The TMNT games have almost always been consistent with their high quality. This, the first, was a great start that was only eclipsed by later games in the series. You (and up to 3 friends in the 4-player set-up) take control of the unique heroes and set off to rescue April O' Neal who's been kidnapped. Well, she's not kidnapped right away exactly. First you must traverse through a burning building to try and save her, only to have Shredder come by and swipe her.

The games look was uncanny back in 1990 and it has aged, but only slightly. The characters are a bit on the small side, but there's quite a bit going on in the later levels to make up for it. Also, the animation is still to this day some of the best you'll see in an arcade game of this era. There's a ton of voice and the intro features the classic chorus from the memorable theme song to get players started off right. Gotta love that song.....

Yes, the gameplay is just a standard brawler, that can't be denied. But, this is a brawler done RIGHT. Beating down the robotic foot clan never seems to get old thanks to the massive amount of animation. It always seems new. Watching them fly into walls with a resounding thud is simply a blast every time. The bosses are never too difficult making this one easily accessible for the younger set it's really geared for. It's a rare arcade game that has a perfect difficulty level.

These are the types of games that will simply live on, burned permanently into every gamers memory. It will be a sad day if these games are ever forgotten or simply become unappreciated. As for now, 13 years later, TMNT stills holds it's own against the most recent games in this dying genre. To those who have kids, this is a great way to introduce them to the hobby, especially since the Turtles have recently made a comeback to Saturday morning TV.