Your favourite TMNT game?
 

I know that there is not too much people who followed or atleast tried the TMNT videogames, but I'm curious anyway.
I'm a big fan of the Ps2 versions and some of the Arcade games (TMNT 2 Battle Nexus, TMNT 3 Mutant Nightmare, TMNT Turtles in Time, TMNT Manhattam Project).
If you have never played anyone of them, you didn't miss anything special tho. They are simple beat em ups usually in co-op.

But I think that the best thing of these games is, in fact, the cooperativity and the simple yet fun gameplay. Sometimes it's even the level of challenge some of them gives you!
What about you guys? There is atleast one game that you liked?

Out of the Shadows is usually fun. I could play all three gameplay modes for hours on end. And the classic games all the way from the TMNT arcade, turtles in time, the 2k3 games and TMNT (2k7) were always fun

The Snes version of Turtles in Time.

Wow, a connoisseur I see!
The arcade games were pretty neat, but easily repetitive. The NES games were pretty fun! Like playing Castlevania with the TMNT (even tho Castelvania was a little easier in some parts). The 2003 Ps2 games were gold! Except for the first, downright boring and really repetitive. The other two had atleast some platforming, more combos, interesting bosses etc. Mutant Melee was good, but the characters choice was... eugh?

Sadly, the only 2007 TMNT game I played is Mutant Melee, which is a GREAT fighting game! Even tho the Ps2 version lacked of some special characters and online multyplayer.
Out of the Shadows is the only one I've never played, for the simple reason that didn't have local co-op (I used to play the TMNT games with my brother). I'm just abit afraid that I might have lost a nice game.

I like Turtles in Time too, but I slightly prefer the Ps2 porting on TMNT 3 Mutant Nightmare, just because it has a great OST.
Other than that, Arcade, Ps2 or Snes are all kinda the same so it's still a good game.

My all-time favourite is Turtles 3: Radical rescue for the original Game boy. A tmnt metroidvania, nothing can top that.

Never seen it.
Mind if I...

*downloads emulator*

My favorites of all time are TMNT 2003 for game boy advance and TMNT 2 Battle Nexus for GameCube.

I also like the NES games TMNT 1 and 2 and I like the Beatles song Come Together because of the 5th stage in the first game. I also like TMNT 3 Mutant Nightmare on all systems and TMNT 2007 on game boy advance.

I like the SNES game Turtles in Time and I really like the Neon Night Riders stage due to the fact that we’re in 2020.

Battle Nexus is still on my desktop, since I like to play it sometimes on my PC! Even tho the best memories and saves are on the Ps2 original disk. I'd like to buy TMNT 3 Mutant Nightmare for PC but it's soooo hard to find in good conditions on Ebay!

By the way, Icebot, the best thing of the 2003 trilogy is their OST. I loved how they "recycled" the show themes and adapted them for some of the game's!
And these things...
https://i.redd.it/wf55d2z6v1p41.png

Battle Nexus is a means of torture (shudders). :(

If you mean "I'll take them all". I feel ya.

Hmm. I'd have a tough time picking a favorite, but I think Battle Nexus would be in last place, for sure. I liked the first and third game in that series just fine, but I don't have as fond memories of the second one. For one thing, some of the levels were designed so that it made more sense to avoid enemies and race to the end of the level, and that's just not a good way to do a "beat-'em-up" type of game. For another thing, and this is a personal problem but it doesn't help my opinion towards the game, my copy is glitched and impossible to finish, apparently, so eventually I just put it aside and never went back to it.

In advance of anyone asking, the Hun fight on my copy is glitched. Instead of going back and forth between being invincible and not, once he gets down to very low health, he just stays red and invincible permanently. Last time I bothered to play it, I managed to drag the fight out for over 15 minutes, most of which was trying (and failing) to get that last sliver of health off. Pretty sure, based on everything I've read, that's not supposed to happen. And I haven't been inclined to try and pick up another copy because frankly I didn't think it was that great to start with. Maybe if I find one super cheap one day.

I would not say that it's necessarily a bad game - I've almost never heard of the glitch happening to anyone else, so I assume it's super-rare and I just got "lucky" - but I think it needed work. But between the glitch and the level design, it was the least fun I've had with any TMNT game, easily.

Second worst would probably be Smash-Up, just because there's only like an hour of gameplay to it and very little replay value. Again, not "bad", but it barely felt like a complete game, and that's a shame.

Mutant Melee didn't thrill me much, but I didn't play it a whole lot. Just didn't grab me for some reason.

As far as "best", I really couldn't pick one (thus why it's easier for me to pick out the lower-tier, first; generally, most of the TMNT games I've played have been pretty good, which is why the ones that are sub-par stand out from the pack). Most peoples' default answer is "Turtles In Time", and I kind of agree - no TMNT game has probably given me MORE hours of pure fun, pound-for-pound - but at the same time... it's a 25-minute game, even on Hard. It'll probably always be my sentimental favorite, but is it really "The Best"? I don't know. There's nothing wrong with what there is, but there definitely could be a lot more of it.

Someone could certainly make a strong case for the SNES version of Tournament Fighters. It's definitely one of the best SFII clones, of which there were many. I can only assume that it doesn't get more love because a lot of TMNT fans aren't necessarily fans of fighting games. It's also notoriously cheap on higher difficulty setting, but still beatable. But the graphics, sounds, roster, music and gameplay are all superb. It's not perfect but it's arguably the closest any TMNT game got for what it was trying to be. AND, it'll keep you busy for more than 25 minutes. So there's that.

At the time it came out, I would have said the first game based on the 2K/4Kids cartoon was easily the best TMNT game all-around. I still kind of feel that way. There's quite a lot about it that isn't great, but as 3D beat-'em-ups go it's not bad at all, and I still prefer it over either of its sequels, although I liked a lot of the new ideas they came up with for those. I just feel like the first one was the most balanced overall. And beating the game with each of the Turtles to unlock the final level and get the real ending is something that we all take for granted now, but was a pretty big deal in 2003 and unprecedented for a TMNT game. Again, I don't know if it's still that high on my list because I haven't played it in a while, but objectively I still think it's one of the best they've done.

Frankly, I kinda think both "Out of the Shadows" and "Mutants In Manhattan" deserve to be in the conversation more than they generally are. No, they're not perfect, but they definitely provide more gameplay than a lot of the other games people often mention, and I feel like they're more the victim of peoples' expectations for them, rather than anything they fail at doing specifically. I, personally, didn't encounter any bugs or glitches in my copy of OOTS, and many peoples' complaints were based on that more than anything. I had a good time with it. Not really sure what people's issue was with MiM, but those 5 and 6 out of 10 review scores are a joke. Granted, it does play a lot better once you put a few hours into it and start unlocking new abilities, attacks, etc; I'd hazard a guess that most people simply didn't do that and dismissed it as a shallow and pointless game. The worst thing I can say about it, is that it suffers from the same flaws as every beat-'em-up: "Mash X to win". No, it doesn't push the genre forward in any way, but I don't know why anyone expected that. Not everything is gonna be "Arkham", and you can't just blast a game for not living up to that standard.

If I HAD to pick a "favorite", though... right now, it would probably be Mutants In Manhattan, honestly. I really like the gameplay, the randomization of challenges during the levels, the level-up system of special abilities, the ability to mix-and-match those special abilities, the way you can switch between Turtles on the fly (pretty essential on higher difficulties), the Secret Bosses... there's really not much I don't like about it, and I find most of the criticisms rather nitpicky. It's not a particularly long game to beat, but will take many hours to unlock everything and level-up all the Special attacks. Based on that, along with the fact that it came out at a more mid-range price point, it definitely gives a lot of hours of gameplay for a "budget" title. There's really not much "wrong" with it, and they give you a lot, so I really can't complain.

I know a lot of people were disappointed with not having any local co-op for that game, and I guess I kind of agree, but I mostly play solo, anyway. I will say that the game's camera, while not bad, isn't great, and I feel like co-cop really would have been a problem with that game's engine. So while I agree it's a flaw, it doesn't hurt the game for me, personally. The only other thing I would change, is a way to choose to play the Secret Boss versions of a level, once you've beaten it already. As it is, whether you get a Secret Boss is apparently mostly-random (based partly on your score, but not entirely); I would like to play against those Secret Bosses more often, and would probably choose to play them every time, honestly. I'm pretty disappointed when I have an awesome run-through on a level but don't get a Secret Boss fight, so I wish that they could be "unlocked" and selectable once you've already beaten them once, rather than random chance.

So yeah, I rank MiM, Turtles In Time, OOTS and the first 4Kids game all pretty highly, with an Honorable Mention for Tournament Fighters. Any of those could objectively be "the best" for different reasons, and I'd probably call whichever of them I played most recently my favorite. Although it's always gonna bother me how short Turtles In Time is. Pretty unforgivable, really. Although given the fact that developers wouldn't really "master" the trick of porting arcade games to home consoles until the late-90s, it's a small miracle the SNES version turned out as good as it did. They didn't add a ton, but at least they did in fact add stuff.

Deja vu, as I feel I've posted in many threads about this. But TMNT 1 on NES. It was "Vice Project Doom" for NES before that was even a thing (anyone remember that? the whole "3 games in 1" thing?). Incredibly original, surprisingly large scale (there is top down, side scrolling, drive the Turtle Van and run over Foot Soldiers, swimming stages, you can pick your Turtle). It's not a perfect game as it's probably harder than it needed to be (I only finally beat it in like 2001 after I had it on an emulator that enabled me to constantly save and reload to certain points), but you have to respect what it tried to do. It copied no formulas and just tried to be a straight up great, original TMNT game.

As opposed to the 5 or 6 Final Fight clones that would follow, ending the bunch with a literal Street Fighter clone. But I can't fault Tournament Fighters as that was at least trying something new after everything that had come before it.

Can't speak to anything that came after that as I haven't played anything. Maybe there's good stuff, I have no clue.

What the hell. Call an exorcist!
Jokes apart, the only "BUG" I've encountered so far in over a 1000 hours total, is when you are fighting against Feudal Japan Shredder. Normally, you can break the barriers around the arena to reach a secret item (Antique) but you can also use the enourmous hole that surrounds the level to one shot Shredder if you manage to push him down there. But I think it's intentional, not a real bug.

I think that is a good thing. As you later said some TMNT fans are not necessarly fans of beat em' up games, so I find pretty good the possibility to rush to the end of the level without fighting anyone. From my personal experience, when I was younger, I used to skip some parts of the game, just because I didn't want to fight the enemies and risk to loose.
Yes, it kinda ruins the sense of beat em' up, but I think is well thought.

Can't blame you, those games are MADE to be played with someone. I used to play the TMNT games with my older brother, that's why I almost enjoyed them all.

I played it recently, and it was a punch in the stomach. Not because it was not good, but because it was downright boring. The levels were too long, and too repetitive. The bosses maybe were ok, but for me it was really difficult to finish, just because you loose the will to continue. The only thing I really liked, was the 1 vs 1 mode, a thing that never came back into the various 2003 games.

Sadly, I've never played it...
We never had a good internet connection, so playing co-op online was... probably impossible.
Also, as you mentioned, I never played it due to the fact it didn't have local co-op feature.
I should really try it.

Sorry!
I'm kinda new to the forum, that's why I may open threads similar to the older ones.
It's just a way for me to know how things are going now.

We've definitely had this conversation before, Andrew. :trazz:

Also, "Probably" harder than it needed to be? :lol:

That's the biggest factor against that game, and why the follow-up games did so much better at satisfying the audience. The first game could be as "original" and whatever as it wanted, but it was absolutely, positively NOT the video game the franchise required at the time it was released, which was why the arcade game got such an overwhelmingly positive response and was ported to the NES so quickly. It was a very blatant "We're Sorry, you guys" after the first game. Credit to Konami for actually paying attention and being willing to give people what they wanted. Yeah, the sequels weren't very groundbreaking, BUT, it's what people wanted. They'd have been stupid to do anything else. It's a business. Supply and Demand.

There weren't even a ton of genres to choose from back in 1989-1994, anyway, especially for licensed games. "Genre-mixing" wasn't a thing yet, you were pretty much locked in. You could have a beat-'em-up, a platformer, a fighting game, a top-down shooter, a scrolling shooter, or a turn-based RPG, and that's it. Anything else was a sports game. Given that, I'm hard-pressed to determine exactly what they could have done for a TMNT game during that time period that wasn't "Final Fight clone". That was the only existing gameplay style that made any SENSE for the property. Turn-based RPG? I'd play it now, but maybe not back then, and I promise you it wouldn't have worked. They did the absolute best they could, "original" or not. If someone in 1991 WAS inclined to "break the mold" and mash some genres together, they certainly wouldn't try it with an expensive license like TMNT.

I do give the first NES game credit for what it was - or rather, what it tried to do - but I think the fact that most people have the same story about it speaks volumes. "I beat it, finally... using Save states/cheat codes/etc." Kinda tells the tale, doesn't it? Every kid I knew had that game back in the day, but most of them only played it in short bursts and then put it back in the closet. It needed to be a completely different game than what it was, because what it was simply was not satisfying to the larger audience. Not a "bad" game - it mostly works, and the music is good - but it's just blatantly, infuriatingly unfair most of the time. And I as a rule don't love any game where you can feasibly waste entire hours of time (and all of your characters) going through levels which are in no way getting you any closer to the end of the game, but are instead only there to trick and kill you.

That's really my biggest problem; not even the general difficulty, but the fact that most of the game is just a maze designed to waste your time and make you lose all your Turtles, who are a big pain in the ass to recover. Without a guide, it's borderline unplayable after the first few levels, and that's just ridiculous. This was ostensibly a kids' game; there was no reason to be so cheap and unfair. The game still takes plenty of time and effort to beat even when you know exactly what you're doing and where to go, so there was no reason to "pad" it with all the rooms that are only there to kill you. As it is, you can conceivably get to a point where it's like, "Dammit, I can't go any farther past this point, because I need the Rope," so you have to backtrack aaaaalllll the way to where the Rope might be, probably dying at least once on the way there and back... requiring a side-quest to go try and rescue them, hoping you don't lose someone ELSE on the way there... it's needlessly complicated, and a chore.

I don't HATE it, but... middle of the pack, for me, towards the bottom. I'm never gonna beat it, I know that, so I don't even really mess with it anymore. I give it all the credit in the world for its ambition, and there's definitely fun to be had, but I only really like the first few levels, and I think their ambition was more than their ability to execute.

One of the Nick games was very, very similar. "Danger of the Ooze", I think. Not too bad, felt mostly like a "proper" execution of what the first NES game tried to be, with a lot of the frustration neutralized. It's fine, and it shows how a lot of those same ideas could work out well with better execution. It's just not altogether a very memorable experience. But I do recommend it, especially for those who like the NES original. It's not "the same", but once you play it you'll see and feel the similarities.

- I mean, I can understand not having to fight and kill EVERY enemy, but you should at least have to fight MOST of 'em, or else why even do a beat-'em-up? If all you're doing is avoiding enemies, then it's an obstacle course, not a beat-'em-up. Back in those days, especially, it was customary to have to fight every enemy in most of those games, so being able to skip most of them was very strange. It made that particular game feel unfinished. I remember in the magazines that was the biggest thing the critics complained about.

It's a bit more common nowadays. Like in Mutants In Manhattan, there are several levels where you definitely are NOT supposed to even try to fight every single enemy (although a few still require it). But back in 2004-ish it definitely wasn't the standard. And I still feel like they could have tweaked the balance just a bit. They had some good ideas in there, though.

- I haven't played the first 4Kids game in a couple of years, but yeah, I do remember the levels being a little bit long. Didn't bother me a ton back then, though; all beat-'em-up/hack-'n-slash games are by definition very repetitive. One of these days I'll hook up the Gamecube and see what I think now. I'm generally pretty forgiving.

- If nothing else, Smash-Up needed a bigger roster. Even if I was playing against someone else, I'd only be able to get so much out of such a small number of playable characters. I liked the basic idea, and what there IS of the game is fine, but... they could have done a lot better all the same. It just wasn't up to the fighting game standards of the day, not even for a licensed game. I feel like the developers just said "good enough" halfway through. But again, what there IS of the game is fine for what it is. It simply wasn't enough of that.

- Mutants In Manhattan is a good "average" single-player beat-'em'up. I say "average" as in, "It's not Arkham-level". Anyone expecting that level of depth would be disappointed. Anyone else who doesn't mind a single-player "keep hitting X and Y" game would likely find a lot to do. It easily has the best selection of Bosses in any TMNT game, ever. And it's not very difficult, and never feels like it's cheap or unfair. You can definitely find it cheap, so I definitely recommend giving it a look. You'll likely be pleasantly surprised.

Some levels of Battle Nexus actually requires you to beat every enemy, but they are something like 50% of the game. The most of it can be a skippable course, or you just have to beat a couple of enemies.

Yeah...
Both Smash-Up and Mutant Melee had a bad roaster of characters. Mutant Melee has Slegh; a character that, since this game, never received an official name.
Who thought: "Ah yeah everybody loves him, he is damn important."

There is also commander Mozar in the game files and in some of the game's missions, but for some reasons, he is not playable... uff...
And don't get me started on the "reskins"...
Who cares about 2 variants of Casey and April as characters?

Smash-Up didn't have "bad" characters, but as you said it was very little...
They added Professor Honeycutt and some Rabbids in the Wii version, but still just one more character and 4 crossovers.

See, those Rabbids were bullsh*t. That kinda sh*t right there infuriates me when they easily could have given those spots to literally ANY thing else.

For all its flaws, Tournament Fighters had an amazing roster, back in the day. Could've been better - jealous that the Genesis version had April and Casey - but it was pretty well fleshed-out. I can easily name another dozen characters that "deserved" to be there and Aska was kinda pointless, but aside from maaaaybe her, nobody felt like a wasted spot.

Smash-Up had a small roster and TWO of the spots were completely wasted. Given the year it came out, I can't do anything but shake my head at that decision. F*ck those developers for making the inclusion of Rabbids dependent on their making the game. Shame on them. Such a tone-deaf and boneheaded decision.

It's too bad TMNT isn't very popular at the moment. After seeing how well they were handled in Injustice 2, I'd honestly love to see a "real" TMNT fighting game with a decent engine and a beefy roster. Like a natural evolution of Tournament Fighters. That would be awesome. I'm not a huge fighting game guy, but I played the hell out of Tournament Fighters and I'd definitely play the hell out of a modern fighter, done well.

My preferred style of TMNT game is, was, and always will be "beat-'em-up", but as Andrew said, they've done a bunch of those in every flavor. So if the next TMNT game wasn't a beefed-up version of Mutants In Manhattan, I'd settle for a really decent fighting game.

I mean, someone can go ahead and do an RPG if they wanna, I'd be perfectly fine with that. :lol: They won't, though.

I’ve lost interest in videogames, but my favourite TMNT game was the first one for the Game Boy Advance, even though I wasn’t a beat-em up fan could never beat it. Never cared much for the others I played tbh.

The 4Kids one for GBA? I just recently acquired and finished that one. Pretty good! Do you remember what part you got stuck on? I managed to get through it rather quickly. It's rather short, that was my only nitpick.

I liked a lot of what they came up with for that game. I liked that you're required to play as each of the Turtles and that they each have their own unique levels designed around their own gameplay style, since each Turtle has unique abilities, but I wish they'd managed to let you "free play" all of the levels with whichever Turtle you wanted after completing the main game. Would have added greatly to the replay value. I'm not sure if they could have, since each level pretty much required that specific Turtle's abilities to navigate and complete it, but they could've figured it out.

But on the whole, not a bad piece of business! I definitely regret overlooking it when it came out, and I feel bad that apparently a lot of people did. The beat-'em'up sections definitely brought back fond memories of the good ol' days and felt like a natural evolution of Turtles In Time. The rest of the game tried some new things and I feel they mostly turned out well.

Bahahahaha! It's so damn true!

I'm the exact opposite: hardcore maniac gamer.

Sadly I barely played them...
But I remember that they were pretty good!

I remember remaining stucked in that level with Donatello where you had to destroy four targets (I think) with Donatello's long range attack! I didn't knew you could actually do such move. After that, I don't remember even finishing one...

I generally make it a point to finish at least most of the games I play. I get some real guilt and anxiety otherwise. For example, even though Battle Nexus was by default the worst of the ones I've played - more simply because the others were so much better by comparison than anything - I still had every intention of finishing it, and I've given it several tries over the years, I just can't get past the glitch near the end, and that's a shame.

I haven't managed to "100%" every TMNT game, far from it, but I at least manage to beat the main game repeatedly, most times. The only one I've played and didn't beat was the original NES game, and I'm pretty sure that's one I just have to forget about.

Just for the hell of it, the TMNT games I own are:

- NES original
- TMNT 2: The Arcade Game (NES)
- TMNT III: The Manhattan Project (NES)
- TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan (Game Boy)
- TMNT: Back From The Sewer (Game Boy)
- Turtles In Time (SNES)
- Tournament Fighters (SNES)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2004, Gamecube)
- TMNT 2: Battle Nexus (Gamecube)
- TMNT 3: Mutant Nightmare (Xbox)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Game Boy Advance)
- TMNT (2007 movie game, PS2)
- TMNT 1989 Arcade Game (Xbox 360, digital)
- TMNT: Turtles In Time Re-Shelled (Xbox 360, digital)
- TMNT Smash-Up (Wii)
- Nickelodeon's TMNT (Xbox 360)
- Nickelodeon's TMNT: Danger of the Ooze (PS3)
- TMNT: Out of the Shadows (Xbox 360, digital)
- TMNT: Mutants In Manhattan (Xbox One)

Of that list, the only ones I haven't at least beaten the main game on are the first NES game, and the first Nick TMNT game, which I only bought recently and simply haven't played yet. I *think* I'm only really missing the third Game Boy game, and the handheld versions of Battle Nexus, Mutant Nightmare, and the 2007 movie game. I just don't really prioritize collecting handheld games, so those have slipped by me until recently.

I didn't factor Game Boy games in when I was talking about my least-favorites, but at least one of those would probably be worse than Battle Nexus if I were to do so. They were alright for their time but objectively not great.

I never hear anyone talk about Danger of the Ooze, like, at all, which is strange. It's fine. Just... I'unno, I don't wanna say "boring", because that doesn't quite fit. But it doesn't really stick with you once you're done with it. It's fun, though. I'm sure some folks could make a case for it being among the best of the TMNT games. There's certainly not much "wrong" with it, it's just kinda... "Eh."

I also thought the game based on the 2007 movie was really cool for what it was. The "problem" with most of the TMNT games, including that one, isn't really that they're bad or do anything wrong, but simply that they don't do a whole lot to stand out or blow your mind. That's also why it can be tough to pick a "favorite"; they're all pretty good in different ways but few of them really excel in any area. Even Turtles In Time, as much fun as it is, is pretty pedestrian by beat-'em-up standards. Plenty of other games by that point gave you a lot more moves and stuff to do, although throwing bad guys at the screen was a fun novelty that never, ever gets old. But without the TMNT license, it's entirely average. Especially that damn short length. I wrote it down and lost it but I think my record is like 23 minutes and change on the hardest difficulty. :lol: How did we not riot, back in the day? :trazz: I still love it, though.

It’s the 4Kids one alright. I got stuck about halfway through the last level (the point where there is a lot of enemies to fight in the elevator with lasers). I agree it’s a pretty good game, though. I also liked the cutscenes in the game. Thought they were well done.

I never tried the Ps2 version, but the DS version was very interesting!
It had a peculiar game mechanic based on parkour/beat-em-up.
If you have never seen that game, it basically have sections were you fight normally the enemies (bosses too), and other sections were the turtle just have to pass a certain obstacle course.
It's very speedrun-like and the controls are damn fun!
The only bad thing was effectively the beat-em-up part, which was too simple and easy in my opinion. Mashing button basically.

The "parkour" levels required great skill to finish in little time!
I suggest you to watch some videos on it because I don't think I gave the right idea.

I did take a look at some videos of the PS2 and DS games (I honestly haven't played the PS2 game in forever); they look both fairly similar and yet entirely different from each other. I don't have a DS but I always planned to get that version of the game if/when I ever procured one.

I've been wanting to play the console version again for a while but my PS2 has been broken for a long time. One of these days I'll have to pick up a copy on Gamecube if I find it cheap enough.

More who thought it was a good idea to include platforming in a 3D side-scrolling beat'em up especially keeping the same game engine.

Quite enjoyed the first game. I don't feel they improved over it. Sure it's repetitive but it's fun, can be challenging, there's stuff to unlock (that isn't censored) and it's not overly complex so anyone can get into it.

I tried that one recently and it was too bad at all. My only complaint is that the hit detection is a little wonky.

Is Portal Power good?

I found it pretty fun! Even if the platforming aspect were very very very simple.

Well, TMNT 3 Mutant Nightmare is basically the first but WAY more interesting. You can buy abilities, combo, use the scrolls for a strategical gameplay, and it has alot of different levels. Yes it's mainly focused on the beating all the enemies, but with bigger maps, challenging bosses and there are all of the turtles togheter.

I'm not into the mobile games, so I never tried it.

I got my NES up and running (YES! :tgrin:) so a couple'a days ago I took a swing at TMNT 2: The Arcade Game and TMNT 3: The Manhattan Project for the first time in, I'unno, maybe 15 years. More than ten, for sure. Really been looking forward to it, glad I finally got the chance. TO clarify, I do have the actual arcade game (or rather, its Xbox Live counterpart) on my Xbox 360 and have played that one several times in recent years, it's specifically my NES games I haven't had a chance to get to for a long time.

I still like both games a lot, but it's an interesting perspective given how much time has passed but also how many other games I've played since then. As beat-'em-ups go, they are decidedly kinda average, although definitely upper-tier compared to what was available on the NES at that time. TMNT 2 is more iconic, mostly due to that awesome opening level, but the gameplay itself is rather busted. Basically, doing anything except the jump kick is a waste of time and you're going to take a hit. I'm used to busting out multi-hit combos in these types of games now, so it was quite an adjustment going back to the second TMNT game and discovering that trying to hit anyone more than once in a row was a huge mistake. You'd assume that you'd have a reach advantage, but no; if you try and hit anyone twice in a row, they'll get a hit in on you while your second shot goes right through them harmlessly. Pretty annoying. I was able to adjust to it again, but I'd forgotten just how over-reliant on the jump kick that game was. You can pretty much go through the entire game without getting hit if that's the ONLY move you do, but that's pretty wack.

Manhattan Project isn't as fondly remembered - I assume it's because, unlike TMNT 2 or Turtles In Time it never had an arcade release - but it does quite a bit better than either of those other games. First and foremost, they fixed the gameplay by a ton so that ALL your moves are useful, and most of all they fixed the problem of trying to get multiple hits in without taking one yourself. That alone, along with the new flip move, improves the entire experience tremendously. It just plays SO much better than the second game. Adding mid-level bosses and much longer levels also made it a lot of fun and gives it some decent length. It doesn't overstay its welcome but it gives you a lot of "meat" compared to the other two TMNT beat-'em-ups in that series.

Altogether, it's like, TMNT 2 has some of the more memorable levels and moments, but the gameplay is sort of busted. Turtles In Time has the best graphics and gameplay by far, but is frustratingly short compared to 2 or 3. And then 3 has the best overall design as far as length, lots of bosses, enemy variety, etc., and sits right in the middle as far as gameplay - better than 2, but not as smooth as IV.

This is how I felt a few years ago, too, but it's nice to have it confirmed. :lol: They're all good games but I feel like people only really remember 2 so fondly because of nostalgia. Neither the NES or actual arcade version were fantastic as far as gameplay, but the arcade game specifically had incredible presentation that I feel is what people remember more than actually playing it.

Really wish they'd like, maybe added a few more levels borrowed from or "inspired by" Manhattan Project to the first half of Turtles In Time and back-loaded the time travel levels. Then it would at least feel like a complete game. I think it took me an hour and a half or so to finish Manhattan Project, compared to 23 minutes for TMNT IV. That's just f*cking goofy no matter how good the game is. But if they'd taken some of those levels from TMNT 3 (or similar) and stuck 'em on TMNT IV, then it's a whole different conversation.

I also played the NES version of Bad Dudes for laughs, and yeah, the TMNT beat-'em-ups on NES were light years ahead of most. :lol:

I also don't think I'm gonna try the first NES game again because f*ck that f*cking game. :lol:

Favorite TMNT game? There's actually a tie:

(1) Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time SNES--graphics were good, level music enjoyable, and the storyline.

(2) Ninja Turtles 2: Back from the Sewer for the Gameboy...again, good music and the levels were alright. I miss the classics...

I also liked Tournament Fighters but for the SNES, not so much the Genesis version.

My favorite is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters (Super Nintendo)

Been playing it for years, I love fighting games from the 90's. I love the characters, the music, everything about it really.

The original NES release. It teaches boys to become men.

There already have been a few RPGs. There's TMNT: Legends, there's also those mobile games based off of the 4Kids series.

Well, I don't pay attention to mobile games and I'm one of those assholes who doesn't count them on the list. :trazz: So obviously I wouldn't know about that.

Also, how to violently curse. :tgrin:

For me the only TMNT games that are worth a damn are the old ones, though I love the gameplay of Out of the Shadows...

My tops:

TMNT The Arcade game - 1989 (The NES Version was okay too)
Turtles In Time: The Arcade game - 1991
TMNT 3: The Manhattan Project - NES - 1991
Hyperstone Heist - 1992
TOURNAMENT FIGHTERS - But I can't remember which version is better, THE NES or GENESIS version.

I like The first 2K3 game on Gamecube. The sequel, Battle Nexus I found DIFFICULT AS ALL HELL.


Out of the Shadows was fun to play but they reminded me of The Bay Turtles and I don't know, it just seemed goofy.

I can't say I've actually ever heard anything positive about the Genesis Tournament Fighters. I still actually haven't played it, but I remember when it was new the reviews were mediocre-to-lousy, and especially in recent years the opinion has turned pretty sharply against it. Sega Lord X was particularly vicious in a recent appraisal of it. I still plan to get it one day, but everything I've seen suggests that the Genesis version simply wasn't a very well-made game. Which is a shame, because there's some characters in it I wish were in the SNES version, and the SNES version is pretty damn sweet on its own.

I only played the NES version once, as I recall, so I can't much speak to that one, either. Wish it wasn't so rare and expensive. Really kicking myself for not buying it cheap when I had the chance.

Oh man, yeah, haha... It was the SNES version of Tournament Fighters I was thinking of. Yeah, that's a great game. The Genesis version is probably the weakest of that particular game. I remember, for its time Tournament Fighters had the most realistic sprites for TMNT characters of any TMNT game up to that point. Weren't they more based on the live action movie appearances? I kinda think so. I remember Shredder having the purplish red outfit/armor and always thought those characters looked cool.

SNES Tournament Fighters is one of my all-time favorite "Games I'm Not Terrific At." :lol: I've beaten Karai several times but the game always hands me my ass a lot, first. Armaggon and Cyber-Shredder, particularly, aren't so bad once you remember the specific pattern for either but they're unforgiving as hell sometimes otherwise.

It's always a blast to play regardless, though. Looks great, sounds great, plays great. As I've said elsewhere and elsewhen, if someone ever said "SNES Tournament Fighters is my favorite TMNT game of all time", I might not fully agree but I wouldn't bat an eye, either. A very, very strong case can be made for it.

I recently discovered TMNT Rescuepalooza, essentially an update of early arcade and console TMNT games... classic beat-em-ups, but the difference in this game is more levels/stages and you can unlock like 60+ characters or something. It's the most fun I've had gaming in a long time.