How would you improve the original NES TMNT?

[GoldMutant]

This game has single handily haunted many kids growing up in the late 80s and early 90s before the sequels came out. It was brutal in difficult, half of the heroes were practically useless, contained one of the most infamous levels in the 8 bit era, and a poor mixture of the Mirage Comics and the 80s toon. (elements of both not handled well) Despite the sequels being greater and this game getting hatred over the years, I almost wonder if it had better potential. The graphics were decent and like any Konami game, the music was excellent.

So, how can this game be fixed for a more satisfying time in your eyes? There would still be the six main areas in the game though, but how would you improve the game if the side scrolling was kept? Would you improve the difficulty? Would you make it more like the Mirage Comics or 80s cartoon? Would there be more levels?

Share ideas down below.

[Candy Kappa]

A better end-boss fight with Shredder, beyond that, the game is fine.

[Mini-Turtle]

Originally Posted by Candy Kappa

A better end-boss fight with Shredder, beyond that, the game is fine.

Yeah, that was REALLY hard, don't think I could do it without infinite health. Stand close him, you get punched and lose half your health. Back off, and he pulls out a gun and demutates your Turtle.

[chewy]

Originally Posted by Mini-Turtle

Yeah, that was REALLY hard, don't think I could do it without infinite health. Stand close him, you get punched and lose half your health. Back off, and he pulls out a gun and demutates your Turtle.

I think they're referring to how easy it is. If you stand on the platform on the right, you can hit him with Don/scrolls/boomerangs/stars and he'll fall off, then jump back up. You can hit him while he jumps up and cycle till dead.

I think the problem is that the game mechanics favor Donatello too much. There is a period after attacking an enemy before they can take damage again. That period is almost exactly as long as Don's attack time, so he doesn't care. Mike can hit much faster than Don, but it's a mute point because he still has to wait for that period to expire before he can hit again. I say cut out that invincible period for enemies, and it makes all the turtles' playable and varied.

[Candy Kappa]

Originally Posted by chewy

I think they're referring to how easy it is. If you stand on the platform on the right, you can hit him with Don/scrolls/boomerangs/stars and he'll fall off, then jump back up. You can hit him while he jumps up and cycle till dead.

This. Shredder needed better coding.

[ctt4lfecw]

Originally Posted by GoldMutant

This game has single handily haunted many kids growing up in the late 80s and early 90s before the sequels came out. It was brutal in difficult, half of the heroes were practically useless, contained one of the most infamous levels in the 8 bit era, and a poor mixture of the Mirage Comics and the 80s toon. (elements of both not handled well) Despite the sequels being greater and this game getting hatred over the years, I almost wonder if it had better potential. The graphics were decent and like any Konami game, the music was excellent.

So, how can this game be fixed for a more satisfying time in your eyes? There would still be the six main areas in the game though, but how would you improve the game if the side scrolling was kept? Would you improve the difficulty? Would you make it more like the Mirage Comics or 80s cartoon? Would there be more levels?

Share ideas down below.

First of all what a great idea for a topic. I love TMNT NES. I always play it first before I play the follow ups. I wish that the beat em ups that came after had the option of weapon choices for the Turtles which I missed from the first one. I think they should have improved thenemies with more Foot Ninja. Although I love some of the difficult enemies in the game like the blue laser guys. So some of the enemies I would keep, and maybe add more Foot Ninja, because there really aren't that many when you look at it. The game felt very "street" which I loved. And I guess that comes from the feel of the comics. I would emphasize that more. Maybe have a street level at night. I love how all of the areas are NY spots. Such as JFK airport and the South Bronx when you go looking for the Technodrome. You know I think they could have got away with no Technodrome if they wanted too. I mean to me, when you got inside it, it felt like a warehouse anyway. So it really was there just to have it there for the FW presence. Plus with no Krang boss fight, what's the point of having a Technodrome? To me,in the game it felt like just the dam level.
As far as bosses go, I think you could keep Bebop and Rocksteady. I would have put Baxter Stockman in charge of the JFK airport fight with the Mother Mouser. Beef it up a bit so it's not such a pushover. I would have put Rat King in place of the Mecha-Turtle. And you know the cover of this game was #4 second edition of the comics. I would do the TCRI Lab and have Triceratons. Shredder is fun when you get up to him. I would have taken away his retro-mutagen gun. Way too cheap. Instead I would basically have him fight like the Turtles, just very mobile and agile, and he can be quick with attacks and his armor would actually protect him from striking moves from the Turtles. I would just enhance the battle to be more skill-based. Maybe have a way each Turtle approaches the battle different. His weapons are what he is wearing, high damage gauntlets.
You have to remember this is 1989, so you have to go with what you got from the comics at this point. I believe the first game should have been 2 player. Maybe develop a double-team combat system. Maybe that would have been asking for too much. But at least two player, so you feel like a team. Do you know what would have been sick? Ninja Gaiden-style cut scenes. Except adapted from the comics. Could you imagine Shredder's dialogue from issue #1 right before you fight him in the game?!
I don't think there's anything wrong with the dam level. I mean how hard is it to switch out your Turtle when it gets low on health? I would not change it.

And if I may make one more suggestion, something I have wanted and they never did in the sequels. Make Casey Jones playable.

As far as the TMNT themselves. Raph and Mikey need the most work. I'd let Raph's arms come out further so he has better range with his sai. And Mikey could maybe have a tying feature with the nunchuck chain, just something to make him stand out, rather than being the runner -upfor worst Turtle to pick.

I know this would never fly, but maybe add blood when people are taking damage. Maybe add the Purple Dragons for some enemy variety too. And, I loved how in the sequels you can interact with objects like in the Final Fight games. Pipes, trash cans etc...

[Mew]

I like it as is. I feel it's a NES classic. I don't get the hate for it.

[MikeandRaph87]

Make it less complicated and more beat'em up side scrolling like the other three games. I would also add a couple of more boss fights with characters such as Krang, Baxter the Fly, and The Rat King. Instead of trying to fight the Technodrome as a boss why not the underground leading to the Techndorome and fight Baxter the Fly before entering.

[shuriken]

I'd change a few things.
1-Better graphics so they don't look like Simon Belmont.
2-More Foot ninjas and maybe even some Triceratons.
3-Have it still be one player, but have a special attack in which during a mini boss or boss fight you can "call" one of your brother's to attack from behind or whatever, and it can only be used once per level.
4- Switch the Mecha Turtle with Baxter and Traag.
5- The Foot Base is no longer a maze of trial and error, but with a more clear path and destination.
6-Remove the jetpacks on the flamethrower guys.
7-Add another level where you play as the Turtle Blimp, with the boss being A Giant Krang. Try to take down Krang by shooting the Head area, dodging foot balloons, his kicks, Punches and Laser beam blasts. His weak spot would be Krang itself in the belly area, in which is only accessible after breaking the Glass cover.
8-Have Shredder not be a total pushover.
9-Tweak the ending so it doesn't suck.

Aside from that I think the Game is good as is, it's tough, but enjoyable and a classic.

[oldmanwinters]

I do love this game, so I wouldn't change anything major. From my perspective, I think of it less as "improve" and more as "upgrade," ala Ducktales Remastered.

I wouldn't mind a bit more consistency in the seemingly random sub-weapon generation after killing enemies. I really don't understand it at all regarding how many enemies you have to beat (if that even matters) and what weapon comes up.

I would edit the level design of The Technodrome, since one of the alternate paths requires you to step on a spiked floor (so far as I know). Definitely needed more stepping stones to jump around upon.

I'd probably make the jump a little easier at the top of the Level 2 Dam. I'm not sure the designers even aspired to make that jump that hard, even when you know how to do it. I have a similar problem with the Ostrich ride jumps in The Lion King (16-bit). Again, I think it's more careless design than intentionally challenge, because that's a weird spot to try and create tension in the player.

I think there ought to be a few more opportunities to rescue captured turtles. There's a lot of warehouses or tunnels that are so challenging yet offer little to no reward, and then you almost always have to fight your way back out the same way you came in.

On that note, I might prefer that enemies stay dead so long as you are in one section, even if you backtrack the screen.

Make the Mr. Invincibility icon a bit more strategically relevant in the actual gameplay. I think there's only one part of the Technodrome where it is practical to use instead of just going out of your way to get something pointless.

Give April & Splinter more variety of hints to better guide the player.

Most folks would probably say make the Turtles' attacks more balanced, but I think it's decent as is with Raphael and Michelangelo being more effective in certain parts of the game than others.

[Whatswiththeheadbands?]

1. Improve some stupid Jumps
2. Take away some of the electric seaweed from the Dam Level
3. More emphasis on combat

That's about it really.

[oceanfr]

Its a classic but improve graphics a bit. More levels. Lower difficulty and add saving points. More villain interactions etc.

[Prowler]

Better controls, especially the goddamn jumping. Making Raphael and Michelangelo actually useful wouldn't have been a bad idea either. Oh, and get rid of the respawning enemies BS. I shouldn't be forced to fight a horde of enemies again just because I missed a jump.

[shuriken]

^^ Mikey is stronger than Leo and Raph. He's as Strong as Donnie when his lifebar is halved.

[Xav]

Mikey is equal to Leo but weaker than Raph normally. When his health is halved he's stronger than Raph but weaker than Don.

[Panda_Kahn_fan]

I love this game was more platformer than beat-em-up, but it should have been less difficult, with more opportunities for pizzas and rescuing turtles (in other words, extra lives!)

[saintsaucey]

Originally Posted by GoldMutant

This game has single handily haunted many kids growing up in the late 80s and early 90s before the sequels came out. It was brutal in difficult, half of the heroes were practically useless, contained one of the most infamous levels in the 8 bit era, and a poor mixture of the Mirage Comics and the 80s toon. (elements of both not handled well) Despite the sequels being greater and this game getting hatred over the years, I almost wonder if it had better potential. The graphics were decent and like any Konami game, the music was excellent.

So, how can this game be fixed for a more satisfying time in your eyes? There would still be the six main areas in the game though, but how would you improve the game if the side scrolling was kept? Would you improve the difficulty? Would you make it more like the Mirage Comics or 80s cartoon? Would there be more levels?

Share ideas down below.

Throw it in the trash

[Tora]

Tune down the difficulty and replace many of the enemies with characters based on the 87 toon.

[Etsyturtle2]

Package a Game Genie with it.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by GoldMutant

This game has single handily haunted many kids growing up in the late 80s and early 90s before the sequels came out. It was brutal in difficult, half of the heroes were practically useless, contained one of the most infamous levels in the 8 bit era, and a poor mixture of the Mirage Comics and the 80s toon. (elements of both not handled well) Despite the sequels being greater and this game getting hatred over the years, I almost wonder if it had better potential. The graphics were decent and like any Konami game, the music was excellent.

So, how can this game be fixed for a more satisfying time in your eyes? There would still be the six main areas in the game though, but how would you improve the game if the side scrolling was kept? Would you improve the difficulty? Would you make it more like the Mirage Comics or 80s cartoon? Would there be more levels?

Share ideas down below.

The original NES TMNT game remains the only TMNT game that truly tried to push the envelope originally. Everything since has just been a button masher arcade kind of thing ("how fast can you push button 1 or 2, or 1 and 2 together?" bleh). Great memories of good friends in rooms sweating over getting through those levels. The disarming bombs underwater, running over Foot Soldiers on land.

That said, it's hard as f*ck. Took a Game Genie to beat it.