Play Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Japan) Online

Game Overview

This NES version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is the one I grew up with—way harder than the arcade version, but weirdly more satisfying once you get the hang of it. You start off picking your turtle (Leo’s my go-to, but Donnie’s bo staff has better reach), then dive straight into smashing Foot Clan goons across Manhattan. The controls feel a little stiff at first, especially after playing later TMNT games, but there’s something about the chunky pixel art and that ridiculous underwater bomb-defusal level that sticks with you. Just don’t expect it to go easy on you—those sewer levels are brutal.

Fun fact: This was actually the first TMNT game ever made, before the arcade beat-em-up everyone remembers. It’s got that classic NES jank, but in a way that makes beating it feel like an actual accomplishment.