Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

"Could've been better but aside from a few disappointing flaws this is a GREAT game for many TMNT fans out there."

Ah Konami and TMNT, together at last. Back in the old days of the late 80's and early 90's Konami has had a GREAT history with the license that is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Sure not EVERY single TMNT game was a total success (like the original one for the NES) BUT a very good amount of them went exceptionally well with fans. Now thanks to the new TMNT series on FoxKids, Konami can make TMNT games again. How does this fare when it comes to TMNT Video Games? Quite well actually...

Whats so great about this game you may ask? Simple I'll tell you BUT I'll start things off a little bit differently. Sure a very good amount of TMNT fans like myself are able to watch the show regularly however there are those such as myself whom are unable to. (REALLY bad time-slot, I've only seen about a episode or two.) And while getting the TMNT DVD's is probably the best choice, watching the various prominent cutscenes of early episodes of the series is a pretty good alternative nevertheless. Their well-animated & written and the voice-acting is well done as well. So in another words it can also be a very good treat to those whom haven't been watching the series regularly.

Now as for the more conventional reasons why this is such a quality game is that the cel-shaded graphics fit the design quite perfectly and while the gameplay may not be perfect its still quite competent. The Game designers said that all 4 turtles will get unique attacks and they have came through on that. It's level design fits the style of the game quite well as the music may not be utterly outstanding but it fits just as nicely. As I said before the Voice-acting is great and the dialouge the VA's are given work quite well. One of the nicer things in this game are some of the ''Easter Eggs'' for you to unlock as amusing alternate costumes for all 4 of the turtles, the ''Playmates Toys'' collection on the TMNT database option in this game, being able to play as either Master Splinter or Casey Jones in Story mode and more.

However it has its share of flaws too first of all which go from minor to...''not-so minor''. There are small flubs such as on how during the storyline segments which use in-game graphics are oddly non-animated as the characters don't even open their mouths at all and those who don't like ''Invisible Walls'' will notice them too. But their no big deal however the variety of the enemies in this game are surprisingly some what small. And considering on how the variety of regular enemies is surprisingly diverse (well mainly in attack style) on the NES TMNT games and the like this is somewhat disappointing. Sure the variety of regular enemies in this game is existant just not as much as most of the past TMNT games. However one of the bigger flaws is that the game itself is up to 2 players only. Why? Unlike the previous systems the GC can easily be up to 4 players at a time so frankly this ''up to 2 players'' only thing is really unnescessary and the most annoying feature is how ridiculously hard the ''Vs. Mode'' is. Regardless of what difficulty setting you put it in ANY oppenent you face while playing with any playable character there is absurdly hard. You'd think this would be a good source of training but frankly your better off doing that in the actual game.

So overall it could've been better but hey Konami is getting back into making TMNT games after a few year hiatus so I'm sure the future TMNT games will be much better. While this may not be up to the level of ''Soul Caliber II'' and ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' its QUITE a solid & well-made Gamecube game anyways.

+ A VERY faithful and well-made usage of the TMNT license
+ The cutscenes from various episodes in the series are a real treat (ESPECIALLY for those who can't watch the show regularly due to its rather mediocre time-slot)
+ The Animation and Gameplay is generally well-done
+ Its going just fine when it comes to Audio
+ Its ''Secret Bonus''' are a nice little treat
- It has plenty of small technical flaws
- Its 2-player only even though the GC is PERFECTLY capable of four
- The ''Vs. Mode'' is WAY too hard

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/08/03, Updated 02/11/04