Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters is the name given to three significantly different fighting games released in 1994. The only characters that were present in all three versions were the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and gameplay differed between each version. The versions available were on the NES, Super NES, and Sega Genesis.

NES Version
The version released for the Nintendo Entertainment System, while not by any measure a rare game, is the rarest of the three Tournament Fighters games, and is considered an overall uncommon game. The game's storyline revolves around The Shredder challenging the Turtles to a battle, but are forced to fight amongst themselves and their allies to prove who is worthy enough to fight him. The selectable characters in the game included:
 * Leonardo
 * Raphael
 * Michelangelo
 * Donatello
 * Casey Jones
 * Hothead
 * Shredder

Gameplay was minimalistic for a fighting game. Each of the Turtles were merely pallet swaps of one another, and did not use their signature weapons in combat. Two players were unable to select Hothead unless a glitch was exploited, due to technical limitations. Super Moves were attained as follows: at a point in the match, Splinter's head will appear on a floating monitor and drop a red ball. Collecting the ball will allow the character to utilize their Super Move, which will at that time also free the ball to be used again by either player.

The NES version of Tournament Fighters featured Leonardo and Hothead on the cover, and was the last third-party game to be released in the USA on that console. This was also the only version of the game to not be released in Japan.

SNES Version
The Super NES version is widely considered to be the most popular of the three releases. This version was known as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Warriors in Japan. The cover featured Donatello facing off against Armaggon. The story of the SNES version has Karai kidnapping April and Splinter, and the Turtles must travel across the US in their Turtle Blimp, defeating other fighters and collecting information. The characters in the game included:
 * Leonardo
 * Raphael
 * Donatello
 * Michelangelo
 * Cyber Shredder
 * War
 * Aska
 * Wingnut
 * Armaggon
 * Rat King (Unlockable boss character)
 * Karai (Unlockable boss character)

Gameplay was similar to SNK fighting games, using a control scheme consisting of two punch and two kick buttons. By filling a "Mutagen Meter", players could unleash a Super Move on their opponents.

Genesis Version
When four purple doppelgangers of the TMNT appear and kidnap Splinter on Krang's behalf, the Turtles team up with some of their allies and trek across the galaxy searching for their father. During their sojourn, they come across the clones of themselves and their friends, and eventually a Triceraton, Krang himself, and the real mastermind behind the plot, Karai. The control scheme of the Genesis (Mega Drive) version greatly differed from the other incarnations, as it included a Weak button, a Strong button, and a Taunt button. The Taunt button could also be used in conjunction with a specific D-Pad motion when the character's health was low to unleash a mighty Desperation Attack. The cover featured Raphael and a Triceraton. Characters in this version included:
 * Leonardo
 * Donatello
 * Raphael
 * Michelangelo
 * Casey Jones
 * Ray Fillet
 * April O'Neil
 * Sisyphus
 * Triceraton Unplayable boss character.
 * Krang's Android Unplayable boss character.
 * Karai Unplayable boss character.