Data East

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Pinside Rating

This game received 75 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 6.789 _/10

6.789

Top 100 ranking

This game ranks #275 in the Pinside Pinball Top 100.

Score breakdown

Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:

Game Design: 6.384

Artwork: 7.376

Sounds/Music: 6.81

Other Aspects: 6.816

Pinside staff rating

This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 2 of us have rated this game.

6.363

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Found 50 ratings (with comment) on this game

There are 50 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
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6.382/10

36 days ago

MDS

MStem80

Pinside member

Horseheads, NY

2y 26,900 66 1 6

Love the art, don't love the game. It's just not very good. I owned it in the past, and after about 5 plays I was ready to sell.

MStem80 has owned this game in the past.

7.356/10

1 year ago

MAT

Guntharr

Pinside member

Bloomington, IN

2y 17,500 1 3 12

This machine ate a lot of quarters at the local pizza place. Enjoyed the game play for the most part and I really like the artwork.

Guntharr has this game on the wishlist.

7.828/10

2 years ago

JRC

Jeremyczu

Pinside+ Frequent

Grand Rapids, MI

2y 31,050 10 5 28

A great theme, and the use of the twin ramps for skill shots along with the sewer shot to score huge bonuses is fun. The game is older, but all of the features seem a bit ahead of the time compared to other machines from this age. It's underrated and a good value as a pinball machine for the average person.

Jeremyczu edited previous rating on July 16, 2022.
Jeremyczu has owned this game in the past.

7.442/10

2 years ago

IAN

V8haha

Pinside member

Frisco, CO

10y 65,300 1,469 42 28

Turtle power

V8haha currently owns this game.

5.973/10

2 years ago

TAY

jonest3

Pinside+ Frequent

Collierville, TN

4y 43,550 17 6 6

As a Turtles fan, this game was a bit of a letdown.

Very repetitive gameplay, uninspired shots, and generally not much to do.

The subway shot is the most rewarding shot and is a lot of fun, but if you want points… left ramp, right ramp, repeat.

Backglass art is decent. Cabinet art is dull.

I do like the cheesy call outs and music.

Worth a couple of quarters if you enjoy TMNT… the new Stern Turtles puts this game to shame though…

jonest3 edited previous rating on August 10, 2021.
jonest3 has owned this game in the past.

7.631/10

3 years ago

KLC

keanan_connell

Pinside member

Wilmington, DE

11y 38,550 45 20 20

not a whole lot going on rule or layout wise. sewer shot is cool. definitely rides on its theme. great sounds great art. any tmnt fan is sure to love it just because it’s tmnt. I’ll keep mine forever but I won’t play it very much.

keanan_connell edited previous rating on January 08, 2022.
keanan_connell currently owns this game.

4.929/10

3 years ago

JHJ

JustinJohnson

Inactive member

4y 33,400 58 1 69

Found one in the wild, seems to me the only way to make points is by the skill shot. Fun game though for kids I know my nephew loves ninjas and loves TMNT so I gotta get him out to play this game after this Covid crap is done with! Great game for kids, they definitely could have done better on this one. Wish I had a better functioning machine as this one in the wild definitely could use some work.

8.010/10

4 years ago

TRO

timmmmyboy

Reclaim Arcade

Fredericksburg, VA

4y 58,800 163 20 7

As an aging Data East game the rules are basic on this one, but any child of the 80s grew up on this theme and I can't help but smile and sing along. The artwork and music are great, the gameplay is fine. It's a great starter game for people interested in getting in to pinball. The callouts get quite repetitive after awhile for sure, but otherwise no huge complaints.

timmmmyboy currently owns this game.

7.336/10

4 years ago

MJL

Layercakes31

Inactive member

4y 34,800 6 1 10

While this game may not be a truly quality pinball game, I just love it. I’m an 80’s kid, so TMNT runs deep in my core. It’s hard to find a takeaway from the nostalgia that makes this game so fun. While I have not play this game more than a dozen times, I would still love to grab this game and take it home!

Layercakes31 has this game on the wishlist.

6.837/10

4 years ago

NTZ

nTronz

Pinside member

Chapel Hill, NC

11y 36,800 19 2 13

Having grown up in the late 80s and early 90s, I was a huge Turtles fan. This was the first pin I ever owned on theme alone. After playing so much pinball over the last several years, I've only recently grown tired of it.

While I enjoy the repeatable left ramp shots, the game is just too simple from a rules standpoint to hold my attention any longer. The main thing I still enjoy is hitting the moderately difficult 10M shot. The feeling of pressure you get from hitting that one shot when the timer is rolling, after spending all that time to even get there in the first place. It's fantastic tension. However, it's the only thing the game has for me. The multiballs are fairly easy, with too simplistic of a goal (when achieved, just leaves you with a few balls and not much to do with them)

That said, for my non-pinball friends, family, and children, they love the simplicity and theme. It's great for a casual crowd that wants some nostalgia. I wouldn't recommend this game for a hardcore pin player, but if you have kids and want to get them into a game that isn't so brutal, or you want something for a barcade with vintage pins, I think the theme and simplicity (and quick fun) are a good bet. It just doesn't have great lastability.

nTronz has owned this game in the past.

8.656/10

4 years ago

???

ArcadeJunkie1

Inactive member

Columbia, MD

4y 20,000 4 2 7

I am a novice player and a big TMNT fan, so take this for what it is. Yes, the game is not super complex but it still has some pretty fun shots. The two ramps are pretty satisfying and the multiball callout "I LOVE BEING A TURTLE" is awesome!

It's also great for kids because of the simplified ruleset.

This pin WILL get old, but I am keeping it for the foreseeable future because of the theme alone.

ArcadeJunkie1 currently owns this game.

6.469/10

4 years ago

TCB

Malenko

Pinside member

7y 77,900 1,604 10

I got this machine because I loved the theme, these are the turtles I grew up with. The game was a little disappointing. There are 3 ramp shots, but 2 of them are side by side and the ball tends to hit the ramps are tough angles and just slide back down. The main problem with this is that so much of the game depends on those 2 shots. I will say the double skill shot is a neat idea, and the ball coming out of the manhole cover was brilliant. The DMD animations are overly simplistic and lack depth. All the dots are either off or on, so its literally 2 bit animations.

The call outs are goodbut very repetitive with the "woah" call out when you hit Mikey's pop bumper being the worst offender. I do smile every time the TMNT theme plays though. The turtle toys on the PF are nice but there really should be more implementation of the bad guys ; there are a handful of foot soldiers on the art and Shredder's face on a spinner target. No beebop, rockysteady, baxter, etc

The captive ball shot on the left is the only really satisfying shot in the game.

Malenko edited previous rating on August 09, 2019.

8.189/10

5 years ago

JAS

pinheadaustralia

Pinhead Australia

5y 40,150 3 79 23

TMNT is a ripper theme. If you're an advanced player you will probably won't like this one as the rules are pretty basic and the shots get old pretty quick. This is a game new players will come to just for the theme, which is comparable to games like street fighter and mario bro's. If you're a big TMNT fan and you find one at a reasonable cost, this is the ultimate collecters piece (alongside the 4 player stand up cab)

pinheadaustralia currently owns this game.

7.717/10

5 years ago

PAS

sebess

Pinside member

Nocatee, FL

10y 30,150 35 16

I bought this game here in Argentina, in a reseller who bought it from a place in the coast, it had a lot of play on it, and it was in a poor state. The theme i like it since it takes me back to my childhood. The art is very good, it has all the turtles on the playfield and those are the same that i had when i was a child. The gane play is a bit repetitive but since i like the theme i love this game and i wont sell it. It took me a while to put all the lamps to led wich brings a bit of light to the game. Is also a very cheap game so thats a plus!

sebess has owned this game in the past.

6.005/10

5 years ago

DIA

mrossman5

Pinside+ Frequent

Warren, PA

6y 197K 3,179 7 253

A decent layout. Call outs are unbelievably annoying, and they are played so often that I have no urge to ever play this game.

8.256/10

5 years ago

ET

skiman

Pinside member

Sandy, UT

5y 27,400 20 17

The song is fun, but hard to get out of your mind. The ramps are fun and the multi ball can be really fun! I had the machine set hard for many years, but recently reset it to easy and at times even extra easy, since my daughter has been playing it a lot, and it actually makes it a lot more fun!

skiman edited previous rating on August 09, 2022.

4.427/10

7 years ago

RHO

spiroagnew

Inactive member

11y 121K 982 161

Another game that's been canonized in the past ten years, like BTTF and SMB, because of theme alone. The game is pretty bad with rules that don't advance game play or inspire continued play. If these things were the price of a Gottlieb Gladiators, maybe you could justify having it, but at the astronomical prices this game has been pushed by hipsters and more discreet millennials just makes this game a head shaker. People always say "All Pinball Is Good Pinball", and I always add the caveat "Except Street Fighter II"...but TMNT isn't that far behind. It's an uninspired Data East game they hoped the theme would save.

7.237/10

7 years ago

DDK

davkonw

Pinside member

8y 39,900 19 25

TMNT wow what a Kool machine , It's green and it's TMNT and i love pizza and it plays ummm yeah ok thats the end of that. Cheese cheese cheese like the topping of the spinning pizza. I didn't like this machine much. But if you grew up with the cartoon you might like it more.

6.462/10

7 years ago

ED

Monk

Pinside member

7y 93,800 1,911 21

TMNT gives the player a few good locations to shot. You obviously have the two ramps that spell turtle, which are typically shot from the right flipper, but also offer standup targets for all four turtles. Once those targets (3 per turtle) are lit, the sewer will activate multiball, which in turn activates multiple jackpots. The game flows well, with a little to much emphasis on the left ramps. I believe it to be a very good game for the typical cost associated with it.

Monk edited previous rating on May 03, 2019.

8.472/10

7 years ago

PQ

PINQUEST

8y 47,800 239 13

If you were a child of the 80's or 90's and followed the original TMNT this game is awesome! Great music from the original cartoon with excellent art.

The game looks very basic but my god is it challenging. Scoring is primarily done with the 2 skill shot ramps but they are surprisingly difficult shots to hit!

If you like old school target shots then this game is fantastic for you. To start multi all you bust activate all the turtles by hitting their colored targets.

Love this game.

8.724/10

7 years ago

JAR

jasonaross

Pinside member

8y 35,250 13 26

I loved TMNT as a kid and have three turtle-loving kids now. I loaded my pin with action figures and get nostalgia every time I play. The theme music, callouts, etc. are awesome. I get frustrated with game play in that I frequently hit the divider located between the twin ramps. Sometimes the ball jumps up the twin ramp, hits the top covering plastic, and rolls back down into the playing field rather than continuing up and around the ramp. I configured the pin to an easier mode to increase the likelyhood of getting multi-ball. The easier mode is fun for my kids and I am embarrased to say it is funner for me too. Easy mode reduces the high score challenge but this pin does have a high chance of quick drains. Love it!

5.859/10

8 years ago

TBK

xTheBlackKnightx

Pinside member

8y 128K 4,097 137

We all know this game was designed with children in mind, even if you are in a complete state of denial with your TMNT bedspread comforter snuggled around you and smoking your "Cow-a-bunga" reefer.
Please, let it all go, or your will be buying a TMNT "bunny" pajamas next and move back to live in your parent's basement.

Don't believe me?
Think I am full of $!@#?
Here you go:

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/guy-transforms-apartment-into-an-arcade-fiancee-promptly-dumps-him/1100-6420186/

Some people might even recognize him by his avatar name.
Surprise!

Artwork is really the only redeeming feature on this game.
Ruleset is non-existent.
Game is below average, but has some decent ramp action.
Sound and music is average, but has that typical DE "recycle" of audio events.
It has developed a cult following in the last 10+ years due to its tie in with both movies, arcade games, and TV show.
The other reason for its mediocre rise in popularity is simple, it's CHEAP to buy like WaterWorld.
Oh, WaterWorld...a game I need to review...

New owners buy this title all the time, and realize too late.
"What was I thinking"?!
(See review below for understanding)

All this adds up to a very poor game.

If this game was a person in the Star Trek Universe, Dr. McCoy would be saying, "He's dead, Jim".
This game is an excellent choice to salvage parts for other DE games, and I don't use that term often.
"Underrated" game my a$$.

xTheBlackKnightx edited previous rating on April 27, 2016.

5.876/10

8 years ago

AGB

Ramtuathal

Pinside member

Louisville, KY

8y 63,650 123 1 148

The manhole cover is fun... but the rest of TMNT is not noteworthy. A dry, open pf with no decent shots and way too much going on down the sides. Nah.

Ramtuathal edited previous rating on January 30, 2017.

6.603/10

8 years ago

JPR

LoserKid_Pinball

Pinside member

Vernal, UT

9y 58,550 470 15

A DE game design solely to eat your quarters. The game's artwork is great but that's kinda where it ends. Shoots are pretty much limited to 2 ramp shots on the left, a captive ball on the left, a "sewer shot" on the right, and a right orbit that dumps your ball into pop bumpers that have no use besides making Mikey go "Whoa!" Lets not forget the targets on left, right, and middle that help you collect each turtle for multiball. Really I enjoyed it when I first got it but other than my love for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles there really isn't much reason to have this game in my collection.

Pros:
Artwork is great and audio is alright.

Cons:
Pretty much no rules, Multiball is bland, and there is not very many shots to the game. Even though Mikey is my favorite turtle, his voice is the only one you hear. No Leo, Don, or Raph.

Takeaway:

Artwork is great but if you are looking for a pin with any depth to it, this isn't the one. Honestly it's a good family pin except my wife complains about how April boob's on the backglass are about to fall out. If it wasn't for my love for the Ninja Turtles, I wouldn't keep it in my collection

10.000/10

8 years ago

LEE

Gamer1

Inactive member

Unknown

11y 19,000 13 13

COWABUNGA DUDE!! TMNT is an excellent pin and I can't understand the ranking of this pin! Take the time to LED this and you will reap the rewards, awesome colors await and this is a classic. This pin is what started my collection, I remember playing this at a pizza shop, saw one for sale, and the rest was history! This is a great value to add to any collection it has the theme..flow..music..sounds including turtle voices that stay in your head! Now, playability I truly love both ramp shots are challenging and then there is the 10 million point sewer shot combination that will keep you playing! This is an instant favorite and topic of conversation whenever I host a party! The spinning pizza adds to the challenge and when you are in the zone with this machine it goes from a kid game to an adult challenge very quickly. In my opinion it is a sleeper that most people for whatever reason choose to ignore but should not. Play one if you get the chance. I definitely will never sell mine it will remain in my collection as long as I am able to keep on flipping! Radical Dude!!!

Gamer1 currently owns this game.

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