Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

"Turtle Power is Back!"

When I was a little kid I used to play Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 & 3 on my NES for hours at a time (maybe that's why it doesn't work anymore...). The SNES game was a great step in the series but then the Turtle's disappeared for a while. Now a new cartoon is out, and with it, an amazing 3D brawler that is just as great as the originals!

Gameplay - Brawlers were the craze of the early 90's, and TMNT was up there with games like Final Fight and others. It's gameplay was unrivaled and the 2-player mode was great! TMNT for the PS2 revives that gameplay and brings with it new ideas and concepts that help it stay keep up with the times. As always, you can choose between the 4 Turtles: Leonardo with his dual Katanas, Raphael with his Sais, Donatello with his Bo, and Michaelangelo with his Nunchuks. All of them vary with their attacks and each one has their own view on the story mode, which is the main mode of the game. You fight hundreds of enemies that get harder from level to level and the combat couldn't be better. Each character has a ground combo, a strong strike attack, the ability to throw ninja stars(long range attacks at last!) and a jump attack. There is also a versus mode where you can unlock other characters besides the Turtles. It's fun, but the story mode is more entertaining and the real meat of the game. The whole game plays out like episodes from the cartoon! Overall, besides very minor camera issues, the gameplay in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is great.

Graphics - Now this is how cel shaded graphics should always be used. The graphics rock and it feels like you're playing the cartoon! The animation is flawless and the levels look great.

Sound - Voice actors from the show, check. Cool sound effects, check. The same type of rockin' music from the previous games, check.

Story - The entire game plays out like a group of episodes and going through with each character reveals their different views and sometimes contains different fights. The story is like a Saturday morning cartoon, but hey, that's what TMNT is.

Replay - Endless, this game is really fun to play with a friend and there are three difficulty modes. Plus a challenge mode and hundreds of unlockables, you'll be playing it for a long time.

Buy or Rent: If you've never played the Turtles games, rent it first. If you're a veteran of the originals...buy it now!

Overall, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles brings great gameplay, a lot of nostalgia from the original games and endless fun. All brawler and Turtles fans should get this game, it's simply amazing.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/24/03