This article is a retrospective of the pop culture phenomenon The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ videogames, guiding readers through the history of the heroes' digital adventures, through the successes and failures, to ultimately uncover information and expectations about the forthcoming 7th generation movie tie-in.

Although interest in the cult comic characters has run blisteringly hot and arctic cold since its conception in 1984, the Turtles have seen considerable and consistent support from the videogame industry, seeing no less than 14 individual titles across more than 16 different formats.

The new CGI movie extravaganza prepares to re-launch the anthropomorphic amphibians back into the blinding lime light with a new multi-format, next generation license. But will the X360, Wii and PS3 do justice to the heroes in a half-shell?

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES – NES/Famicom – 1989

No stranger to the concept of licensing and merchandising, it’s no surprise Nintendo were the first to get their hands on a Turtles game, developed by Konami for the Japanese gaming giant’s grandfather console, the NES.



Ensuring the Turtles got off on the right flipper with their first skirmish into videogames, this original title offers surprisingly more than many of its successors. Incorporating a light strategic element by way of a sewer map system, and the ability to swap between Ninja Turtles at any point during gameplay, the NES version was also adorned with a dynamic storyline worthy of the animated series; suffering only from a lack of a multi-player option.

Solid foundations were laid right from the start, and it took an arcade machine to go one better…

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES – Arcade Coin-Op – 1989

While NES players were using all their ninjitsu cunning to navigate the sewers of Manhattan, arcade goers were putting strategy to the sword and sending fists and feet flying with the brilliant, picture perfect, 4-player coin-op fighting extravaganza.



Just as many games benefit from cerebrally challenging detail, others profit greatly from reducing gameplay to basic, raw and unabashed violence. And so it was with the gigantic arcade cabinet, which graciously allowed all four heroic Turtles to battle side-by-side against the minions of Shredder with a plethora of easily accessible ninja moves. As we look back at the history of TMNT gaming, this is the yard stick by which all are measured, and the next generation movie tie-in will be competing stiffly with this old warhorse for the heavyweight title.
Naturally, a game that offered such sheer entertainment value had to be brought home, but it was a lot of code and colorful graphics to shoehorn into an 8-bit processor…

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES – Multi-format – 1990

The world shuffled to the edge of its seat in anticipation of the home conversions of the superb TMNT arcade game, and in 1990 the shelves were stocked with half-shell ninjitsu sewer antics for every which format. Bells of devastation tolled loudly throughout the gaming world, however, when eager gamers loaded their first taste of amphibian adventures to find a soulless, insipid merchandising exploitation in place of the rambunctious reptilians.

More akin to the previous NES game, the Turtles were reduced to starring in a below average platformer that exhibited none of the character traits which had made the mutants into the beloved global franchise they’d become. Without the endearing strategic features of Nintendo’s early version, the computer and videogame license was squandered while the Turtles were at their peak; used to sell games by name, rather than quality.

Cue the sequels…