Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

"The Kowabanga Corp. Gets a 3D Game!"

The kowabanga corp finally gets a 3D game of their own. Is it really an exciting news? Not really. Read on...
Like most other kids of my generation, I spent a significant portion of my childhood watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I also had a couple of action figures. The cartoon motivated me so much that I even grew myself a special liking towards Pizzas. Based on the huge success of the TMNT franchise, Konami brought out a few arcade side scrolling platform games. Those were really good games, and later on they were also ported to consoles.

After almost a decade, the famous martial artist reptiles get their first 3D game. As soon as I read the preview, I started to crave for the game. I was even more delighted to know that there'd be a PC version. But when I did end up getting the game, it didn't seem that much impressive.

The gameplay is repetitive, and not as fast as the previous TMNT games of old era. There are 6 to 8 functional buttons, but you won't be needing all of them that much. The weak attack/special attack plus air juggle combos are the key to this game. With ample enemies around, you can end up with maximum 9 to 10 hit combos. At the beginning, the waves of enemies might really seem difficult to conquer. Even in the easiest difficulty setting, fighting numerous foot soldiers using a solitary turtle is a hard task. But after a while (and after gaining access to the jump attack), things get pretty easy.

Yeah, you can unlock new moves and abilities via performing well in the practice levels, i.e. Dojo Level, as it is named in the game. Such levels appear after completing 2 or 3 regular levels. Usually a challenging task is given to a turtle, and upon completion, he is granted a special move or an ability. The sad part about this is that if you're playing a 2 player game, only player 1 gets a shot at this. Player 2 can't compete, and the move doesn't get unlocked for him as well.

This is another weird aspect of the game. You can't change your turtle in the middle of a game. This means, you have to go through the whole game, fighting repetitive battles over and over, using the same character. This also means that you well definitely get sick and tired of the turtle that you been using for so much time. This kills any possible replay value with that particular turtle.

Enemies arrive in groups, and you can't go to another area before beating all of them. In old arcade games, this issue was addressed in a different way. If you have left an area without beating everyone, the alive ones would reappear or follow you until it's a dead end. But in this game, you are bumped against an invisible wall; whenever you try to get past the allowed area. This is all okay, but it kinda looks awkward when you can't escape to the parking lot residing very next to you, while being pummelled by 10-15 foot soldiers and suffering from a low energy bar. Unlike older games, you can get soft drinks, bread as life bars. You do get to eat Pizzas every now and then, but they are lesser in number, In numerous occasions, you can get defence/offence/speed powerups. These things are usually hidden inside a specially marked boxes. But most of these boxes turn out to be empty. Thus the player is forced to spend a lot of time smashing boxes around, just to find these power ups and energy refills.

There are two additional game modes. One is a vs mode, where you can pick up anyone out of Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, Michealangelo or some other characters from the game like side-hero Casey Jones, Evil Turtle machine, etc. As you beat the bosses, some of them become playable (e.g. Turtle machine) in this mode. The mode is quite fun, especially when you're against a human opponent. The arenas look cool, and you can use environmental objects like barrels to explode your unsuspecting foe. But after a while, things start to get boring. The absence of a blocking feature makes the battles too short, and some characters that are fast and players who are combo masters enjoy an unfair advantage. Two long combos can take up the entire life bar of an opponent. However, the mode is fun indeed.

The challenge mode allows one to play through three levels quite fast. Nothing much to say about this mode.

Graphics is really the highlight of this game. With a good graphics card, ample ram and a powerful processor, the game really looks greats. The character models are nicely done, and the move animations are stunning. The backgrounds are pretty much okay, and they align well with the game. However, most places look deserted. There are no other people or living beings visible, other than the turtles and their foes. There are some cars scattered here and there, which are breakable. But most objects are non-interactive. The famous water hose hit (a nostalgic piece from the original TMNT games) are still there, but that doesn't make things any better. The game is based on the new series, not the classic one. So here you'll see a different Baxter Stockman, no Rocksteady and Bebop, and a red haired April(!). Only the turtles and Master Splinter looks the same.

Between stages, FMVs are shown. Also there are some cutscenes, where the game engine is used. None of these are too special.

The background music is tolerable, and sometimes it's quite nice. The music meshes well with the action, and it would sound a lot better if the voice acting was not overdone. The turtles all have their own taglines like "Slice and dice", "Die, Nimrod", etc. These are nice to hear, but it gets kind of annoying when you are forced to hear the same phrases over and over. Sound is definitely not the best feature of this game.

The four main characters, Leonardo, Donatello, Michaelangelo and Raphael has different weapons and moves. While one has high weapon damage, the other has faster movement and attack. But still, there's not much replay value. The idea of going through the same ritual of beating dumb AI controlled foot soldiers is not that much appealing. The boss battles are cool, and requires different strategy and or approach, but they appear only momentarily.

However, the game has its moments of glory, and it is definitely a worthwhile game for the fans of the franchise. But if I am to comment, I will say that it's a disappointing game. My expectation levels were higher, and I hope the next version of this game will be better.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/14/05