Now You’re Playing with Power, Turtle Power!
Since the early 1980s, there has been a team of superheroes that have taken the world by storm. These heroes weren’t your typical spandex clad, super-powered, caped crusaders, but instead they were four mutant ninja brothers, better known as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
In 1984, two friends created a turtle with nunchaku and a bandana as a joke and after that, well the rest is history. Since then these turtles have transcended media and pop culture. Starting with a simple gritty black and white comic book, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles blew up in popularity. Spawning a multiple cartoon series in the last 35 years, as well as toys, video games, clothes, movies, novels and anything else you can think of that can have the TMNT logo or turtle face slapped on it, the turtles have been everywhere a kid, or now 30-something adults, could imagine.
In 1989, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles saw their first video game adaptation hit home consoles on the NES, Nintendo Entertainment System. This game was a side-scrolling action game, with some top down segments to traverse the map, where the player could swap between the four turtles. This game is considered by some as one of the hardest games on the NES. This game sold well, but the turtles hit the big time with the next adventure that hit arcades later that same year and was ported to the NES later in 1990. This game is simply known as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and on the NES as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game. This became the quintessential arcade four-play beat ‘em up. The arcade cabinet allowed four players to play simultaneously as their favorite turtle against iconic villains from the TMNT cartoon show such as Baxter Stockman, Bebop and Rocksteady, Krang and of course, the Shredder. Once it came to the NES, it was a bit of a downgrade. It only had two-player support and lesser quality visuals, but extra levels were added it to make up for the lack of content and worth the purchase cost. This would be the first in a line of successful TMNT video games to hit the arcade and home consoles, including titles such as Turtles in Time, Tournament Fighters, Back from the Sewers, Out of the Shadows and the latest, Mutants in Manhattan, amongst others.
The turtles have also had six feature films, starting with the self-titled original in 1990. This is considered by most fans, the greatest of all the TMNT films. Films are still hitting the big screen even now, with the latest film hitting theatres in 2016 and a new re-boot film scheduled for 2021/2022.
From comics to toys, video games to films, from pajamas to canned pasta, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been everywhere and done it all, but the fans wouldn’t have it any other way. Now, go put on your Raphael Underoos, grab your Leonardo thermos, slip on your Donatello house slippers, have some Chef Boyardee TMNT pasta in your Michelangelo bowl and pop in your copy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time on the Super Nintendo! “Now that’s what I call, Turtle Power!”
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