But somehow it got into my collection when I was like 8 or 9 and I used to play the crap out of it.

You are a boat with a gun, and different levels have you do different things like just race to the end, or try to save this “swimmers” in a box from other boats stealing them and dragging them away, levels where you gotta avoid whirlpools and jump ramps, and finally boss levels like one with a dragon that shoots stuff at you and whips his giant tail at you completely obliterating your health bar.

The game also had very few continues if any, and once you die, you start completely over, like many NES games back then.

I remember getting to like level 19 out of 25 or something, but could never beat it. I finally beat it with an emulator like I did not too long ago.

Speaking of TMNT, I never got past that 3rd level when I was a kid. But when I picked it up recently and played it while looking at maps, it was MUCH easier because in the 3rd and 4th levels at least there are TONS of unnessary rooms that you don’t need to go into. You just follow the correct path. You can also take advantage of easier rooms that have a pizza nearby, exit then re-enter, and grab them again. So long as you keep switching turtles and never let one die, it’s really not too bad. The last level on the other hand is a BEAST, and if you die (even during the Shredder battle) you start all the way back at the beginning of the level. It really sucks. But I was surprised at how easy Shredder was. If you just avoid his gun (which instantly kills you) it’s easy. You just whack him about 8 times with Donatello (or use those “scrolls”) and he is done. You can also hit him multiple times before he uses that gun, jump up higher, wait for him to follow, and repeat.

Back in the 80′s/90′s, I finished over 200 games. By far, Athena was THE most difficult for me to finish. I rarely see it included in lists of difficult games. My guess for the reason is that it wasn’t a very popular game, even when the NES was at its zenith.