Even going into the next decade, we’re still riding the high wave of the ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia, which Arcade1up and their licensees are still trying to capitalize on. The big selling point is to “bring the arcade home in an economic fashion!” I had a lot of doubts about their 2018 product line, which has more or less been phased out.
Thanks to a few helpful friends, I’ve been able to sample a few cabinets from the current line that is being pushed for the 2019 Winter Holiday season. The Golden Tee Arcade 1up machine was a darkhorse hit for me. The Space Invaders one was incredibly underwhelming and quite overpriced. I’ve now been able to spend quite a bit of time with Arcade1up’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles machine. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, of course, with their various comics, TV shows, toylines, and video games, were staples of the 1980s and 1990s pop culture sphere. This duo of arcade games by Konami fulfilled our juvenile fantasies of acting out our favorite cartoon show. Here’s what you need to know before you throw down your 350 smackeroos down for this bad boy.
The Arcade1up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comes loaded with the 1989 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game by Konami and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time from 1991 (also by Konami). The artwork faithfully reproduces the iconic artwork of the original machine downscaled in such a way that it does not feel like a downgrade; this is a welcome re-fit. Konami’s contributions in… you know making the game, are downplayed in the marquee and packaging art: the modern neon Nickelodeon logo takes the old Konami logo’s place and the copyright information reminds us all of our Viacom corporate overlords.
There are twelve action buttons, 4 sticks (with an octagon gate), an on/off switch and a volume control switch. The games display on an LCD monitor. Without a riser, the cabinet stands at 45.8 inches tall; with one it stands at 57.8 inches tall. Even with a riser, it does not stand at a full 5 feet, so if you’re taller than 5 feet, you’ll most likely need to find your own way to raise this thing. If you are an average adult, you are most likely going to be kneeling or squatting to play Arcade1up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I played through a decent portion of TMNT Arcade with 2 other people, and the first stage of Turtles in Time with a Player 2. Unlike the Arcade 1Up Rampage/Midway Arcade Classics cabinet I can see 3 people huddled over this particular model to enjoy some classic Ninja Turtles hiney-whooping action. Getting the full quartet seems like a bit of a stretch. The might be less playing a video game and more of an awkward football huddle.
I played the entirety of the original arcade game and up until the boarding section of Turtles in Time on this cabinet. The games are more or less how you remember them: even with the “Winners Don’t Use Drugs” FBI warning. The sprites and sounds are all there, the voices intact, the “Pizza Power” song returns; however a major difference being that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles song was redone for the original arcade game (perhaps for licensing reasons).
While the joysticks feel sturdier than anything from the 2018 Arcade1up product line, I’m not terribly impressed with the buttons. They’re easier to push down but still feel a bit flimsy. The volume switch acts like volume buttons from a CRT or LED monitor rather than the low-medium-high output settings of the previous line. The cabinets from the 2018 Arcade1up line consistently had a mono sound output which made games that were originally in stereo (Like Street Fighter II Turbo) sound off. Thankfully Arcade1up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles outputs in true stereo and as a result, has better sound fidelity than it’s predecessors.
At nearly $400, it’s quite the investment. Overall, the Arcade1up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is my second favorite of the current line. If you have the space for it and are willing to put the work into assembling it, this is a fun, albeit oversized, novelty toy to have in your rumpus or game room. It could be a touchstone to bring your friends over and walk down the aqueduct of memory lane or a way to share with your kids /younger/friends/relatives “These are the kind of games I liked to play when I was a kid…”… “These are what the Turtles were like when I was a kid…” Oh, the conversations you’ll have.
