Jeremy Parish

NES Works 131: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Patreon)

Published:

2024-03-13 13:00:18

Imported:

2024-04

Tags:

konami nes nes works tmnt ultra games

Content

I keep telling myself that I need to get my scripts under control. These videos get longer and longer with each passing year. Remember when I was publishing five-minute weekly videos on Game Boy games that no one wanted to hear about? I do! And now, here we are: Despite my reworking my production schedule to keep video lengths manageable by breaking more individual games out into standalone episodes instead of doubling them up (hence the incorrect episode number citation in the host intro), this video ended up being nearly half an hour long. Imagine how long this would have been if I had stuck with my original plan to pair it with California Games!

Oh well. If I've done this correctly, my folly is your entertainment. If not... well, I'll go live in the sewers with the Turtles, or something.

Files

In-console-able rage: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | NES Works 131

What's going on with all of these huge NES releases for 1989? You'd think the console was in its prime or something! Granted, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles wasn't on par, quality-wise, with the likes of Ninja Gaiden or Mega Man 2... but it did have the advantage of being the first-ever video game release to tie in with the single hottest kids' media property of the late 1980s. Of course, lots of kids picked it up assuming it would be an adaptation of the incredible arcade game that dominated pizza shops and mini-golf centers, although it is definitely not that game, which has not done any favors for its reputation. But, looking back at the chronology of the year's releases (the raison d'être of this very channel!), it turns out this game predates the arcade machine by nearly half a year. Rather than porting that future coin-op work to NES, this first TMNT release instead connects to an interesting thread of video gaming's past and feels like the end of an era—namely, the end of the era of freewheeling innovation and a willingness to try weird new things with licensed games. Potentially disastrous things, but never boring... which kind of sums up TMNT for NES neatly, I think. Production notes: Video Works is funded via Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/gamespite) — support the show and get access to every episode up to two weeks in advance of its YouTube debut! Plus, exclusive podcasts, eBooks, and more! Why watch when you can read? Check out the massive hardcover print editions of NES Works, Super NES Works, and Virtual Boy works, available now at Limited Run Games (https://limitedrungames.com/collections/books)! SG-1000 Works: Segaiden Vol. I is available NOW, and Metroidvania: The First Decade is due in 2024. NES footage captured from Analogue Nt Mini. Video upscaled to 4K with RetroTink 4X and 720p with xRGB Mini Framemeister.