3 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles In Time (SNES) 1991
Turtles in Time was released in the arcades as well as on the Super Nintendo but we’re giving the SNES version a slight leg up. Sure it only features two-player action instead of four-player. But the home-port makes up for it by extending the fun with two all-new levels. It doesn’t hurt that it looks, sounds and plays so similar to the arcade with great Mode-7 effects.
2 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES) 1989
I know. Blasphemy. How could the original NES TMNT game be better than Turtles in Time. Well, here’s why. It’s the Dark Souls of the TMNT video games and unique among its sequels. It’s not unfairly difficult but it is challenging. It asks players to fully understand and use its mechanics properly. When and where to use each turtle, strategic sharing of pizza rations, which special weapons to pick up and which to avoid. Not too mention the 3 forms of jumping – Auto-jump for mini-gaps, the standard mid-jump and a full on Ninja high flip. All of these things need to be mastered if you hope to reach Shredder. Plus, each turtles weapons have different stats. With Mikey’s Nun-chucks being among the fastest but weakest, and Donnie’s staff being on the other end of the scale with huge reach and awesome power. There’s no hand-holding here. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is one of the best titles on the NES.
1 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game (Arcade) 1989
Giving Turtles in Time a great run for its money and just edging it out as the best TMNT multiplayer brawler, the original and excellent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The Arcade Game remains in the top spot with some of the purest 4-player pixel-punching action out there. The NES received a great port but it’s the Arcade Version that stole our hearts and hundreds of quarters. With tight responsive gameplay, great levels with fun boss fights and a ridiculous amount of nostalgia fuel, TMNT The Arcade Game drop kicks the competition.
