I figure I put enough time into that piece of sh*t to ever finish it. :lol: Never again, I got stuff to do. :trazz:

[Tortuglio]

Haha, i don't think i could finish it today either, specially the last levels.
OH MAN! i just remembered i had the uncanny xmen for NES too. Talk about bad games and disappointment. Why would anyone in his right mind think THAT game was going to be ANYTHING like the arcade? So young, so innocent. Anyway, of course i learnt how to play it anyways and finished it...
Spiderman i can still appreciate it, xmen hell no.

[MikeandRaph87]

https://www.ign.com/articles/not-even-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-co-creator-could-beat-that-dam-level

Even Kevin Eastman cannot get past the dam level!

[Tuxedo Moroboshi]

https://www.ign.com/articles/not-even-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-co-creator-could-beat-that-dam-level

Even Kevin Eastman cannot get past the dam level!

Huh... even as a kid, I often beat that level. It's everything AFTER that level that gave me a hard time.