Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

"Not bad, not memorable"

Ever since the original TMNT cartoon came out, I was a Ninja Turtle freak. I owned every toy, video, and videogame with the TMNT name on it. Some of them were amazing (Turtles in Time) and some were uh...not (Tournament Fighters). But when I heard a new game was coming out based on the latest series, I thought I'd give it a shot.

In many ways, the new Turtles game reminds me of the classics. You progress through very linear levels beating people up and spouting cliche after cliche. But that's about where the similarities end. Much like the new series, this game is very interesting while you're playing it, but not very memorable when you shut off the PS2.

Maybe it's that we're older now and we see things differently. Or maybe it's because it's not the Turtles we knew when we were younger. Whatever the reason, the game lacks the staying power and replayability that made the original arcade game and Turtles in Time so much fun to come back to over and over again.

I haven't seen much of the new series, but it's very obvious that the game not only borrows from it, it just rips 3/4 of the episodes straight off of television. While this is fine for someone like me who hasn't seen the first few episodes, gamers who watch the show will find it somewhat dull. If you want to see stuff that's already been on the television, buy the DVD's - they're cheaper. The arcade game and Turtles in Time both had original storylines - original being defined as 'not copied right off the TV show; they weren't terribly original from a creative standpoint. Ripping stuff off the show gave the game's designers an easy out - they replay half an episode per stage and save themselves a lot of animation work.

The stages are interesting when you first begin, but they get very repetitious. Fortunately, they're pretty short. You can blow through the first five stages in an hour and a half. The attacks are all basically the same, though you open up new stuff as you progress (like the Jump Attack being unlocked after the first Dojo stage). The movements of the characters are awkward - it's hard to pinpoint where you're going. The camera angles are absolutely terrible as well. The game looks good in 3D but it could have done more with a smoother control / camera scheme (I can't understand why more immersive games like this don't mimick MGS2's system - it's flawless). It takes a few minutes to get the controls down, but most often you'll rely on luck in terms of aiming. Some of the camera angles are far off and it's difficult to judge exactly where you're at. Some of the enemies are annoying, and not in a challenging way. When the Foot attack, one of them stands off and hurls knives at you while the others surround you. Clever, but annoying. Some enemies in later stages throw projectiles as well and they come on you so fast it's tough to dodge them. Bosses are crazy-aggressive, and none of them have any specific vulnerabilities. Every now and then they'll throw in a twist for the boss battle (the final junkyard stage is fun) but for the most part you just try to smash them and get out of the way before you're clobbered.

Moves are limited. You can throw shuriken now, and have two attack strengths. After a few levels you'll have a jump attack as well. Pretty limited, but showcasing real ninja moves was never a staple of the turtles video game series. The moveset is similar to what it was in the past.

On a positive note, the game sports the same cartoony look as the show, which is terrific. Cel shading pays off big time in this game. The 3D renders of the turtles look great in the cut scenes. (Unfortunately, they do little more than stand there - no animation is done on anyone's mouths or facial expressions.) The various levels would be far more interesting if the camera work was better. I'd almost rather have a quality 2D platformer than a 3D platformer with bad angle work. None of the levels are particularly memorable either.

The music is another thing that doesn't stick with you. Try as I may, I can't recall a single tune. And I just put the game down half an hour ago. But I certainly could hum you every song from every level of the original arcade game.

In its own right, this new Turtles game is enjoyable - especially with a friend. The unlockables will hold your interest for a little while, but they're more of a pain to get than they're really worth. The story is interesting if you've never followed the show that closely or if you don't mind reliving it with more than a few gaping holes. Like the new show, it's fun while you're doing it but it's not clever or memorable enough to stay with you for very long. If you're hoping to create some more nostalgia like you did with the classic Turtles games, you might as well find the arcade machine or an SNES on eBay, because there's not much here to remember.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/24/03