If you had chosen the Mirage Comics TMNT, the Mane Six would be dead before they knew what hit them. If you had chosen the 2003 or 2012 version, there would have been a long fight, ending with victory for the Turtles. However, because you chose a the Turtles that could barely defeat a bungling, idiotic, comic relief version of the Shredder, I'm going to have to give this to the Mane Six.
I want to reiterate something Tesla said in the commentary: "Turtles Forever" horribly represented both the 1987 Turtles and 1987 Shredder, and you shouldn't use that movie to judge them. Sure, the show overall was a lot lighter and goofier than the shows that came after, but the Turtles were depicted as capable fighters, always training, having mastered martial arts and the way of the bushido. In the show, they sucessfully defeated a wide variety of villains: Leatherhead, Baxter Stockman, Wingnut and Screwloose, Dirk Savage the Mutant Hunter, the Pizza Monsters, the Rock Soldiers, the Triceratons, Ray Fillet, Metalhead, Chome Dome, and Anthrax. Shredder himself, funny as he was, was still portrayed as a viable threat to the Turtles in multiple occasions, and has more than once bested them in combat. Not to mention, he's the leader of the Foot Clan AND the commander of Krang's armies from Dimension X. It should also be noted that, during the 90s, the show went throught a rehaul, known as the Red Sky Era. There, the show dropped every pretense of trying to be funny and went for more epic action, with the Turtles likewise not goofing around as much. The Dark Sky Era also had Lord Dregg, who was shown to be far more dangerous than Shredder ever was, and the Turtles still managed to defeat him. Saying that the 1987 Turtles are weak just because their show had a lighter tone is a lot like saying that the Ninja Storm Rangers are weak just because that show had a lighter tone that most other Power Ranger shows.
I have been a TMNT fan my entire life. I have seen every single episode of the 1987 series, and I stand by what I said. Compared to the comics, and the later television versions, the 1987 Turtles were only barely competent. There is absolutely no way that they could stand up to Applejack's strength, Rainbow Dash's speed, and Twilight's magic.
