TMNT II is a Great Game on the NES

TMNT: The Arcade game is one of the few arcade games I remember playing. That’s because it was everywhere, or at least that is how it felt. I didn’t grow up near an arcade, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t play arcade games.

They were at movie theaters, restaurants, bowling alleys, and amusement centers. The last one is a little odd because I’m not really sure how to categorize it. When I was a kid, there was this place called ‘Maze Craze.’ It wasn’t too different from a Chuck E Cheese, except that it wasn’t a chain, and the big draw was a decent sized maze.

This post isn’t about the weird places I’ve played arcade games, though. It is about the NES port of Konami’s TMNT arcade game. The NES port is decent, even if it isn’t as good.

I’ve come across people who call it “unplayable,” which feels like a word that has lost all meaning thanks to the internet. TMNT II: The Arcade Game is a competent port of the arcade game, and can be a lot of fun. It has problems, but none of them render the game unplayable.

TLDR: A Quality Beat’em Up on the NES.

Narrative

The story really isn’t that important to the game. If you’ve played any of the other games, watched the movies, or watched the cartoons, then you’ll know what to do. You just have to defeat the Foot Clan and a bunch of the other villains from the different TMNT media.

The manual doesn’t really add much more than this (Link). You do get some stage names and bad guys that you have to fight, but that is about it. This reads like the developers/localizers were drawing on what happened in the first movie. It has been a while since I’ve watched that, though.

Overall, the barebones story is perfectly fine for a game like this. All you really need to know is that you’re the turtles, the ninjas are the bad guys, and there are a bunch of stages for you to beat. It is what I expect to see from a game like this.

Gameplay

Beat’em ups are some of my favorite video games. That is part of the reason why I like this game so much. The gameplay is solid, even if it doesn’t have the best controls on the NES.

I don’t remember noticing this when I was a kid, but going back to play these, I’m noticing that many of the Konami made NES games have a stiffness to their controls, specifically when it comes to platforming. There isn’t much of that in this game, but you do have to just to avoid hazards and do jump attacks.

The level designs are fine for a beat’em up. Most stages are straight lines, which isn’t all that different from other games in the genre. There is a reliance on environmental hazards that is a little annoying, but not all that bad.

You can get health items during the game. This isn’t too different from other beat’em ups from this time. That is something I keep coming back to. Because of when this game was released, there was a formula that Konami could follow for a game in this genre.

There were some additions made to the game’s stages. Some of them were lengthened, and there was at least one new stage added. A few of the bosses were also switched around, and new ones were added.

Overall, this is a well made arcade port. I do like the additions that were made to it, and the gameplay is quite fun. I can see why others might not like this version of the game, especially since you can play the arcade version through emulation.

Visuals

This game looks quite good for an NES game from the 1980s. It has many of the same problems as other NES games from this time. Aside from that, the enemies, bosses, and stages look good.

There is some repetition in the enemies, especially when it comes to the palette swaps on the ninjas. I don’t really mind this too much, because it is from the arcade game. The bosses do stand out as being quite good.

The stages and stage bosses look good. Their sprites stand out from the turtles and the stage enemies. This is one of the better looking games on the NES. Konami’s NES games usually looked good, and this is one of their better NES games.

This game does have a problem with slowdown and sprite flickering. If the game were four-player, it would be a much bigger issue than it currently is. These problems exist, but aren’t game breaking by any means.

Overall, the graphics are quite good! It does have some problems that are present in most of the early NES games. Those issues don’t detract from the very good gameplay or the above average graphics.

8/10. While this is a good version of the arcade game, it isn’t as good as the follow up. TMNT II: The Arcade Game is one of the better beat’em ups on the NES, which says more about the lack of depth in this genre. While it is disappointing that it isn’t four player, that would’ve been a detriment to the game.

Pros

• Good Graphics
• Fun Gameplay
• Challenging but not impossible

Cons

• Sprite Flickering
• Slowdown

Conclusion

This is one of the many games that I liked as a kid, and then the internet told me it was terrible. I’ve never really understood that, but it is what it is. TMNT II: The Arcade Game is a classic NES game for me. I have quite a few fond memories of it, and this was perfect for someone like me who couldn’t play the arcade game that often.

More often than not, people like to take their experiences or opinions and claim that everyone who grew up at the same time had them. It is one of the stranger things that I’ve seen on the internet. Just because I like this version of the game, it doesn’t mean that anyone else has to.

What I’ll always remember about this game is how much fun I had while playing it. It was something that my friends and I played quite a bit. What I don’t remember is if any of them owned it, or if it was a weekend rental. From what I remember, my friend Joey owned the first TMNT game on the NES, but I don’t remember if he had this one as well.

I’ll get into the third game in my next post. TMNT III is a much better console beat’em up than this game is. If I had known about that game when I was a kid, then I definitely would’ve asked for it as a birthday present or Christmas present.

If you liked this game, check out some of my other posts on Konami games. Such as Contra or Bucky O’Hare.