UNITED STATES—A little known secret about me that you may not know, as a kid I was massive fan of the cartoon “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” I had EVERY single action figure and toy there is of the iconic heroes. That means I was also a fan of the movies and the video games. I will tell you something that might blow your mind, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” for the NES system is one of the hardest games I’ve ever played people.
The sequel “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II” was a massive improvement and I was also a fan of the third installment in the series, and that brings me to the version that finally hit on the SNES gaming system: “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time.” So what makes this fourth installment a caliber above its predecessors, the evolution of graphics, the fact that the stages are exciting and the game just feels fun; its old-school with a touch of new.
We have all our turtles: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Donatello, but in a realm we’ve yet to see before, they’re traveling in time and they have a very important mission to accomplish which makes this game absolutely bonkers in my opinion. Of course New York City is a staple in the game, but our fearless turtles travel through time to visit historical landmarks and in the process battle iconic villains like Metalhead, Leatherhead, Slash, Tokka, Rahzar, Bebop, Rocksteady, Baxter Stockman, Shredder, and Super Krang as well people.
The historical significance of each stage just invites the player into a new realm and it’s exciting. The stages are not that difficult and neither are the bosses if I’m being totally honest. If you watch their attacks one to two times you’ll quickly develop a system that grants you victory each time. There are at least two stages where you are forced to battle two bosses at once and you might wonder how you plan to accomplish the feat.
It is simple: you fight one boss at a time. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO BATTLE BOTH at the same time! It will always end with you losing. Take care of one of them first and then move your focus on the other afterwards. As always, Shredder is a staple and final boss in ever TMNT game and he doesn’t disappoint this time around, but he’s way easier than I expect. Hell, Krang is much tougher than Shredder people and considering Shredder works for Krang you would think it’s the opposite way around. I mean hello, did anyone play “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II.” That is where you call a final boss like Shredder a hell of a challenge people.
Minus that one hiccup in boss difficulty, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles In Time” is a classic and makes you remember why you love these iconic characters rather it’s on TV, the action figures or the video games.
Written By Davy Jones
