Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

[hansolo77]

November-December 2017 GOTM Winner: Cynicaster - 140 (link)

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Leaderboard

 

POSITION	USER NAME	TOTAL SCORE
1	KRC	283
2	Cynicaster	140
3	millerbrad	115
4	forest4585	109
5	ExedExes	103
6	Floyd Turbo	77
7	patrickfx	69
8	Luigimaker	48
9	rtkiii	24
10	GimmeClassics	23

Last Updated by hansolo77: 01-06-2019

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Please use these settings when submitting a hi-score for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

ROMSet: TMNT
Lives: 2
Unknown: Off [All]
Difficulty: Normal
Flip Screen: Off
Service Mode: Off
Special Rules: The above are the Default Internal Settings for this title and need not be changed. This is a Single Player ONLY Variation! You may freely choose your character. Continues are NOT allowed!
Special Note: While some leeching is permitted in regards to opportunities against certain bosses [50 Points maximum], too much will result in your score being disqualified.

The green coloured default values match the Twin Galaxies settings.
The red coloured values need to be changed!

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# you can change your Mame dip switch settings by following this guide:
# you can make a printscreen of your hi-score screen by following this guide:
# general rules for submitting your hi-score:

 

[hansolo77]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up released by Konami as a coin-operated video game in 1989.^[1] It is based on the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series which began airing in the winter of 1987. Home versions of the game were released for various platforms.^[2]

The player chooses from one of the four Ninja Turtles: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael. Depending on the version of the game, the characters are either, chosen at the start of the game or assigned by control panel. After Shredder kidnaps the Turtles' friend April O'Neil and their mentor Splinter, they must give chase, save their comrades, and defeat the evil Shredder. Up to four players (two in some versions) can take control of any of the Turtles. Donatello has slower attacks but a longer range, Michelangelo and Raphael have faster attacks but a shorter range, and Leonardo is a well-rounded Turtle with average range and speed.

The eight-way joystick controls the movements of the Turtle, the jump button makes them jump and the attack button makes them hit in front of them using their weapon. In addition to this, some combinations are possible. The Turtles can throw Foot soldiers overhead, and by pressing the jump and attack buttons, a special attack is performed. Raphael rolls along the ground and finishes with a kick, while the other Turtles do a sweeping jump attack with their weapons. Turtles can also spring off the wall in certain areas. Enemies can be defeated more quickly by slamming them into walls or solid objects. Many objects such as traffic cones, parking meters, fire hydrants and exploding oil drums can be hit or damaged with attacks in order to help defeat nearby enemies. In the attract mode, the game showed the first part of the cartoon opening, along with a portion of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme song.

Most of the enemies the Turtles face are the Foot Soldiers, all color-coded to indicate their attack patterns and weapon of choices. Some enemies, such as the standard purple-clad Foot Soldiers and Roadkill Rodney robots, have the ability to restrain the Turtles' mobility and drain their health, leaving the player open to attack for other enemies. The bosses in the game include Rocksteady and Bebop (individually at first in that order, and later the two of them together), Baxter Stockman, Granitor, General Traag, Krang, and Shredder himself.

The arcade game was distributed as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in North America and Oceania, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles in Europe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Super Kame Ninja (ティーンエイジ・ミュータント・ニンジャ・タートルズ 〜スーパー亀忍者〜 Tīneiji Myūtanto Ninja Tātoruzu: Sūpā Kame Ninja) in Japan. The game was released primarily as a dedicated four-player cabinet in all regions except Japan, where it was sold only as a 2-player conversion kit. 2-player conversion kits of the game were also released in other regions, serving as less expensive alternatives to 4-player cabinets.

[hansolo77]

Cowabunga dudes!  Welcome to our end of the year GOTM, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!  An awesome game, that's totally radical.  I grew up watching the series, reading some of the comics, and playing with the action figures.  My brother's school friend had the original NES game, and of course I sucked at it.  Our rollerskating rink had the arcade game available, but it was too expensive to play so I only got to watch it.  The NES port was a pretty good conversion, and I played it up to (but not killing) Shredder.  I expect this will get a lot of good scores posted!

One quick thing I noticed.  When I was checking my DIP settings for the OP, I noticed the setting for LIVES was different.  So you'll want check that.  Another thing I noticed, when I gave the machine a coin, it opened up 2 players for me.  And when I was playing, my controller moved around BOTH of them.  I also couldn't choose a turtle to play.  Maybe my ROM is jacked up?  Or maybe the settings?  Of course, it could be because I'm using MAME 0.78 on a Raspberry Pi (it was quicker and easier to load up from that than having to open it on my PC).  Let me know if you guys experience anything like that and know how to fix it.

Happy Gaming!

[Floyd Turbo]

I can’t switch characters either, so it looks like I’m going up against the Foot Clan as Leonardo.  

Cowabunga dude. 

[Adultery]

You can pick a different turtle by using a different controller port (if this is the 4p version). I use P3 usually because I dig Donatello. That's me anyways!

[hansolo77]

Ok, but why is my Player 1 controller indicating I'm controlling Player 3 as well?

EDIT - Fixed it (at least on my end).  The problem was that my controller was configured inside RetroArch to be used as P1 and P3.  So when I started the game, it detected 2 coin entries, 1 for each of those players.  It then had me controlling both of them too.  Inside RetroArch, I simply setup my Player 3 Device Index to a different controller (that I only connect as needed).  So now it works. 

I'll probably still play with my PC and GameEx though, so I get a good screenshot rather than use my phone.  Hopefully it won't be such a chore setting up there.  And yea, Donatello is the best of them.  He was always my favorite because of his intelligence over the other guys.

[hansolo77]

So here’s a quickie post. It’s not official. I just wanted to verify I have a working controller. 

[rtkiii]

I have two ports only on my cabinet and always found I could only be the left two Turtles.  It is based on where the quarter is put in...i am pretty sure.  There may be a two player rom out there that lets you select but I never investigated.

[Cynicaster]

Yeah, the problem with character selection is because the specified ROM version is meant for a dedicated 4-player cabinet.  The game is looking at 4 different coin-in switches, one each dedicated to the 4 playable characters.  Therefore you will always be forced to be Leo if you coin up using the P1 coin button, for example.  

Since this game was available as a conversion kit back then, and because not all donor cabinets would have 4 players, they also released a ROM that is compatible with 2-player cabinets.  It allows you to use any coin button to credit up, and then select which turtle you want to use.  I think TMNT2PO is the 2-player ROM.

Using the 2-player ROM would probably be preferable for most of us due to the convenience factor, but there is a workaround for the 4-player ROM.  You just need to re-map the controls so that they become associated with the turtle you want to use.  For example, if you are using an XBOX360 controller and want to be Donatello, re-map the controls so that Player 3 is your controller, and coin up by pressing ‘3’ rather than ‘1’.  Or, if you like to map the coin button to something on your controller, map Player 3 credit to that button.  Of course, you’ll have to repeat this procedure every time you want to play as a different character. 

[Mame Offender]

On 02/11/2017 at 6:55 PM, Floyd Turbo said:

I can’t switch characters either, so it looks like I’m going up against the Foot Clan as Leonardo.  

Cowabunga dude. 

Cousin Bri's first post.

 

Welcome to the GameEx community!

 

Start getting some scores in and watch yourself climb the leaderboard ladder!!

 

MO

[hansolo77]

No love for this game huh?  I'm on vacation in a week, I'm gonna try and post up a score then!

[rtkiii]

12 hours ago, hansolo77 said:

No love for this game huh?  I'm on vacation in a week, I'm gonna try and post up a score then!

I want to play, not that I was ever any good, but time is short - The one drawback to having months to play is the procrastinators(like me) in the group will wait until like week 6 before I give it a shot 

[Cynicaster]

81

By all rights this game should be one of my favorite nostalgic trips because it was huge right around the time I was frequenting arcades--and I did play it a ton back then--but when I play it now the gameplay just seems so shallow and mindless compared to some of the earlier classics that actually have some technique and strategy to them if you want to play for score.  In this game you get 1 point per kill regardless of whether it's a regular grunt soldier or a boss.  If they were so uninterested in having your score mean anything, why have a score at all?

 

 

 

 

 

[hansolo77]

Yeah I noticed that as well.  I think this was nearest the turning point.  When games started losing their randomness and the shift went from competing for points to competing to complete the game.  I still think it's a fun game, and look forward to posting up a score soon!  Thanks for being a first submitter!

Updated OP, DB, RSS

[rtkiii]

24...Yeah! 

I do not enjoy playing this on my keyboard...ill give it another whirl once cab is out of storage.

 

[hansolo77]

Thanks for submitting another score rtkiii!  I'm worried this may be the last game we ever compete in.  A month in and only 2 posts.  Here's hoping things pick up!

Updated OP, DB, RSS

[rtkiii]

It will don't worry, The game itself is memorable BUT not one I care to really play by myself.  This is meant to be played with friends, hence the 2-4 player setups...so it is tougher for me to get excited to play a game like this on my own.  

[patrickfx]

17 hours ago, hansolo77 said:

Thanks for submitting another score rtkiii!  I'm worried this may be the last game we ever compete in.  A month in and only 2 posts.  Here's hoping things pick up!

Updated OP, DB, RSS

Sad to read this but i understand.  Bizarre not much people like to do this kind of simple competition.  There is a lot of retro fan game.  Probably they are just not aware of.

But anyway, i will post a score soon.

[forest4585]

I’m done being “shell shocked”.  I’ll have more time to play over the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.  I agree with rtkiii...this game was meant to get your friends together and finish it with four players.  It was definitely one of Konami’s most memorable games right next to The Simpsons arcade game and X-men.

[hansolo77]

Thanks guys for keeping my hopes up! 

[forest4585]

86....Cowabunga!

 

Made it to the second boss Bebop.  Anyone have any tips to get past this boss?

[rtkiii]

Play with friends 

[hansolo77]

On 11/21/2017 at 9:55 PM, forest4585 said:

Anyone have any tips to get past this boss?

 

12 hours ago, rtkiii said:

Play with friends 

You got that right!  This game definitely improves with companions.  Very impressive score.  Can't wait to have some free time next week to try getting a score too!

Updated OP,  DB, RSS

[Mame Offender]

Han, keep hopes up buddy!  

You have managed to keep this competition alive and well for 4 years, everybody let's keep this great thing going!

And like Patfx said, there are many retro gaming fans out there, and the internet is a broad place, so we should be able to keep her going for another year!!!

 

Happy gaming!

[GimmeClassics]

19 hours ago, Mame Offender said:

Han, keep hopes up buddy!  

You have managed to keep this competition alive and well for 4 years, everybody let's keep this great thing going!

And like Patfx said, there are many retro gaming fans out there, and the internet is a broad place, so we should be able to keep her going for another year!!!

Happy gaming!

I definitely hope this Highscore forum will remain alive for years to go !

I'll always enjoy playing retro games and I will always try to contribute to this nice hi-score club we have. Allthough I don't have as much spare time as I used to have I'll always be around and keep playing games and trying to help moderating this forum. @hansolo77I hope I can be of more help in the future ! Thank you for everything you do to keep this HS forum alive.

Anyhow....here's my score of 23...Cowabunga !!!

~ GC

Updated OP, DB, RSS