Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time (SNES)

Play it on: SNES, Cowabunga Collection

Some things hit at just the right time and place and are forever after cemented into the Mount Rushmore of gaming. Turtles in Time, first in arcades and then on SNES, improved on everything about Konami’s earlier arcade and NES Turtles brawlers without bogging its action down in gimmicks or extra baggage. Leo and co. go from the streets of New York City to prehistoric times to Blade Runner dystopia, stopping at pirate ships and wild west saloons along the way. It’s extremely kitschy in a way that could only work in the ‘90s, helped out by some of the brightest greens, yellows, and purples you’ll ever see on a CRT.

While vehicle levels made use of the SNES’s Mode 7 graphics to provide multi-layered depth, it’s picking up foot soldiers and smashing them into the screen that everyone remembers. In earlier games it was a random treat. Turtles in Time made it an actual mechanic, and one players were required to perfect in an innovative fight against Shredder in the Technodrome where he’s piloting a mech. This excellent home port is still one of the essential SNES games. — Ethan Gach