Hardest TMNT Games

Since its release in the 80s, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or TMNT, universe has expanded well beyond comics, being responsible for creating great animations, entertaining movies, and incredible games. This caused the franchise to have a plethora of different iterations of the mutated brothers, each with its own set of complexities and attributes.

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By  Ana Micaela Leite Scheidemantel

Despite being considered a children's franchise, the TMNT universe has dipped into darker themes and harsher surroundings. In terms of games, some of the installments were able to provide the franchise with tough gameplay, big bosses, and challenging levels, rather than an all-around easy experience. Thus, despite being a franchise for the whole family, the turtle brothers' games can offer unique challenges, having a few games with a harder difficulty.

9 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle: Shredder's Revenge

GameFAQs Difficulty: 3.05/5

Definitely in the mild difficulty TMNT spectrum, Shredder's Revenge brings together all things ninja turtles with easy-to-learn combat and challenging missions along with some other great yet unique attributes. The simple plot filled with action captures the essence of the crime-fighting brothers, regardless if players go on a solo adventure or a six-person journey.

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By  Raza Malik

Shredder's Revenge offers three levels of difficulties, including a "gnarly" mode that features double damage that makes every movement count, especially during brutal boss fights. With a mode that makes even the veterans of the franchise sweat, the gnarly difficulty establishes this game as a nearly impossible adventure despite its easier gameplay.

8 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003)

GameFAQs Difficulty: 3.1/5

Although some might argue it's not as good as the 2003 cartoon show, the game inspired by the animation still managed to have its own flair. As one of the best co-op games of the PS2's lifespan, this offers an exciting, challenging campaign for players.

Although nothing too difficult, the combat is hard enough to be satisfying, offering a campaign that changes things a bit, making it a unique adventure in the franchise. Plus, the game offers a challenge mode that can be unlocked by finishing the story with the four turtles, making it as difficult as the player wants it to be.

7 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time

GameFAQs Difficulty: 3.14/5

Despite both the SNES and Arcade versions having crucial differences, they both give a pleasurable level of challenges for players. While the arcade installment already proved to have tricky moments, the SNES upped the ante in every way, with more content, levels, and bosses, making it one of the best yet toughest games of the franchise.

Although it can be made straightforward by setting up extra lives and playing in an easy mode, this game has its demanding features — high damage, tough enemies, and big bosses that can be especially challenging if played with only three lives. A quintessential beat 'em up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle game, the balance of simplicity and difficulty in Turtles in Time will forever be one of the cornerstones of the IP.

6 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Back From The Sewers

GameFAQs Difficulty: 3.36/5

• Platforms: Game Boy
• Release Date: November 15, 1991
• Genre: Beat 'Em Up
• Developer: Konami

As a classic beat 'em up experience, Back from the Sewers provides players with a fun adventure with a unique art style that makes for a great platformer. Even though the game might not rank among the best in the franchise, it brought some iconic music and battles to the TMNT universe.

Despite having slower combat that can be picked up by anyone, the enemy respawn rate and the constant projectiles make this a frustratingly challenging experience that can be overwhelming at times.

5 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game

GameFAQs Difficulty: 3.37/5

• Release Date: December 1990
• Genre: Beat 'em up
• Developer: Konami

Despite scoring the same in terms of difficulty as The Manhattan Project, this title comes with less gameplay variety, with most of its difficulty coming from porting the game. The Arcade Game brought the beloved arcade version to the NES console in a fun adventure that can be hard at first but can be picked up with some gameplay.

The iconic boss fights, enemy variety, and satisfying combat made this a fun yet hard experience that served as a basis for so many of the franchise's installments. Yet, what sets the difficulty level apart in the game is the final boss fight with Shredder, which can be brutally hard and takes some practice to find the right strategy and rhythm to finally beat him.

4 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: The Manhattan Project

GameFAQs Difficulty: 3.37/5

The Manhattan Project has so many elements that make it so beloved, being possibly the best release of its year on the NES. On its way to perfecting the beat' em up formula, the installment created a challenging, unforgiving experience that had players struggling to complete a single playthrough.

Overall, the game is a brutal endurance run, with every level filled with mini-bosses and a challenging boss at the end that makes it a longer-length installment. Not only that, the limited number of lives and continues requires fans to play it multiple times to truly master it, especially because health is quite scarce, while enemy forces are constant.

3 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Radical Rescue

GameFAQs Difficulty: 3.65/5

Not only employing some innovative Game Boy features, Radical Rescue is unique in so many aspects, including the way it challenges its players. Using a similar style to the Castlevania series, it provides personal movement sets for each of the turtles and bosses that have unique telegraphed attacks that take a while to learn.

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With iconic franchise villains that make for epic boss fights, this game has players building up abilities to complete it as one of the installments that requires the most practice from the players as one of the most frustrating titles. With its tougher gameplay, tricky boss fights, limited lives, and exciting features, the title was not only a success on the Game Boy but also in its re-release as one of the best games in the Cowabunga Collection.

2 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters

GameFAQs Difficulty: 3.66/5

Tournament Fighters really embraced the 90s trend of fighting games, providing players with a new way and genre to enjoy the mutant superheroes. Even though the NES, SNES, and Genesis systems offered different experiences, with one of them featuring a playable April O'Neil, the games featured a challenging and humorous experience all around.

A fighting tournament, à la Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, made this one of the most challenging experiences in the gaming franchise. Yet, the character choice affects the difficulty, as the balance is a bit off with some characters too weak and some too powerful. Overall, a fast-paced fighting game that will get players strategizing for the best way to win with their characters.

1 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles NES (1989)

GameFAQs Difficulty: 4.25/5

It's not even much of a competition when it comes to the 1989 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' difficulty, as it provides players with the most frustrating and difficult challenges of the franchise. The only way to beat the game is with a lot of hard work and patience because players need to constantly start levels over.

This installment is known for being overly difficult and unfair with tricky jumps and respawning enemies that can be a tad too much, which heightens the sense of accomplishment every time an area is done. The precision needed in this game has everyone rage-quitting, especially considering it has enemies that constantly respawn, and it is virtually impossible not to take damage, making this the perfect game for beat 'em up experts or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle veterans.

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