Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Arcade Game

Those who enjoy the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles find in the series a blend of ninja action, tongue-in-cheek dialogue, off-the-wall gags and some fairly cute characterizations. Those who don't get into TMNT probably don't care for either the unpretentiously juvenile humor or constant repetitive violence. Still others haven't even given the TMNT a chance, since--in their view--anything that appeals to such a wide audience must be stooping to the lowest common denominator. That may be true, but it still can be fun.

Take the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles out of this cartridge--what little of their humor and personality is present to begin with--and you're left with a spectacular-looking but repetitious action game. It's graphically ambitious, tough to play and packed with nonstop action. But where's the dudeness? Where are the funny characterizations? And where, oh where, is the pizza? It's there, but only in short supply (unless you count all the free plugs for Pizza Hut). The action is quite commendable, but the humor and personality are not at the level they should be.

Your goal is simply to get to the end of each level and battle the boss. April's been kidnapped, and--in classic Super Mario style--is snatched away just as you defeat her latest cap-tor. Along the way, you come up against hordes of enemy ninjas, robots, mad doctors and other denizens of the evil city. They Your goal is simply to get to the end of each level and battle the boss. April's been kidnapped, and--in classic Super Mario style--is snatched away just as you defeat her latest cap-tor. Along the way, you come up against hordes of enemy ninjas, robots, mad doctors and other denizens of the evil city. They keep coming every few steps you take, down sidewalks, through the sewers, buildings and everywhere else.

You generally use the same technique on all of them: jump kick them to death. You've only got one kind of kick and two kinds of attack with your hand weapon. You don't learn any new techniques, so the whole game is made up of those three movements over and over, and this is where it can become tedious.

Two can play at once in TMNT II; each chooses one of the turtles. But the turtles look nearly identical, so you're bound to end up confused as to which turtle you're controlling. Each of the turtles also carries a different weapon, but I generally found little difference between the effectiveness of one weapon over another. There are three continues that you can utilize, and I found no way to increase that number.

There are a good number of impressive elements to be found in TMNT II. The characters are large and well-defined, although there's a lot of on-screen flicker--strange since there are rarely more than five or six moving items on-screen at once.

Other noteworthy graphics: the enormous bouncing balls that inexplicably tumble downstairs in the first scene, the spectacular appearance of the first boss, the wild multilevel scrolling in snowy New York City and helicopter screens. (Yes, you heard that right: multilevel scrolling of the sort usually seen only in 16-bit, "next generation" graphic games). Even explosions are handled far better than in most NES games. Eight-bit graphics are occasionally brought to new heights in this game.

Overall, this game is engaging, but it took this reviewer a long time and a lot of patience to finally arrive at that conelusion. The main drawbacks are the constant sameness of the arcade action and lack of the Turtles' wacky sense of humor. The strong points are the exceptional graphics and a few surprising touches along the way.

Lucky gamers scored big if they managed to beat the crowds and snag a copy of Ultra's ultra hot Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game. If you didn't score this Turtles sequel or you've finally defeated the Foot Clan, why not check out the original that started it all back in 1989 -- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?

Shelling Out the Action

Shredder has abducted news reporter April O'Neil and every die-hard TMNT fan knows she's the only person who can bring Raphael, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Donatello out of their shells. The Turtles are determined to save April, put an end to ole' Shred-head's worthless existence, and in the process restore their radical rodent martial arts master, Splinter, to his normal human self with the Metal One's Life Transformer Gun.

The heroes in a half shell track Shredder across five incredibly tough levels of turtle-stompin' action through the streets and sewers of New York City and into Shredder's horrific headquarters, the Technodrome. You have to play each of the four Turtles one at a time, but you can switch among them any time. Each Turtle has his own life line, and if it runs out you're captured!

Most of the action in this one-player adventure is displayed in a side view perspective inside sewers and buildings, but in order to find these you stroll the streets via an overhead, bird's eye view.

Turtle Power

Naturally, they use the weapons they're famous for, but you can add to their arsenal by grabbing a limited supply of special throwing weapons such as boomerangs and shurikens. Other helpful items that pop up occasionally include energy-restoring pizza, rope for crossing the gaps between buildings, and an item called "Mr. Invincibility" which makes you temporarily indestructible.

Those Dam Bombs

If the world's most fearsome floating fighters successfully rescue April in the first level, they find out that Shredder has set eight bombs to blow the Hudson River Dam sky-high. In Level Two that makes swimming not sword-fighting skills a must.

Keep on Truckin'

The good times really roll in Level Three when the fab four burn some rubber in their Party Wagon. Armed with Anti-Foot Clan Missiles and a rapid-fire Vulcan Cannon, the boys must search through the Big Apple to find Splinter, who was kidnapped while they were off saving the dam.

Airport High Jinks

If you rescue Splinter, eat the Foot Clan's lunch, and waste the Mecaturtle, in Level Four you can cruise after Shredder in the Turtle Blimp -- if you can find it. It's somewhere in JFK International Airport, but you'll have to fight through the Clan again to reach it.

Techno Tough

In Level Five, Shredder's getting scared -- you're close to the Technodrome, which is hidden deep within one of four caves. But if you fail the first time around, its location changes every time you play.

Enter the Shredder

The final big brawl broils inside the Technodrome with blaster totin' rocket men and miniature mechanical dinosaurs with whip-lash tails lurking around every comer. All paths lead to the Turtles' arch-nemesis, that "Edward Scissorhands" reject, Shredder.

Turtle Soup

TMNT is a good blend of side view fighting and overhead map tracking that ought to keep your fingers busy. However, it's got a few dents in its shell.

The absence of a mufti-player option detracts from the whole concept of Turtle togetherness, the overall action is just average, and it's nearly impossible to finish with only two continues. Also, although the Turtles look cool, the Foot Clanners' graphics are a little weak.

Despite these drawbacks, however, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will rank as one of the top-selling NES games of all time. What gives? Turtle power, dudes. When you're hot, you're hot. Cowabunga!

Turtle Power...

Our favorite heroes in the half shell have returned to the NES in a second adventure. This time Konami, under their Ultra brand, has pulled out all of the stops and attempted to duplicate, and even surpass, their current arcade hit. And in some respects they have as there are new levels in the NES version not found in the arcade game. Also throw in a full 4 meg of memory plus the MMC3 chip and you have some of the finest 2 person simultaneous play ever done on the NES. So pick your favorite turtle and head out as April and Shredder have been captured and you must save them before it is too late!

Konami has taken their very popular TMNT arcade game and converted it to the NES. Set in a 3/4 side perspective you and a friend must fight your way through 7 levels packed with dozens of Shredder's Foot Clan in this Double Dragon-type game. Each turtle uses his favorite weapon and moves and fights at a different rate of speed. You have several, different moves at your disposal, each with varying levels of effectiveness. The jump and slash, for example, packs twice the attack power as the plain slash move. The action begins in the streets and progresses horizontally and vertically through the sewers leading to the Technodrome. The NES version even has levels not found in the arcade game! Cinema intermissions, large bosses, and a constant flow of enemies to fight are all built into the newest of the Turtle games.

Top Score Tips!

The most effective move in TMNT 2 is the jump and slash technique. Do this by hitting both buttons as you approach an opponent!

Go into battle against the "shred head"

In their second foray onto the GameBoy screen, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are back and they mean business! The streets of N.Y. are once again in chaos, with a strange force attempting to take command of the population. The cops have no leads and with each new act of crime the people are demanding that something be done to stop the terror!

Although the police are in the dark, a quartet of subterrainian super heroes have a pretty good idea of who's behind all the commotion. These four mean and green ninja machines must use their individual martial arts skills to wrestle control of the streets away from The Shredder's army of thugs and restore a new peace to the people of New York!

Choose your turtle!

At the start of each level you can pick which weapons and skills you wish to possess by picking your favorite turtle! When you lose a life you can pick from the remaining turtles. If you continue you resume play from the last level.

Free one of your turtle friends!

Don't worry if you lose a life because it's easy to return the turtles to safety. If you complete a level and you are missing one of the turtles, you will play a rescue game instead of a bonus game. You'll be given the chance to best a robot guard and save one of the turtles from its captors.

The bonus games!

Every time you finish a level you can play a bonus game! To make it to the special play areas, however, you must have all four turtles alive after the Boss is beaten. While all the bonus games are essentially the same, the structure is different. You have a certain amount of time to collect as many pizzas as possible. Move fast, or the pizza will disappear before you know it! Bonus points as well as additional life are awarded based on the number of pics collected during the time period. Master this technique because the quicker your actions the more life and points you get!

Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!

Everybody knows that pizza Is the turtles' favorite food, including the people at Konami! That could explain why pizza is the food that gives the turtles back their power. You get pizza from some of the foot soldiers and sometimes even Splinter might leave a slice behind. A whole pizza gives you back more life then only the one slice, but no matter what toppings are used, don't pass it up!

Break out of your disguise!

The Shredder is back and it's lime to show who the true heroes are. Don't hide any longer.

Act 1

Although the first level of Turtles 2 is easy than the following rounds by comparison, it still presents some unique challenges! As you approach the conclusion of Act 1, however, the game will get more difficult. Explore the sewers when the manholes come off for Pizza and beware of Rocksteady.

Act 2

Take to the streets in the second level of action! Get ready to do some major shreddin' on your skateboard to get past Shredder's goons! Use your jump kick against the flying scooters and look out for Beebop at the end of the round! He can't wait to get his hands on your shell!

Act 3

This is one of the longest levels in the game, so be sure you've got your entire clan just in case you run into a few snags! This is also a good level to search on since many of the Foot can be caught with Pizza! Krang is waiting for you at the end of Act 3 so be prepared!

Act 4

You're well on your way to finding the Shredder by the time you reach Act 4. Avoid the boulders in the beginning of the round by ducking when they bounce and jumping when they roll. In addition to facing the Shredder tor the first time, you'll also face off against an angry alien out to stop you!

Act 5

If you start to think you're losing your mind in a maze at the beginning of Act 5, don't worry! All you have to do to escape Shredder's trap is to move constantly to the left without falling. Not only will you fight a Rock Soldier here, out you'll battle the evil Baxter as well!

The technodrome

Blast your way behind enemy lines and take out General Traage, Krang, and The Shredder in the last level of the game!