Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Warriors in Japan, or Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles: Tournament Fighters in Europe) is a Super NES fighting game, and is widely considered to be the most popular of the three games bearing this name. The SNES version of Tournament Fighters is sometimes sold under the unofficial title Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles V: Tournament Fighters[1] in order to continue the numbering from the earlier Turtles games released on the Nintendo Entertainment System as well as the Super NES, and is often considered by fans as the last game in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. The cover featured Donatello facing off against Armaggon. The story of the SNES version has a tournament being organized and many fighters have entered, Shredder being one of them. The Turtles decide to participate in order to stop their nemesis as well as proving their strength in the tournament.
At the same time, Karai kidnaps April O'Neil and Splinter, and the Turtles must travel across the United States in their Turtle Blimp, defeating other fighters and collecting information.
Characters[]
There are ten characters available, and two bosses. The characters in the game included:
- Leonardo
- Raphael
- Donatello
- Michelangelo
- Cyber Shredder
- War โ A monstrous purple creature with big claws, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comics published by Archie Comics. The game version of the character is said to be an alien in the games Tournament mode as well as a mutant by the Turtles in the games story mode. (debut)
- Aska โ A ninja girl seeking to open her own dลjล, Aska is an original character (created by Takemasa Miyoshi) who makes her first and only appearance in the franchise. She was inspired by Mitsu from the film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, and was originally intended to be Mitsu.[2] (debut)
- Chrome Dome โ An android from the animated series, he was initially created by Shredder to destroy the Turtles. (debut)
- Wingnut โ A humanoid, alien bat who appeared in several issues of the Archie Comics series, as well as in an episode of the 1987 animated series. (debut)
- Armaggon โ A mutant shark from the future. Also from the Archie Comics series. (debut)
- Fake Brother (story mode character)
The bosses are:
- Rat King โ A deranged man who cast away his humanity and considers himself a rat even though he has not been mutated. (unlockable boss character)
- Karai โ The female leader of the Shredder Elite. She had only appeared in the original comics by Mirage Studios at the time of the game's release. (unlockable boss character) (debut)
Stages[]
- Cafeteria
- Mt. Olympus
- Pirate Ship
- Sky Palace
- Noh Stage
- Art Museum
- Scrapyard
- Thunder Dome
- Metal Works
- Back Alley
Gameplay[]
Gameplay is similar to SNK fighting games, using a four-button control scheme (consisting of two punch and two kick buttons, weak and strong). A particular feature is the possibility to use a super special attack. In order to achieve this, the player must fill a green "Mutagen Meter" under the life bar by hitting their opponents. Once full players could unleash a Super Move on their opponents, by pressing the two strong attack buttons simultaneously. There is also the option of enhancing the speed of the game, making the fights more intense but also harder to follow.
In addition to the main and versus modes, there is a story mode in which the Turtles must rescue April O'Neil and Splinter from Karai's clutches. Only the four of them can be playable whereas the other characters (as well as a turtle clone) are the opponents. There is also no Mutagen Meter in story mode. There is also a watch mode, which basically makes the computer control the characters.
Regional differences[]
In the later Japanese version:
- In story mode, the Turtle Blimp actually displays the logo and the background is day time.
- The voice of the announcer, as well as the four Turtles, are different. The voices of the Turtles in the Japanese version sound less rough, with attack names sounding more clear. Some voice clips were taken from the Arcade version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time.
- The music in the beginning plays at the proper length.
- You can select a character's 2nd player palette by pressing the Start button on the character select screen
- Some of character portraits are drawn differently in the Japanese release (such as Donatello's, Karai's, and Wingnut's).
- Some of the character special attacks have been tweaked, such as Aska's double-hitting uppercut.
- In Rat King's stage (Channel 6), the fighters can break the walls and expand the arena.
- Aska's sprite's clothing went several modifications. In the Japanese version, her leotard is in form of a thong, exposing her rear when she does a spin or a high kick. In the overseas versions, they are bloomers. Moreover, her victory animation and pose is different. In the overseas version, Aska stands with arms crossed while butterflies surround her (an animation recycled from one of her special moves). In the Japanese version, she raises her arm in victory while her breasts bounce.
Reception[]
In 1993, Aska was rated as #4 on the list of "Top Ten Fighting Women" by Electronic Gaming Monthly.[3]
See also[]
References[]
- โ http://www.gamestop.com/games/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-v-tournament-fighter/122813
- โ http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/tmnt/tmnt8.htm
- โ EGM 53 (December 1993), page 66