The TMNT’s first foray into the beat-‘em-up genre. This option of genre was attractive to the TMNT franchise with its martial arts combat being the core of the whole idea of the TMNT. Also, there was huge popularity at this time for the genre. Pick you’re favourite turtle and go one-on-one with an enemy and damage their life bar until empty. You can use all 4 main buttons of the SNES controller for this one, as there’s a wide range of moves and the basic outlay is strong kick/punch buttons & weak kick/punch buttons. Compete in Story or Tournament mode as well as a Versus mode for 2 players. The selection of fighters vary erracticly between well-known and "who's he/she?". They are Leonardo, Raphael, Michaelangelo, Donatello, Shredder(or called Cyber Shredder in this game), Chrome Dome(an android), Aska(female ninja), Armaggon(a mutant shark), Nutwing(mutant) & War(mutant). The story mode involves the "run-of-the mill" storyline of April and Splinter getting captured, this time by Karai, Shredder's sister.
GRAPHICS: Not the best graphics ever seen on the SNES, but mostly satisfying to the eye. The background graphics do seem to be better than the character graphics, which should have a bit more clarity and colour to some characters like Armaggon.GRAPHICS: 4/5
GAMEPLAY: Nothing wrong with the controls, and react well in normal & turbo modes. It's just about practicing and getting better in the harder modes. But you can complete the game easily on the lowest difficulty. What differs this game from other beat-'em-ups is another bar is used under the life bar, and when full, the fighter can perform their special move pressing 2 buttons simultaneously. This adds to the game. GAMEPLAY: 5/5
SOUND: Very effective sound. Voices from the fighters are raelly good for a 16-bit game. They vary from the robotic noises of Chrome Dome or the howls of Aska. All of this adds to the impact the game affects you, and it's great. SOUND: 5/5
MUSIC: The styles of music do vary from Rock to Japanese instrumental tracks. Some are just decent, while most are very good. Nice music at the fighter selection screen. MUSIC: 4/5
LONGEVITY: Completing both story mode and Tournament mode on easy will take you over an hour on easiest difficulty. But then you are encouraged to complete on a harder mode and also to get access to fight Karai who you can't face on easier modes. Plus, the 2 player Versus mode, you can fill a large amount of time with this. LONGEVITY: 4/5
OVERALL: The SNES version's TMNT Tournament Fighters is one of the best TMNT games ever. The only thing disappointing about this game is the reluctance to showcase more of the main characters from the TMNT cartoon, like April, Splinter, Bebop, Rocksteady, Casey Jones, Krang, & Baxter Stockman, which should've been the obvious selection for a first TMNT beat-'em-up game. Rocksteady, Bebop, Casey & Baxter the Fly are shown in 2 of the level backgrounds anyway, for some reason, though not actively taking part in the game. Great controls & sound are the centrepiece of this game. TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: TOURNAMENT FIGHTERS (SNES) GETS A: 4/5 RATING.
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