Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time is an arcade video game produced by Konami. Originally an arcade game, Turtles in Time was ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992 under the title Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time, continuing the numbering from the earlier Turtles games released on the original NES. Turtles in Time became Konami’s best-selling arcade title. The game was hailed for staying true to its source material. The SNES version was praised for its additional stages and gameplay modes. Many call it the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time the best Ninja Turtles game of all time and some even called it the best Beat Em’ Up ever.

Pros:

Turtles in time is a side scrolling Beat Em’ Up, that sets the standard for this classic arcade style. Chose your favorite turtle (Don is mine. I know, I am nerd) and star kicking foot soldier butt! You feel like you are making some serious progress, and quickly too. Before you know it you are already facing off with Shredder, but just as you beat him, he sends you back in time and the game really starts. You wouldn’t think it, but these levels have some significant variations. Things like hazards, traps, and more difficult enemies can be expected but levels like “Sewer Surfing” and “Neon-Night Riders” has you on riding a hover board and fighting enemies as they come past you. Even the first time you face off with Shredder, at the beginning of the game, you do it in a creative depth based setting where the only way to beat him is to throw his henchmen at him. Each Turtle has their own power move, and environmental elements like manhole covers, trash cans, fire hydrants, etc. are usable. The best part of this game though is the music, seriously. Now you might be asking “How good can a game be if the music is the best part?”. The game is great, but the music is probably some of the best found in all of classic gaming. Just watch this drummer rock EVERY SONG in the game.

This video should answer the question of why metal heads love old-school video games so much. This guy is pretty fucking good too, though there are some high hat rolls he leaves out, I am sure on purpose.

Cons:

This game has a pretty good level of challenge to it, but once you get a good feel for it, it really is on the short side. You really can knock this one out in one sitting. I don’t think this is too terrible, because like most classic games if you lose all your lives you have to start over, but unlike many, you have to start all the way over, like from the very beginning… brutal. Your characters power attacks are cool and you will probably make the rooky mistake of using them all the time, but they take health points to use, which you might not notice untile you have died a few too many times. You can make some of your health points back though by throwing your enemies at the screen. However, cool moves like that require a mix of timing and proper buttons, which on paper sounds pretty easy to do, but rocking them in this game can actually be a bit difficult to pull off. The final Shredder battle is pretty rough too, since he has a green attack that kills you in one move. I have never been a fan of one kill moves because they take no creativity to produce, nor create any real challenge, just stay away, cheap if you ask me.