The AVGN, as usual, made a big case of 'problems' with the game that were not as big as they really were. The dude plays a persona and obviously screws up on purpose and makes games look much harder than they are.
tmnt nes was incredible when it came out and the graphics were very distinctive. I remember being impressed by it; the engine felt superior to other action titles available at the time on the NES. It came out during the second or third wave of nes titles and the feeling of the game was amazing.
The game was hard but it was just like that back then. The dam level is incredible easy once you figure out the path to take.
The intro sequence was the shit. I still have the music burned into my head.
I honestly don't remember if the first TMNT arcade game was out at the same time; but konami eventually ported it as TMNT2. The game was so much easier; I could finish it without losing a life