Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV – Turtles in Time

Developer: Konami     Publisher: Konami     Released: August 15, 1992    Genre: Beat ’em up

I can easily say that Turtles in Time is one of the games I have spent the most time with.  Honestly the amount of hours I’ve spent on this game in the arcade and at home should be illegal.  Unlike Konami’s first arcade effort I was not lucky enough to find it in a store around my area.  So the only time I had to play the game came with my Middle School roller skating trips at United Skates of America.  While my peers were trying to hold hands and skate with girls I divided my time between this and Revenge of Death Adder, which sounds kind of lame.  But I didn’t care, I was having the time of my life.  And that continued when Konami unleashed this fantastic Super Nintendo port.

There are some slight differences between all of the Turtles but none so major that I noticed.  Raphael is the fastest but of course has the shortest reach.  Michaelangelo is a little better in that regard.  Leonardo is well rounded and Donatello has the longest reach but is supposedly slow but hell if I noticed.  Unlike the majority of brawlers all Turtles have a wide variety of moves which keep the action from becoming stale.  All are simple to execute using just two buttons and in fact Konami have made a few easier to pull off.

Two of the most critical attacks are the over the shoulder throw and the body slam.  Grabbing a foot soldier and body slamming them into multiple enemies will quickly clear the screen but awards less points.  Tossing them into the screen grants three points which is crucial to earning extra lives.  This move was random in the arcade but is easier to pull off here.

Turtles in Time is a lengthy game at ten levels which is almost double the length of most brawlers.  The time travel theme allows for a wide variety of settings as you visit prehistoric times, a pirate ship, the Wild West, and even travel to the future.  If there is one criticism it is that the game does not make the most of this element.  The designers had a chance to add all sorts of era specific enemies and traps.  Instead it falls back on the standard foot soldiers and rock men for the entire length of the game.  The Foot clan are a varied bunch but it gets old seeing them over and over.

Very little is missing which is surprising for such an early release.  The most notable would be four player coop which is understandable as the Super Multitap would not come out for another year.  The lame Cement Man boss in the prehistoric era has been replaced with a much cooler and difficult battle against Slash.  A number of voice clips did not make the cut, mostly little bits of dialogue during boss battles.  There has also been some loss in animation although you would really have to compare the two games side by side to notice.

That being said this version of the game has a wealth additions that make an already great game even better.  An entire new level was added, the Technodrome which, surprisingly, was not in the game originally.  This serves as a nice segue way into the time travel shenanigans. Originally it occurred after the damn sewer level in the arcade.  It also has one of my favorite boss fights as you have to use the new throw mechanic to defeat Shredder who is targeting you in a second person view.  The sewer is now a bonus stage where you can earn some extra points and ends with a new encounter against the Rat King.

And it doesn’t stop there!  Since Tokka and Rahzar are in the Technodrome Bebop and Rocksteady take their place on the pirate ship.  Can you believe it, a Turtles game with these beloved characters?  The level Neon Nightriders is also a bonus stage with some cool Mode 7 twists and turns.  While it doesn’t look as good as the arcade it is a far more interesting stage overall.  And for those who were disappointed at the final “battle” in the Secret of the Ooze? Which, let’s be honest, would be every kid on the planet. Konami more than makes up for it with the final encounter with Shredder.  There are also time trial and versus modes but I’ll freely admit I never bothered with those so I can’t comment.

Konami have done an excellent job of bringing the arcade game home as any cuts made were probably due to cartridge space.  In terms of color and animation the SNES port is spot on.  There are so many different animations for every situation that it is staggering and hilarious to see in action.  The backgrounds lose out in terms of detail and the weather effects on certain levels are missing.  The extra content like the new bosses and increased use of Mode 7 make up for it in my opinion.  Aside from some missing speech the soundtrack is fantastic as the SNES nearly perfectly matches the arcade.

In Closing

Turtles in Time is not just one of my favorite SNES games but one of my favorite games of all time.  I have replayed this countless times and still haven’t grown tired of it.  Konami went above and beyond to create an excellent version of Turtles in Time with awesome additional content, making this one of the SNES’ best games.  Fans of brawlers or just games in general need to buy this now.