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.