Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time
TMNT: Turtles in Time arcade title screen
Developer(s)	Konami
Publisher(s)	Konami
Series	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Platform(s)	Arcade, Super Famicom/Super NES, Virtual Console
Release date	1991 (Arcade) 1992 (Super Famicom/Super NES)
Genre(s)	Side-scrolling beat 'em up
Mode(s)	Single-player Cooperative gameplay (up to four simultaneous players)
Media	cartridge
Input methods	8-way joystick, 2 buttons
CPU	68000 (@ 16 MHz)
Sound	Two channels amplified stereo CPU: Z80 (@ 8 MHz) Chips: YM2151 (@ 3.58 MHz), K053260 (@ 3.58 MHz)
Display	Raster graphics Horizontal orientation Resolution: 304x224 pixels Refresh rate: 60.00 Hz 2048 colours

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time is an arcade game produced by Konami in 1991. A sequel to the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) arcade game, it is a scrolling beat 'em up based on the 80s TMNT animated series. It was ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time in 1992. That same year, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist was released for Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and featured many elements from Turtles in Time. The arcade version of Turtles in Time was also included as an unlockable bonus in the 2005 game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Mutant Nightmare for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox, but with different music, slightly altered graphics, and no score counter.^[1]

[edit] Plot

Shredder taunts the Turtles after Krang steals the Statue of Liberty, in the intro of the arcade game.

When a player starts a new game, the introduction cut scene of the game is played. It begins with April O'Neil reporting from Liberty Island. Suddenly, Krang flies in using a giant exosuit (which was also seen occasionally in the animated series^[2][3][4]) and steals the Statue of Liberty, moments before Shredder hijacks the airwaves to laugh at the Turtles. The Turtles jump into action in downtown New York and pursue the Foot to the streets and the city sewers (then to the Technodrome in the SNES version^[5]), where Shredder sends them through a time warp. The Turtles must fight Shredder's army in both the past and the future in order to get home.^[6]

[edit] Gameplay

Up to four players can take control of Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael.^[7] As usual in the 80s and 90s TMNT games, Donatello has slower attacks but a longer range, Michelangelo and Raphael have fast attacks but a short range, and Leonardo is a well-rounded Turtle with average range and speed.^[8][9] In addition to this, each Turtle has a special attack, an idea introduced in the previous console game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project.^[7] New features in this game include the ability to make a power-attack by hitting an enemy several times in a row, and the ability to grab Foot Soldiers and either use them as weapons to attack surrounding enemies or to throw them out of the game, towards the camera.^[7]

The controls are fairly straightforward. The eight-way joystick controls the movements of the Turtle, the jump button makes them jump and the attack button makes them hit in front of them using their weapon. In addition to this, some combinations are possible. By using the joystick in conjunction with one of the two buttons, or by pressing both buttons in succession or at once, the player can make the Turtle run, perform a slide or dash attack, jump higher, perform a stationary or directed air attack, or perform his special attack.^[7]

[edit] Levels

The levels of the SNES port of the game, discussed further down, were close to those of the original arcade game. The SMD/SG port of the game had drastically different levels, but did at times reuse parts of the arcade game's levels.^[10]

The first levels of the game are set in New York City, in the present. The game begins on a high-rise construction platform in the level "Big Apple, 3AM", and then moves on to the streets in "Alleycat Blues". Next is "Sewer Surfin'", the first of two surfing levels in the game. While it is a normal stage in the arcade game, in the SNES port it was changed to a bonus stage in which the Turtles can pick up question-mark pizza boxes and kill enemies for extra points.^[5] Furthermore, in the arcade version, this level has no boss. Instead, Shredder's face appears against the far wall, and he immediately sends the Turtles into the time warp. In the SNES version, the level has a boss, and in the following cut scene the Turtles watch as the Technodrome rises up from the ground, and they jump in.^[5]

The second part of the "Technodrome: Let's Kick Shell!" level, which was added to the SNES port of the game. The Turtles remain on the platform, and at each level new enemies enter through the doors on both sides.

Next in the SNES game is a two-part level set in the Technodrome and called "Technodrome: Let's Kick Shell!" This level is not present at all in the arcade version.^[5] The first part of the level is a normal side-scrolling level, like most others in the game. The second part of the level is an elevator-type level, the only one of its kind in the game. The Turtles remain on the screen-wide elevator as it goes up, and at each floor new enemies come in to attack. When the elevator reaches the top level and the last enemies are defeated, the right-side door opens, and the Turtles exit to face another boss. After they defeat it, Shredder sends the Turtles into the time warp, and the game proceeds as in the Arcade version.

The first time-travel level of the game, "Prehistoric Turtlesaurus", is set in the distant past, 2.5 billion years ago. In the game, this time-period corresponds to the thick forests and caves of a world ruled by dinosaurs, although in reality this date is at the limit between the Paleoproterozoic and Archean eras, neither of which had dinosaurs nor vegetation. The next two levels are "Skull and Crossbones" and "Bury my Shell at Wounded Knee" (a play on the book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee), and they are set on a pirate ship in 1530 and a train in the American Old West in 1885, respectively.

The next two levels of the game are set in the future. The first, "Neon Night-Riders", is set in a science fictional version of 2020. It is also the second surfing level of the game, and in the arcade version is a side-scrolling level much like "Sewer Surfin'". In the SNES version however, it exploits Mode 7 to gain a third-person view from the back of the Turtles, save for the boss battle which switches back to the normal side-view.^[5] Furthermore, like "Sewer Surfin'", this is a bonus level on the SNES, and there are question-mark pizza boxes that the Turtles can pick up for extra points.^[5] Finally, the last time-travel level is "Starbase: Where No Turtle Has Gone Before"; where it takes place in the year 2100 on a space colony. The name "where no turtle has gone before" is a play on the famous Star Trek quote "Where no man has gone before".

The game returns to the present (1991) for the final boss battle of the game. Unlike the other levels, "Technodrome: The Final Shell-Shock" is composed only of the boss battle, and there is no area for the Turtles to walk through beforehand. The Statue of Liberty, which Krang stole in the beginning of the game, is visible in the background of the fight arena.

[edit] Enemies

[edit] Regular enemies

A group of green, blue and pink Foot Soldiers in the "Skull and Crossbones" level of the arcade game.

The majority of enemies encountered in the game are Foot Soldiers. These soldiers wear a different uniform colour depending on the weapon they carry. The most common of them are the purple Foot Soldiers. They are empty-handed, and attack by punching or kicking the Turtles. They also have the ability to grab and hold the Turtles by the shoulders, leaving them open to attack. Although they usually walk into the screen from the sides or enter from a door in the background like the other enemies, they also have at least one special entry method unique to each level of the game. For example, they can be seen jumping out of hiding places in the background, riding on-screen on the back of horses or velociraptors, or teleporting into action.

Foot Soldiers dressed in one of six other colours are armed with traditional ninja weapons, such as sai, shuriken, tonfa or nunchaku. Each weapon gives the Foot Soldiers a different attack range, strength, speed and strategy. For example, the Foot Soldiers armed with a katana tend to jump and attack the Turtles from above, while those carrying a boomerang will keep their distance and attack from afar.

After the Foot Soldiers, the most common enemies faced by the Turtles are the Stone Warriors. Unlike the Foot Soldiers, many of these enemies are armed with modern long-range weapons such as machine guns, bazookas, grenade launchers, or futuristic rayguns. They appear in all time-travel levels starting from "Prehistoric Turtlesaurus", with the exception of "Neon Night-Riders".

Finally, it is worth mentioning that the game features some level-specific enemies that only appear in one or two levels. They include the Chunky Cheese Pizza Monsters found in the "Sewer Surfin'" level, the futuristic A6 Annihilators that appear in the "Starbase: Where No Turtle Has Gone Before" level, and the boxing robots encountered in the arcade version of the "Alleycat Blues" and "Neon Night-Riders" levels. These boxing robots were eliminated from the SNES version of the game.^[5]

The SNES game featured two additional kinds of enemies.^[5] The first are the Roadkill Rodneys, which replaced the boxing robots in the "Alleycat Blues" level and were in the extra "Technodrome: Let's Kick Shell!" level. And the second are the Mousers, found in the "Technodrome: Let's Kick Shell!" and "Neon Night-Riders" levels.

[edit] Bosses

The arcade version of the game and its SNES port share nearly the same boss line-up, as can be seen from the table below.

All the bosses are characters from the TV series that was airing at the time the game was released, with the exception of Tokka and Rhazar who appeared in the movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze. An odd addition to the boss line-up was Cement Man, a monster that was brought to life by Baxter Stockman in the episode "Curse of the Evil Eye"^[11] and was never seen afterwards. In the SNES game, he was replaced by a more common character, Slash.

The battles against Shredder varies substantially between the arcade and SNES games. In the arcade version, Shredder, as he appeared in the cartoon, is the final boss of the game. In the SNES game, there are two battles against Shredder. The first one is at the end of a regular level, and is a unique puzzle boss battle. Indeed, the Turtles cannot attack Shredder directly, and must throw Foot Soldiers at his battle tank in order to damage it. The Turtles later face Shredder as the final boss, as in the arcade game. However, in the SNES and SMD/SG versions of the game, Shredder mutates himself into Super-Shredder before the battle. This mutation never happened on the cartoon series, and is inspired by the second TMNT movie.

Shredder in the arcade game (left) attacks using a sword in this picture, and can also performs two special attacks. Meanwhile, the mutated Super-Shredder on the SNES (right) has three super-powers, such as the anti-mutagen blast shown here, which reverts the Turtles back into regular turtles and makes them lose a life.

[edit] Soundtrack

The original music of the game's soundtrack was composed by Kôzô Nakamura,^[12] a TMNT veteran who also composed the music for the previous arcade game in the series.^[13] It was produced by Kazuhiko Uehara and Harumi Ueko,^[12][14] both of whom went on to produce several Konami games, including the following TMNT game, Tournament Fighters.^[15][16] In addition to an original musical score, the attract mode of the arcade game is noted for featuring the song "Pizza Power", which was taken from the TMNT live concert known as the Coming Out of Their Shells Tour.^[17] The game's music was released as part of the compilation album Konami All-Stars 1993 ~ Music Station of Dreams, published by King Records in 1992.^[18]

The voices of the characters in the cutscenes and their voice-over comments in the game were done mostly by the same voice actors as in the TV series. The most important exception is the voice of Shredder. James Avery did not reprise his role in the game, and the character was instead voiced by Jim Cummings, a regular additional voice on the show. The characters of Tokka and Rahzar, who had not yet appeared in the TV series at that point, were voiced by Frank Welker, the same voice actor who provided their voices in the movie.^[12]

The 2005 version of the game included in Mutant Nightmare features new music and voices, updated to match the new TMNT series.^[19]

[edit] Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time

TMNT IV: Turtles in Time SNES box art.

A two-player version of the game was released onto the Super NES as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time in the US, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles IV: Turtles in Time in the UK and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time in Japan. It is the fourth TMNT game produced for Nintendo's home consoles, following the first three NES games. Although it is a close copy of the arcade original, it did present some notable differences.

[edit] Audio-visual differences

The graphics and sounds were toned down in the transition from the arcade to the SNES.

Visually, the characters and animations remained mostly the same. The main differences can be seen in the backgrounds, which were a lot more detailed in the arcade version. In addition, in the SNES version, all the bosses exploded and fell off the screen when they were defeated. On the other hand, in the arcade version, the four living bosses actually die: Baxter Stockman and Leatherhead collapse on the floor, Krang's lifeless body can be seen in the wreckage of his spaceship, and Shredder falls over the guard rail in the background and is heard screaming all the way down.^[5] Finally, the arcade game had occasional lighting and weather effects: the cave of "Prehistoric Turtlesaurus" was darker, and by the end of "Skull and Crossbones" it was raining. These effects were cut from the SNES game.^[5]

The SNES game did have some graphical advantages over the arcade one. The most notable advantage was the use of Mode 7 in the "Neon Night-Riders" level, giving it a unique over-the-shoulder perspective in an otherwise left-to-right scroller game. Another important difference was to give the players the choice between the "animation" colour scheme, in which all Turtles had the same appearance, and the "comic" colour scheme, in which each Turtle had a unique skin colour. In the arcade game, the Turtles all had the same skin colour.

The soundtracks of both games are nearly identical. However, the arcade game's attract mode song, "Pizza Power", was replaced with an instrumental version of the cartoon theme song in the opening sequence of the SNES game. Furthermore, the arcade game had a lot more voice-overs. Each boss had their own unique quote they said when they met the Turtles, which in the SNES game was instead written on the screen. The various events that occurred during the level, such as the Turtles being burned or frozen, had their own special voice-overs. These were all eliminated from the SNES game.^[5]

The "Neon Night-Riders" level was changed from a side-scrolling view in the arcade (left) to an over-the-shoulder view in the SNES version (right) to take advantage of the SNES's Mode 7 graphics.

[edit] Gameplay differences

The game length was increased while being ported to the SNES, by adding the two-part "Technodrome: Let's Kick Shell!" level between "Sewer Surfin'" and "Prehistoric Turtlesaurus". Four new bosses were also added: the Rat King, Battletank Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady, and Slash. The only loss on that point was the elimination of Cement Man as a boss.^[5] On top of this, two new play modes were added to the game. They are the time-trial mode, where the player tries to finish parts of levels as quickly as possible, and the versus fight mode, where two players fight each other.

Some changes were also made to improve the game without making it longer. For instance, the two surfing levels, "Sewer Surfin'" and "Neon Night-Riders", were changed to bonus levels, with extra points being awarded to players based on how many enemies they destroy and how many bonus pizza boxes (marked with a ? symbol) they pick up.^[5] Also, if the players stay in place without moving for too long in the arcade version, Splinter shows up and urges them to hurry. If they still remain in place, bombs drop on them and kill them. In the SNES version, April O'Neil appears and tells the Turtles to fight, and nothing bad happens if the Turtles still refuse to move.^[5]

The attacks were changed slightly during the port. The combo system was streamlined on the SNES to allow three hits before a Foot Soldier is knocked down by a final power attack. Furthermore, the throw and slam moves can now be executed intentionally by pressing direction arrows while attacking;^[9] in the arcade version, throws and slams occurred randomly. The Turtles' special attacks, done by pressing both the attack and jump buttons simultaneously, now cost some of the Turtles' energy.^[9] But the Turtles' attacks were not the only ones to be changed; so were the Foot Soldiers'. The arcade-version Foot Solders were both faster and more aggressive than those of the SNES. They also had a repertoire of moves that got cut from the SNES version, such as a handspring maneuver, and only rarely used the "grab" attack where one Foot Soldier grabs a Turtle from behind and holds him.

In addition, the SNES version introduced several new distinctions between the Turtles. In addition to the difference in attack strength and range found in other TMNT games, this game gave each Turtle another, different strength for their special techniques and their rush attacks (the ones done by taking a red pizza box), as well as a unique defence strength and walking speed. As usual, Leonardo is the most balanced Turtle, with average values on all points. Michelangelo was made the strongest Turtle in normal attack and defence, to make up for his shorter range. Donatello is the slowest of the Turtles, but makes up for it with a longer attack range and average normal and rush attack strengths, as well as his powerful special technique. Finally, Raphael has the weakest normal attack and defence strengths, but he also has the strongest rush attacks and special techniques, and is by far the fastest of the Turtles.^[9]

[edit] Mistakes

The SNES instruction manual contains a number of mistakes. The story, as described in the manual, states that Shredder was controlling the robot that stole the Statue of Liberty by remote, while in the introduction cutscene of the game Krang is clearly visible inside the robot. Furthermore, Rocksteady's name is spelled "Rock Steady", and Rat King is called "The Rat". The "Big Apple, 3AM" level was simply named "Downtown", and the year of the "Prehistoric Turtlesaurus" level was given as 2,500,000 BC instead of 2,500,000,000 BC. Finally, the manual states that using a red pizza box costs one life, which is false.^[9]

The game also contains a number of typos. For example, the quote each boss is heard saying before the fights in the arcade game are instead typed on-screen in the SNES version, and Metalhead's quote "I'm gonna mangle you green slimeballs" contains a typo and reads slimballs.

[edit] Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist

Main article: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist

A redesigned version of this game was released to the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist in the US, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist in the UK, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Return of the Shredder in Japan. In this version, the time travel concept was removed, replaced by a plot where Shredder uses the Hyperstone to shrink Manhattan Island to the size of a bottle. Several of the stages of the original game are used, with their, non-modern appearance explained away — for example, the pirate ship becomes a ghost ship.

[edit] Critical response

[edit] TMNT: Turtles in Time

Reviewers were naturally quick to compare Turtles in Time to the first TMNT arcade game, released two years prior. Although this second game did not provide much in terms of innovation, it was a net improvement over its predecessor on all points, including graphics, music and action.^[8] Overall, the game was hailed for staying true to the feel of the original material it is based on.^[17]

[edit] TMNT IV: Turtles in Time

On the SNES, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time is often cited as the best Turtles game, surpassing both its predecessors on the NES and its successors on the GameCube.^[23] The superior hardware of the SNES gave the game far better graphics and smoother animations than the previous three games on the NES, and were on par with the original arcade version^[23] and as close to the cartoon as any Turtles game in the '90s.^[26] In fact, it is sometimes compared visually to playing an episode of the cartoon.^[22]

The music is of a high quality,^[22] and is still fondly remembered by fans years after the game was released.^[30] In particular, the inclusion of the cartoon theme song on the soundtrack was greatly appreciated.^[23] The voice-overs, a novelty at the time, were also memorable^[30] and added to the general feeling of playing a cartoon episode.^[22]

This version of Turtles in Time also compares favourably to the original arcade game, thanks to the many innovations introduced during the port. Most notably, the addition of a new level to make the game longer is appreciated.^[27] Gamers also acclaimed the originality of having a boss that has to be defeated by throwing Foot Soldiers at him using one of the Turtles' special moves.^[25] The alternate gameplay modes added to the main game, the time-trial and versus fight modes, were also appreciated.^[22][6][27]

The game is however criticised for its repetitiveness. Every level has the player fighting Foot Soldiers, who always attack in the same manner.^[25][26] All but one of the levels follow the typical left-to-right side-scrolling beat'em-up formula, which becomes monotonous after a while.^[30] Moreover, despite the addition of new levels, the game remains quite short — shorter, in fact, than the previous TMNT games on the NES.^[27]

The controls of the game received their fair share of criticism. Much like the arcade version, the SNES version only used two buttons — attack and jump — despite the fact the SNES controller had six buttons available. The players are given several choices of attack/jump button configurations, and the run option can be automatic (as in the arcade) or activated manually by double-pressing the left or right arrow, but unlike The Hyperstone Heist, it is impossible to assign a separate run button. It is also impossible to assign different buttons to differentiate the Foot Soldier bash and throw moves. Many gamers feel that assigning these various moves to the different buttons available on the controllers would have made the game more responsive and easier to play.^[26]

The game also suffered in the reviews due to the abundance of TMNT games for Nintendo systems. Counting the NES, SNES and Game Boy, this was the sixth TMNT game released for a Nintendo system, and there was very little to set it apart from the others in terms of gameplay. The improved graphics, sounds, features and most importantly the time-travel aspect were the game's redeeming features.^[29][30]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, the live-action TMNT movie in which time travel plays a central role.

[edit] External links

TMNT: Turtles in Time

• TMNT: Turtles in Time at GameFAQs
• TMNT: Turtles in Time at the Killer List of Videogames
• TMNT: Turtles in Time at the Internet Movie Database

TMNT IV: Turtles in Time

• TMNT IV: Turtles in Time at GameFAQs
• TMNT IV: Turtles in Time at IGN
• TMNT IV: Turtles in Time at MobyGames

Comparisons

• TMNT: Turtles in Time vs. TMNT IV: Turtles in Time at X-Cult
• TMNT IV: Turtles in Time vs. TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist at Game Pilgrimage