Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
激亀忍者伝
- Year
- 1989
- Developer
- Konami
- Publisher
- Konami (JP) / Ultra Games (US)
- Platform
- FC / NES
- Hardware
- Family Computer (8-bit)
- Genre
- Action Platformer
- Players
- 1 player
- Controls
- D-pad + A (jump) / B (attack)
- Series
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series
Gameplay Screenshots
About This Game
The first NES Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is not the arcade brawler - it is a single-player action platformer, and a famously hard one. Each of the four turtles has a different weapon (Leonardo's katana, Raphael's sai, Donatello's bo staff, Michelangelo's nunchaku) and you switch between them at any time to suit the situation.
The structure is an overworld map linking five areas: the sewers, the city streets, a dam, the Technodrome and a final confrontation with Shredder. Underwater bomb-defusal sections, a Turtle Van driving stage and instant-kill seaweed make it a game that demands memorisation rather than reflexes, and Donatello's long reach makes him the default answer to most fights.
- Four switchable turtles with different weapon range and damage
- Overworld map linking sewers, city, dam and the Technodrome
- Underwater defusal and vehicle stages breaking up the platforming
- Ultra Games US release of a Konami Japan original
Version History
- NES US version1989-05
The version on this page, released by Ultra Games.
- Famicom Japanese version1989-12-22
Released as Geki Kame Ninja Den with slightly different balance.
- TMNT II: The Arcade Game1990
Konami's NES port of the actual arcade brawler, a very different game.
Tips & Strategy
Donatello for everything
His bo staff has the longest reach in the game, so it clears enemies before they can touch you. Switch back to him whenever you can.
The dam is the real difficulty spike
Instant-death water and bomb defusal with a timer make Area 3 the hardest part. Practise the bomb route rather than trying to fight everything.
Conserve your sub-weapon
Each turtle carries a limited-use secondary item. Keep them for bosses instead of clearing corridors.
Learn the overworld to skip fights
Most overworld enemies can be avoided entirely by taking a different route. Fighting them only drains your life bar before the stage even starts.
Download Resources
Resource packs for this game are provided through the button below.
⬇ Coming soon