What are the Best Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Video Games?

From growing up in a glass bowl to battling bad guys in the sewers of New York, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have become a legendary franchise. The four pizza-loving heroes have certainly gone through some incredible adventures across all forms of media. They’ve done everything from comics to cartoons, movies, and even a Christmas musical. No, seriously.

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Ignoring that unfortunate truth, video games also played a role in popularizing the Turtles during the 90s and 2000s. Whether it was in the arcade or on home consoles, each game centers around Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo and their never-ending battles against the evil forces of the Shredder. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles continues to this day, and with more adventures on the way, why not take a look at some of the best games the franchise has to offer?

10

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan

The Turtles Meet Platinum Games

Developed by the same studio behind Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising, Platinum Games tried their hand at a TMNT game, and the end result was a fun but mixed bag. The Turtles are facing off with the Foot Clan and their dangerous mutants in a hack-and-slash adventure. Surprisingly, the graphics and attention put into the weapons and environments still look great. The combat also feels fast, fun, and satisfying as each Turtle can execute combos and different moves on enemies.

Enjoyable as the combat is, the overall problem is that the gameplay never spices up the formula or does anything different. You run around fighting enemies, and that’s all. It’s also a rather short experience, beatable in less than five hours, which is pretty short for a game from 2016. Still, if you’re a hardcore fan and can forgive its shortcomings, no pun intended, Mutants in Manhattan remains a decent time killer.

9

TMNT (2007)

A Good Movie Tie-In Game?

In the early 2000s, buying movie-based video games was a gamble. You were either going to find a terrible dud or strike gold. However, as Marvel and Star Wars have shown, when it’s a movie tie-in based on a successful franchise, chances are good you’re going to find something fun, which accurately describes the video game based on the 2007 animated movie.

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Choosing between four playable Turtles, the game is an action platformer that takes you through levels designed after locations from the film. Each Turtle has their own style of fighting, and you have the option to play alone or in co-op. As far as gameplay went, there wasn’t anything groundbreaking about it. You platform across the environment until you enter an area and must defeat a certain number of enemies before proceeding. It’s not the best movie tie-in game of all time, but it was still pretty good.

8

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003)

Best Portable TMNT Game

For those who remember the dark and edgy TV series from 2003, it was inevitable that video game adaptations were to follow. Of all the games to come out for it, however, the 2003 side-scrolling beat ’em up for Game Boy Advance was the best of the batch, even if it is one of the few TMNT games without co-op.

In each level, you take control of a different Turtle and fight your way through enemies. There were even fun vehicle sections to shake things up after each level, and every Turtle got their own personal vehicle. The game is by no means a masterpiece compared to today, but for the time, it was a great portable game for TMNT players.

7

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The HyperStone Heist

Sega Does What Nintendon’t

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The HyperStone Heist is often cited as being a weaker version of Turtles in Time for their differences, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad game. Released for the Sega Genesis, the plot centers around the Shredder stealing a powerful item known as the HyperStone, and it falls on the Turtles to save the day.

Compared to Turtles in Time, the time travel-themed levels were replaced with sadly fewer ones, but The HyperStone Heist’s levels are much longer. Another nice feature about the Sega game is that it comes with a dedicated button for running, which makes pulling off special moves way easier. The other notable difference is that, due to the Genesis and its… blast processing, the gameplay and enemies move much faster. In the end, it’s all a matter of opinion, but The HyperStone Heist remains an important part of the Sega library.

6

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project

The 8-Bit Classic

You can’t beat the classics. The Shredder is at it again and has taken April hostage, challenging the Ninja Turtles to come and get him. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project wasn’t the first NES exclusive, but it’s widely considered the best of the 8-bit TMNT games.

Despite the limitations of the original console, the game showcases just what the system was truly capable of with satisfying side-scrolling gameplay. Beating the snot out of Foot Clan soldiers as your favorite Turtle is just pure NES fun. The sprites still look fantastic, and the 8-bit music and sound effects have that superb chiptune players all know so well.

5

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters

Street Fighting Turtles

TMNT and fighting games go together, like pizza and rock ‘n’ roll. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters is often compared to Street Fighter II for its similar gameplay and environments, but there’s no shame in being compared to something fantastic. Different versions of the game were released across various consoles, but fans can agree that the Super Nintendo port reigns supreme.

Choose your favorite Turtle and fight it out to see who’s the best. Of course, you also have other fighters to choose from, including the Shredder. The stages were all well-designed with flawless backgrounds, the fighting moves felt great, and the game featured a killer soundtrack. Even after so much time has passed, Tournament Fighters is still fun to pick up and play.

4

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate

The Turtles Go Roguelike

3D Ninja Turtles games have been hit or miss. There’s certainly been no shortage, but most of them wind up being lackluster or forgettable. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate, on the other hand, stands out as one of the better 3D games for bringing the four ninjas into a roguelike brawler adventure.

Splinter has been taken by the Foot Clan, and it’s up to the Turtles to rescue their master. Similar to Hades, you battle foes from the TMNT franchise across familiar locations in New York City. As you would expect, each Turtle has their own set of combat abilities to make them feel unique, plus the power-ups and level layouts are randomized, so each run is made to feel different. The game also features local and online co-op, and teaming up with other players is definitely encouraged because trying to solo this game can be brutal.

3

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Arcade)

Heroes in a Half Shell

When players think of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video games, they will always think of the classic arcade game from Konami. Not only was it one of the most popular games in every arcade, but for many fans, this was their first TMNT video game. We all have to start from somewhere, and you can’t go wrong with the finest co-op action game around.

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Four turtles, four players. It was a match made in arcade heaven. Not only did the sprites perfectly match the characters from the original 80s cartoon, but the game even opens with the show’s theme song. It actually felt like you were experiencing the show for yourself as you beat up enemies. Best of all, you only needed a few quarters/tokens to play, assuming the big kids weren’t hogging the thing all day.

2

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time

Pizza Power!

Turtles in Time was the hit sequel to the original 1989 arcade game, and as a true sequel should, it perfected what the original did right. It starts with the coolest opening in video games ever. The turtles burst onto the screen as the catchy song Pizza Power plays, and when you see the title appear over New York, you know you’re about to play one of the greatest games of the ’90s.

Sent through a time warp, the Turtles have to battle through the past and future to stop Krang and the Shredder. Besides being a fun time travel story, every stage feels different, made better by the smooth combat as you perform power attacks and slam enemies into each other. Even the SNES port, titled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV, is just as good as the arcade and is widely considered one of the best games on the Super Nintendo.

1

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

Go Ninja, Go Ninja, Go!

The arcade games remain unbeatable, but Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge takes what made those games fantastic and enhances them for a modern audience. If you grew up playing the original games, you’re going to love this. If you didn’t and missed out, you’re still going to love this. Because this time, the whole gang’s here.

It’s not just the Ninja Turtles beating up Foot Clan soldiers and mutant baddies. Master Splinter, April O’Neil, and Casey Jones join in the fun as playable characters, and even better, up to six players can play simultaneously. The beat ’em up gameplay, the stages, the music, the charming animations, and the attention to detail, Shredder’s Revenge got everything right, making it the best TMNT game ever made.

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