Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

激亀忍者伝 (Geki Kame Ninja Den)NES, ZX Spectrum, Arcade, Wii +71989

  1. JP1989
  2. NA1989
  3. EU1990
  4. RUDendy

Konami's NES game was called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in North America, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles in Europe and 激亀忍者伝 (Geki Kame Ninja Den) in Japan. The easiest legal way to play it today is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection on Steam and consoles; the old Wii Virtual Console release was delisted in January 2012.

Konami released this action platformer in Japan on 12 May 1989 as Geki Kame Ninja Den, loosely "Legend of the Radical Ninja Turtles". It reached North America in June 1989 under Konami's Ultra Games label. The second stage, set at the Hudson River Dam, has the turtles defusing timed bombs underwater. Konami could not use the TV series' music because of copyright issues, and the box art came from an alternative cover of the comic's issue #4.

In Europe the NES game and the UK computer versions became Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, because the word "ninja" was seen as too violent for children's media there. Image Works published the ZX Spectrum version, which sold 420,000 copies in its first month, and Amiga, Atari ST, C64, MS-DOS and other versions were released too.

A Wii Virtual Console release appeared in 2007 and was delisted in January 2012. Since 2022 the NES game has been part of The Cowabunga Collection by Digital Eclipse.1

Names and releases

RegionTitle on the boxPlatformDatePublisherSrc
NA Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles NES June 1989 Ultra Games 1
NA Teenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesPlayChoice-10 version, available by 1990 Arcade 1990 — 1
NA Teenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesVirtual Console, 600 Wii Points; later in Europe and Australia; delisted in January 2012 Wii Apr 2, 2007 — 1
JP 激亀忍者伝Geki Kame Ninja DenFamicom NES May 12, 1989 Konami 1
EU Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles NES Aug 17, 1990 Palcom Software 2
EU Teenage Mutant Hero TurtlesUK; Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, C64, MS-DOS and MSX versions also released ZX Spectrum November 1990 Image Works 1
WW Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga CollectionDigital Eclipse compilation; also on consoles Windows Aug 30, 2022 Konami 3

Also known as: 激亀忍者伝 JP1Geki Kame Ninja Den JP2Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles EU2Черепашки ниндзя RU4

Box art by region

  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles box art, North America release
    NA Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  • Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles box art, Europe release
    EU Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles
  • 激亀忍者伝 box art, Japan release
    JP 激亀忍者伝

Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.

Version differences

  • TitleNES (EU)UK computer versions

    In Europe the game was renamed Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, because "ninja" was considered too violent for children's media there.1

  • TextFamicom (JP)

    In the Japanese version April O'Neil calls Splinter "father", which makes her his daughter.2

  • AudioFamicom (JP)

    Only the Japanese version plays a door sound in the cutscenes after Areas 2 and 4.2

All differences (5)

Where to play legally today

  • Steam Purchase

    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection

    NES version within the compilation

    Checked: 2026-10-133store.steampowered.com

Reception

The game sold more than 1 million cartridges in the US by May 1990 and over 4 million worldwide by the end of 1990, earning about $125 million. Nintendo Power readers voted it the best game of the year.1

In lists

Sources

  1. 1en.wikipedia.org
  2. 2tcrf.net
  3. 3store.steampowered.com
  4. 4habr.com

Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13

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