Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

The Turtles
All four turtles are equivalent except for their weapons. It is not really a good idea to just stick with your favorite turtle from the comic books or cartoons, because their strengths and weaknesses vary widely. You should use the turtle best suited for the task.

Leonardo
Named after Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo is meant to be the general-purpose turtle, and early in the game he serves this role well. His blade has average strength, speed, and range.

Raphael
Named after Raphael Sanzio. His sai are the quickest weapons in the game, but they have an extremely limited range and are not stronger than the weapons of the other turtles. The sai cannot be thrust downward.

Michaelangelo
Named after Michelangelo Buonarroti. His weapon of choice is the nunchaku, trading range for speed. Essentially, he is a clone of Raphael with a slightly slower weapon speed and slightly greater range. The nunchaku cannot be swung downward.

Donatello
Named after Donatello de Betto di Bardi. His weapon is the slowest, but the most powerful. His range is quirky: certainly the bo extends further than any other weapon, and even extends backward a bit (try it: thrusting forward can hit an enemy behind you). Keep Donatello alive because his extra attack power becomes important starting in area 3 and only becomes more essential as the game progresses. This means it is OK to use other turtles for easier segments in order to protect Don from damage.

Items
In the NES version, items are replenished after you leave an area, so you can take the same slice of pizza over and over. This is not necessarily true of other versions of the game.

Weapons
Each weapon upon being picked up will supply 20 of that weapon.
 * Shuriken - "Ninja stars". They're weak, but travel all the way across the screen.
 * Triple shuriken - Same as shuriken but you get a three-shuriken spread. Since they're better than standard shuriken, they're less common.
 * Boomerang - They only travel a short distance before going in reverse. If you catch it, you regain it. If you don't, it travels across the screen exactly as a shuriken.
 * Kiai - We have no idea what these actually are. They look like scrolls of some kind. Whatever they are, they travel across the screen like shuriken, but they're much larger and more powerful. They are easily the best weapons in the game.

Pizza
These cannot be picked up. They are used automatically when you touch them.
 * Slice - Recovers two energy squares.
 * Half - Recovers four energy squares.
 * Full - Regain all energy.

Miscellaneous

 * Rope - Used to cross buildings. Only actually needed one time in area 4, and the rope item comes not long before it. It can be found in area 3, but the only places you can use it there are not worth bothering with. Each rope item gives you three ropes.
 * Missiles - Used to destroy barricades or Roller Cars in area 3. Each missile item gives you ten missiles.
 * Invincibility - Kill enemies on contact when this is in effect. Used automatically when you touch it. They are most extremely rare.

Area 1
As these games usually begin, April has been kidnapped. Your goal in area 1 is to rescue her. This area has six distinct levels, but you need to go through only three. First, be wary of the Roller Cars: they can steamroll over you and that's not good. The first sewer entrance you find is linked to the second sewer entrance further on, and there is nothing interesting in that level except a slice of pizza at the very end (if you want it, just use the second entrance). So walk around the first entrance, around the building, carefully avoiding the Roller Cars. You'll soon come across another sewer entrance; this is the exit from the first sewer entrance. The third sewer entrance is the one you're interested in, because it takes you across the water to the other side.

Sewer to Bebop
Mousers creep across the floor, annoying bug things fly in the sky, and a couple foot soldiers. Nothing too unusual. At the end you will find the first miniboss, Bebop.

You will likely want to defeat Bebop using Donatello, since the bo is very powerful. Rocksteady appears with April, holding her hostage, at the exit. Do not jump up to them or Rocksteady will injure you. Bebop will generally charge at you, occasionally pausing to throw a few punches. The punches have limited range and only attack directly forward. Don't accidentally trap yourself on the left side, an especially easy mistake in the NES version because you start to the right of Bebop instead of the left, as in other versions. Even if you do get trapped, keep jumping and thrusting downward with your bo. After you exit, you will find a building with an open entrance; ignore this. You will then find two sewer openings: one is stuck between a building and the water, which is the one you want, since the other is a dead end.

Sewer to Rocksteady
There's a slice of pizza at the beginning, a perfect opportunity to replenish everybody's health in the NES version.

You'll reach the end with few problems. In the NES version, you'll encounter a miniboss. This miniboss is a regular enemy (later in the game) and should give you no trouble. None of these minibosses are in other versions of the game, but they're littered throughout the NES version. After you reach the exit, you'll find a building, inside which are Rocksteady and April.

Rocksteady and April
The bottom storey has conveyor belts, but they should not present major difficulty. You have not seen the enemies here before and they're slightly stronger than usual (they're normally area 4 enemies). You may want to switch to Donatello, but you'll only have to get through a few of these enemies. After you go up the ladder, you'll find a couple more bad guys, then a mass of crates to your left. Rocksteady lies just beyond them.

Rocksteady is not difficult to defeat with Donatello. In the NES version, you can use the cheap trick of standing on the edge of the crates, kneeling, and repeatedly thrusting downward. Rocksteady will occasionally make a small hop right into the bo; just repeat this over and over to defeat him. In the Atari ST version, you cannot use this trick because the crates are scrolled off the left edge of the screen, which also means you cannot use the crates as a safe area. The Atari ST version is especially troublesome because Rocksteady can shoot in midair. Do your best to jump over his fire and avoid him when he jumps after you. Stay off the ground, and keep moving, striking whenever he's in range.

Area 2
This area has only two stages and you must go through both of them in order. Bombs have been set up in order to destroy the dam. You must get into the water and disarm the bombs, but to get to the water you have to go through the dam up to the rooftop.

Inside the dam
This level, while not as short as the previous ones, is still relatively short. The dam has only three storeys. You will encounter a few minibosses on the way (NES only). To the far right of the third storey is a full pizza, though you must fight a miniboss to get it (miniboss on NES only). After you exit the level, walk to the right until you encounter a break in the railing and take the plunge into the water.

In the water
Immediately to the right you will encounter a bomb. Be careful not to get hit by the electricity on the way. (Huh? How can electricity be conducted in a narrow arc underwater like that?) As you proceed to the right you will encounter coral-like thingies. These will automatically kill you if you get too close (what a cheap shot!)

Area 3
This area is far larger than the previous two. Thankfully, you have the Turtle Van. Get into it and drive to the left. You will find a building with an open entrance. Inside is some pizza (one slice, and one full), and some missiles.

Down to the south, past some barricades, you'll find a pair of buildings. In the right building, you will find some kiai. This is a crucial part of the game, because it is the only place where you can easily fill up your kiai supply. When you reach the kiai, pick Leo, Raph, or Mike, and have them grab it. Go down two screens and jump in the water (or go a bit left to try for the full pizza if you're running low on health -- you can get it if you only tap the jump button when you jump for it). Then go back into the left building and repeat until Leo, Raph, and Mike all have 99 kiai. You can also give some to Don, too, but he will likely lose them by accidentally picking up another weapon, and getting the 99 for the other three is boring enough. ;)

It is true that you will unlikely use all the kiai, but if you lose a turtle, or they accidentally pick up another weapon, your whole supply goes down by as much as a third, and you'll likely be unable to regain it. You want to keep the kiai to make the Technodrome easier to get through. If you are certain you won't make it to the inside of the Technodrome before using a continue, you can ignore this advice, but once you're skilled enough to get there, you'll definitely want the kiai.

If you lost one of your turtles, hang to the right and head south. Go around the building at the bottom, break through the barricade, and you'll arrive at a gap that's too small for your Turtle Van to get through. Exit the van and proceed to the right and go up. You'll arrive at a pair of buildings. Enter the right building. If you're in the right place, you'll see a mostly empty room with a platform in the middle. Your captured turtle should be standing on this platform, in which case you will regain him when you touch him. Otherwise, you will have to wait until area 4. Don't forget to give your regained turtle some kiai as described above!

Now you'll be ready to go for the boss. The way to him is rather roundabout and we should probably draw a map soon so you can find him. :)

The boss will be a blue clone of Leonardo. The easiest way to beat him is to throw a few kiai at him. Then he will show his true form: a robot of some kind. Keep throwing the kiai, switching turtles if you're getting injured, and he'll be no difficulty. The only other caveat is not to fall off the left side of the screen.

Area 4
This area is also very large, and you have no Turtle Van to help. You will mostly navigate the underground passages. Above the skies in the overworld fly some bombers that will try to bomb you. They are easy to avoid. In the levels, you will occasionally find a few hazards you've never seen before: spikes, fire (instant death), and walls that will try to crush you (also instant death).

Area 5
Your aim here is to find the Technodrome. It is found in one of the three underground passages; which one is random. The passages are short but have the toughest enemies so far. There are also two buildings in which you'll find weapons and pizza.

Area 6
This is just one really long level. Shredder is at the end, but on the way you will face the toughest enemies yet.