Traumatizing an entire generation: the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game

Nintendo Entertainment System

I am sure that every generation feels the same about their own but many times I have thought to myself that I grew up during the “right” generation or decade because I was able to experience the evolution of <insert topic>. One of those things was the evolution of the home console. And an interesting franchise that comes to mind in those NES days has always been the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles in Europe) video game. The first game was release in the US in June of 1989 and by Christmas, I was the proud owner of a copy. It was published under Konami’s Ultra Games label.

When we think of TMNT games, our mind typically focuses on the Konami beat-em up style we see in The Arcade Game and Turtles in Time. Also published by Konami and both of which were [and still are] extremely fun to play.

Anyway, this game was the only Turtles game for the NES at the time and I loved it. Not because it was a good game (it really wasn’t). But it was the only one available. I was watching the cartoons and playing with the action figures. So, to have a video game adaptation, accurate or not, meant a lot.

It wasn’t accurate to the franchise at all. Aside from assorted bosses and characters, the rest (including locations) were entirely made up for the game. The story was allso fairly generic. Save April, then save Splinter, defeat Shredder, etc. But that was okay. Again….to have a video game adaptation, accurate or not, meant a lot.

Graphically, the game was generally good or decent. The music was awesome. The gameplay and controls however, sucked. It was insanely difficult from the beginning and just got harder as you progressed through the game. Yes, it was hard as hell (remember, I was a child of the 80’s). The platforming was intense and to try to land very small spaces required a certain level of skill. The enemies respawned too frequently when moving even slightly throughout each scene. Some enemies were very difficult to dispatch without getting hit and timing meant everything. Oh, and let us not forget about the infamous underwater level, where you had to disarm all the bombs under the damn. Avoiding the electrified seaweed was impossible! This traumatizing stage alone was the root cause of the anxiety that most Gen-Xers and early Millennials would carry with them into adulthood.

Again, I had gotten this game for Christmas. And would enjoy it until a school “friend” stole it one day. Initially, he didn’t confess to it but we knew. He did however admit to it a little over a decade later while we were in high school and he did apologize. I would eventually repurchase the game a couple of years later from FuncoLand and resume the struggle.

What was your experience with this game?