Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters was released in 1993 simultaneously on several consoles of the time under the same name, but the Genesis (Mega Drive) version is one of those that differ from one another so much that fans of the series still describe them today as three different games sharing only the box art and the title. The underlying principle remains the same as in the other releases – individual one-on-one duels between characters from the Ninja Turtles universe, each with its own set of special moves – but the actual implementation of the combat system and the roster of fighters differ significantly between versions.

The Genesis version was developed independently of the SNES version, and that's reflected in the gameplay: the fighting system is faster and more aggressive, with a different emphasis on combos and attack timing, and the character roster partially differs from its sixteen-bit competitor, including fighters that don't appear in the other versions. The graphics make use of the Genesis's color palette and sound chip, giving the game a different atmosphere than the more pastel-toned SNES version, and the controls are adapted to this console's three-button (or six-button) pad instead of the button layout used elsewhere. Because of these differences, the Genesis version tends to be judged separately by fans and is often considered either the more balanced one or, conversely, the more demanding one, depending on what style of fighting game a player prefers. Anyone who has only played the SNES version and sits down with this one for the first time may be surprised how little the two releases actually correspond to one another despite sharing the same name and release year.

Why play it: The Genesis version of Tournament Fighters is for players who want to compare how differently the same brand and title could turn out on a competing console of the same generation, and for fans of faster, more aggressive fighting systems of the nineties.