Sentences written about this title, gathered by type from the Japanese and English Wikipedia articles (as of 2026-8-30).
Freedman had reached out to Konami, describing that the "timing was wonderful for [Surge and Konami]", as Konami was searching for action and adventure themed content to adapt into video games.
Nobuya Nakazato, who worked on the development team for the game, said that members of the team performed many jobs.
Former Konami composer and audio programmer Hidenori Maezawa said that the company could not use music from the television series due to copyright issues.
Former Sega CEO Mike Hayes described the NES reception in the United Kingdom as a "failing brand, treated as a toy by Mattel" and that it was not achieving the high sales it had in North America and Japan.
Computer Gaming World said that this release was part of Konami's then recent emphasis on porting their popular NES for home computers.
A representative for Image Works said that they expected sales to be high for the port of the game and gave it a higher budget for the UK home computer market.
The ZX Spectrum version sold 420,000 copies within its first month of its release, an amount that Retro Gamer described as "staggering" as sales for the computer system were in decline at the time.
Julian Rignall of Mean Machines said it was a very original game while Computer Entertainer and Matt Regan of Mean Machines described the variety as a highlight, specifically noting the level design and the different abilities of the four playable characters respectively.
Three of the four reviewers in Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game mediocre reviews with one stating it was "nothing revolutionary" while another concluded it was "not a true Konami game".
Computer and Video Games complimented what they described as "colorful graphics" as well as commenting that they were "a bit on the blocky side at times".
He said while the original NES game was not brilliant, it showcased that there was a decent game originally.
A reviewer in Nintendo Magazine System stated that the game provided plenty of exploration and beat 'em up action, while Game Informer complimented the unique powers of the playable characters, such as being able to swap between them and take advantage of their abilities.
Game Informer, and other publications such as Super Gamer and GameSpot found the difficulty to be its downfall, with a reviewer summarizing that "stages aren't so much challenging as they are unfair".
A review in Eurogamer found the game superior to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1989) arcade game, referring to it as a "mindless sack of rancid amphibian muck".
IGN also said the game featured "an abundance of graphical glitches and slowdown.
Computer Entertainer awarded it the "Game of the Year" for the NES at their 1989 Video Game Awards ceremony at the CES.
Game Players magazine had their first Videogame and Computer Game Awards for 1989 and included the NES version in their "Videogame Excellence Awards" awards listing.
It was the first game based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and sold 4,000,000 copies worldwide.
Alongside the arcade game (also developed by Konami), it was one of the first video games based on the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, being released after the show's second season.
Konami had released its first licensed video game with Cabbage Patch Kids: Adventures in the Park (1984) based on the Cabbage Patch Kids toy line and became the first third-party company to develop games for Nintendo's Family Computer (Famicom) home console in 1986.
Nintendo of America had limited all companies publishing games to release only five games per year.
The Japanese release was the first piece of TMNT related media to be released in the country.
The games were set for release in the first half of 1990.
The ZX Spectrum version sold 420,000 copies within its first month of its release, an amount that Retro Gamer described as "staggering" as sales for the computer system were in decline at the time.
Other reviewers in Famicom Tsūshin described the game as too similar to other earlier Konami games such as Castlevania (1986) and The Goonies (1986) with one reviewer finding the gameplay to be too ordinary and only recommending it to fans of the genre.
He summarized that the Image Works' ports were only released to quickly cash in on the popularity of the franchise.
Game Players magazine had their first Videogame and Computer Game Awards for 1989 and included the NES version in their "Videogame Excellence Awards" awards listing.
Following the release of the TMNT television series in 2003, Konami released a few more new games for the franchise in the early 2000s, which Game Informer described as only having "a fraction of the success of the original titles from more than a decade ago.
It was the first game based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and sold 4,000,000 copies worldwide.
By 1990-5 more than 1,000,000 copies had been sold in the United States.
By the end of 1990 more than 4,000,000 copies had been sold worldwide, and Konami took in 100 million and 25,000,000 dollars (200 million and 73,000,000 dollars after adjusting for inflation).
Combined sales of all the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games from Konami were estimated at $250 million by June 1991.
The ZX Spectrum version sold 420,000 copies within its first month of its release, an amount that Retro Gamer described as "staggering" as sales for the computer system were in decline at the time.
It was released for the Wii in Europe and Australia for 500 points, which was later raised to 600 points.
In North America, it was released for Wii on April 2, 2007, for the price of 600 points, 100 points more than the average NES title on the Virtual Console.
Because of licensing problems it was removed from the Wii Shop Channel on 2012-1-24 in Japan and on 2012-1-26 in North America and Europe.
Due to licensing issues, it was later removed from the Wii Shop Channel in Japan on January 24, 2012, and in North America and Europe on January 26, 2012.
He said while the original NES game was not brilliant, it showcased that there was a decent game originally.
Former Konami composer and audio programmer Hidenori Maezawa said that the company could not use music from the television series due to copyright issues.
Due to licensing issues, it was later removed from the Wii Shop Channel in Japan on January 24, 2012, and in North America and Europe on January 26, 2012.
It was released in North American markets in June 1989 for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
Konami reported it as the best-selling third-party NES game in 1991.
Game Informer, and other publications such as Super Gamer and GameSpot found the difficulty to be its downfall, with a reviewer summarizing that "stages aren't so much challenging as they are unfair".
IGN also said the game featured "an abundance of graphical glitches and slowdown.
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