Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1989 Video Game) - Reception and Follow-up

Reception and Follow-up

The original NES version was a major success, with over 4 million copies sold. It was one of the best-selling third party NES games. A series of computer ports were developed and rushed out in time for that year's Christmas season, but did not fare nearly as well, commercially or critically. Despite the fact that this game was a success, it got many mixed reviews. The game received criticism for its difficult gameplay, being noted by many fans and critics as being one of the more frustrating NES games made. However, the computer versions were even harder due to sloppy programming and controls. The PC port notably has an impossible section where the player must jump over a low-hanging ceiling and cannot avoid colliding with it and falling into the sewer (the game however has cheat codes that allow this level to be skipped). Other people were disappointed that the game was not arcade port as expected.

The NES game does not have a save feature (which adds to the difficulty since the game must be completed in one sitting), although the computer ports do.

The game received Nintendo Power's 1989 Game of the Year award. However, Nintendo Life's review on the game was not positive, earning only a 3/10.

In 1989, Konami also released an arcade game, also called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In 1990, it was ported to the NES as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game, as a follow-up to the original NES game, even though it wasn't a "true" sequel (in terms of gameplay). Instead, the second game had stronger ties to the TV series (including using the cartoon's art style), more straightforward beat 'em up gameplay, and support for 4-player simultaneous play (2 players for the NES version). This new style became the standard for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games for the next few years.