It practically spawned the entire video game genre of "fighting", where two opponents would pummel each other using both standard hand to hand moves with complex, super human special attacks. Many imitators and other takes of the fighting game genre appeared to grab a piece of the market that Street Fighter 2 had opened, both in arcades and at home. Some, like Mortal Kombat, would go on to great success. Others, like... just about everything else, would not be so lucky, usually because they really sucked.

At the same time that Street Fighter 2 was beginning to shine, another famous fad had just hit its peak.

They were a best selling comic book. There were a best selling line of action figures. They were a #1 Hollywood movie. They were a part of some of the most popular and acclaimed video games ever. They were the love of kids of all ages. They were often the bane of parents. They are the reason that I became an illustrator. They are the reason why this website exists today.

They are... the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The Turtles had done it all. They left not one aspect of popular culture untouched. By this time, the Turtles popularity was starting to fade, but their influence had left its mark, and the fans would still hold a special place in their hearts for them.

It seemed like it was destined to be. The perfect match. An opportunity for Konami, the Japanese video game company who had made millions of dollars through their licensed Ninja Turtles titles, to cash in on a game that would combine the game play of Street Fighter 2 with the mutated glory of the TMNT. A Ninja Turtles fighting game. How could they resist?

They couldn't.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles : Tournament Fighters!

TMNT:TF was released on 3 platforms, both the 16 bit Super NES and Sega Genesis along with the 8 bit NES (contrary to popular belief, there was no arcade version). Each of these versions was a completely different game, with a different story line and cast of fighters to chose from. However, the SNES version was clearly the best of the 3, in terms of graphics, sound, characters, and overall cool factor. It's also the only version that I've played extensively, therefore, it is the SNES version that we will look at today.

First, I'll run through the characters.

Obviously, we've got the 4 Turtles, each of them using their weapons. Do I really need to go through their names? There's Leonardo with his katana blades, Raphael with a pair of sai, Donatello and his bo staff, and Michaelangelo with his nunchucks. If you didn't know that, then shame on you. Really.

Shredder is also a playable character (in addition to being one of the tougher fighters when facing against him), only he's not really the Shredder we've known before. He's "Cyber Shredder". Now, why is he so "Cyber" all of a sudden? Take a guess, because as far as I can tell, no explanation was given. But, he's still a badass.

Ok, now we're starting to get a bit obscure.

Remember Chrome Dome? He was an evil robot built to, you guessed it, destroy the Turtles. He had an appearance in the TMNT cartoon, during a prime time special when new episodes started airing on CBS, and a very cool action figure. Well, he's in the game too.

Or how about Wingnut, the large bat-like creature? He, along with his partner Screwloose also made an appearance in the cartoon, but they're best known for their role in the TMNT Adventures comic book published by Archie, where they became allies to the Turtles and eventually joined the Mighty Mutanimals in their spin off series. Screwloose had to stay home, but Wingnut's here and ready to fight.

If you want to talk obscure, take a look at Armaggon, the evil mutant shark from the future. And then there's War. He was a bad dude. One of the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse, to be exact. Both he and Armaggon also originated from the Archie TMNT comic, and they're playable here. You have to wonder what convinced Konami to add some of these characters. Most kids had probably never heard of them, and the other versions had fairly well known characters in their line ups. My best guess is that Konami must have felt that the SNES version would include characters that mainly the older fans would appreciate. And who says Nintendo is just for kids?

Well as weird as it was to have those guys in the game, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Sure, the game has "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" in the title, but anyone who's played this game should know who the real star is.

Her name is Aska, and she is a ninja who enters the tournament to win money for her dojo. What? You've never heard of her? Well, neither have I. In fact, neither has anybody. She was created just for this game. She does not otherwise exist, and so her inclusion will forever remain an enigma. That's not the half of it though. But first, I'll have to talk about attacks.

The attacks are pretty much standard Street Fighter 2 fare, only with 4 buttons instead of 6. You've got your standard array of basic punching, kicking, and weapon swinging. By combining these with a button from the directional bad, you can do leg sweeps, throws, wrestling moves, or sometimes even biting. Then, with a few button combinations taken right from SF2, you can pull off special moves. Throwing fireballs, charging slide attacks, and other logic deifying moves that these characters would never really do are the order of the day in this game.

However, something truly bizarre must be noted about these special attacks. That being the strange sayings proclaimed by the fighters when these moves are performed. Leonardo uses his swords to shoot a wave of energy while saying "Shinning Cutter!". Michealangelo, using an unorthodox form of fighting, opens his mouth up so that he may spew forth a glob of green power while exclaiming "Dragon Breath!". My favourite, however, is Raphael's upside down flip kick move, which he likes to call "Chest Buster!" Yep, you read that right. Chest Buster. That crazy Raph, always busting those chests.

One of the coolest things in the game is the super attacks. Below the fighter's energy display is another meter. When this meter is full, a special attack can be unleashed. Again, these are pretty ridiculous and have nothing to do with the comic book or cartoon. But man, they are awesome. For example, Michealangelo does an awesome combo, Leonardo rapidly shoots energy fists, and Raphael throws a barrage of fireballs. But coolest of all is Donatello's super move, where he throws a big dragon at you. Oh yeah!

However, as cool as these special and super attacks are, their effectiveness pales in comparison to one specific move. This move belongs to Aska. It is a nearly unstoppable fury of violence. Upon discovery of this easy-to-preform attack, players will undoubtedly repeat it over and over until they claim final victory, leaving their opponent to either slam the controller down in disgust or burst out laughing. This move has been coined...

Aska's Flying Butt Attack!

Yes, it's true. By pressing towards the opponent and the strong kick button, Aska is somehow able to leap nearly the entire length of the screen with her posterior firmly pointed outwards, ready to inflict untold damage on whoever is unlucky enough to be in its path. I too have fallen in defeat to Aska's Flying Butt Attack, and I can tell you, it hurts.

By letting the game run on its own without playing, you are treated to a fun little story line. The Turtles are eating pizza and watching TV (as they usually do in these Konami games) when they see April covering a fighting tournament. Since Shredder is one of the fighters, they decide to enter as well. They also decide that while they're part of the tournament, they'll happily beat each other up and make Master Splinter proud. I guess we're all supposed to forget about the Turtles remaining a secret while they fight away on television.

This story is continued on the Tournament mode, where you choose from any one of the 10 characters and fight for their dreams. Whenever a match ends, April interviews the winner, who stands behind a big pile of money, while the loser lies defeated. You get some funny dialogue here.

If you're really good, you'll be able to challenge the Rat King, fan favourite TMNT bad guy. Rat King must have been pumping iron, because he's bigger and stronger than he ever was in any other versions of the TMNT, and he's got an array of wrestling slams and power bombs. He's also wearing purple for some reason.

If you can make it all the way to the end on one of the more difficult settings, you get to fight Karai, the female Foot Clan fighter from the Mirage comics. I couldn't make it all the way to the end, so I don't have any pictures of her. But if you're able to beat her, you get to see an ending sequence.

Things are a little different if you chose the Story mode. In this unique variation of the game, one player chooses from one of the 4 Turtles and takes him or her through an actual story line. You see, one day the Turtles were eating pizza and watching TV (No, really? In a Konami game?) when they get a letter from Karai saying that Splinter and April were kidnapped (No, really? In a Konami game?) and that they must join the Shredder Elite.

So, the Turtles hop into the Turtle blimp and look around for April and Splinter. It's at this point that I should mention that, while it's not too bad, some of the English in this game is... less then refined. While it's not quite at an "All your base" level, it still can be pretty funny.

Any ways, the Turtle that you chose will drop down to the various locations of the game and fight the whichever character is there. There's a little bit of a pre-fight trash talking session, and then a little bit more when it's over. Not only do you fight against all of the other characters, like Wingnut, Chrome Dome, and Rat King, but you'll also have a match against an evil turtle clone. Cool.

The backgrounds in this game are really well done. There are some great little details to be found, like the advertisement for Mutagen on Mike's stage, and the Marilyn Monroe poster on Leo's. There's also a few cameos of other TMNT characters, like Casey Jones, Baxter Stockman, and the Neutrinos. Shredder's metal works stage is especially cool, with multicoloured Foot Soldiers cheering on the fight.

All in all, this is a really great game. While some of the fighter spaces might have been better filled by some better known characters like Bebop, Rocksteady, Leatherhead, Krang, and so on, the appearance of guys like Armaggon and Chrome Dome makes the game into more of a neat little oddity. I think it's great how the game took elements from many different versions of the TMNT, from the original Mirage comics, the Archie comics, the animation, the action figures, and even the other video games, and created something original.

The game play is excellent, the control is tight, the graphics are nice, and the music is kickin'. Out of all of the Street Fighter 2 "rip-offs", I think that this is one of the best.

If you're looking to buy a copy for yourself, good luck finding one. Check out anywhere you can find used video games. Don't ask me where you can get one for yourself. I can't help you. I found mine at a drug store, believe it or not.

So if you're like me and you dig those kooky Ninja Turtles in all of their incarnations, you owe it to yourself to play this game. And if you don't, what the hell is wrong with you?

Fight for your dream!

Sayonara.

More Turtle Power!
The Official TMNT Website You've gotta go there!
The Technodrome The TMNT fan site run by the bad guys.
Mikey's TMNT One of the great fan sites.