Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time

"Turtles in Time remains nearly as engrossing as it was back when you first played it as a kid."

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise has had a long relationship with the beat 'em up genre. Aside from the first NES title, all the TMNT games up to the point of Turtles in Time had been beat 'em ups. They would continue to remain side-scrolling brawlers, even on the PS2 and GBA. It is such a pity that the majority of the post-16 bit games would only amount of average at best. Turtles in Time was originally released in the arcades, with an eventual port to the SNES and semi-remake created for the Sega Genesis.

Graphics 9/10

The visuals here are pretty good for a 1992 SNES game, using a variety of colors and different looking environments. As strange as it may sound, the least appealing visuals in Turtles in Time are the heroes themselves. While the enemies have distinct dark edges - the turtles are so green that the color kind of absorbs the edges of the sprite. There aren't a magnificent amount of enemy designs, as 85% of all the baddies are Foot Clan soldiers with several color and weaponry changes. The animation is pretty swell, especially noticeable in the turtles' body movements. The backgrounds coincide with the theme of the time period the turtles are warped to, even including minor details like a Shredder-faced sphinx. Overall, the graphics are higher in quality than many other of the 1992 beat 'em ups, and even some released later in the SNES's life.

Sound 8/10

The TMNT theme song is present in at least one of the stages, along with a number of original tracks. The music is good, but not always great - a portion of gaming that beat 'em ups often neglected to focus on other aspects. There are several digitized audio recordings, although they all seem to be from the same voice actor. The sound effects are decent, often populated by typical laser hisses or exploding bodies. Given the year of its release and the hardware limitations, I'd say this category is above average.

Control 10/10

Everything in TMNT: Turtles in Time controlled perfectly. I had no problems with response lag or dealing with lousy button layout. Having nothing else to really discuss, I give this area of the review a perfect score.

Game-play 9/10

In addition to the usual combat mechanics most beat 'em ups employ, Turtles in Time has a few interesting ideas it fleshes out. Things like fire hydrants can be whacked on one end, causing a stream of water to knock around enemies on the opposite side. Although this was done in the original Turtles Arcade game, it still felt fresh against what other SNES beat 'em ups had to offer. There was also another semi-original idea, that of taking the cannon fodder and heaving them at the screen. I believe this was conceived in Battletoads for the NES, but Turtles in Time was possibly one of the only other games to use it. Not just for dramatic purposes, the screen-throw is needed to defeat bosses like Shredder in his mechanized battle suit. The four turtles each handle somewhat differently, with details like speed, power or weapon weapon reach coming into play. While this isn't as dramatic as Final Fight's character distinctions, it is much better than the cheap route of making everything play just as different colored versions of the same person. Aside from the standard scroll and fight formula, there are also a couple of "vehicle" levels that are basically your character standing on a motorized board of some kind. These levels help break up the monotony of normal brawling, and net you some extra lives along the way. Overall the fighting engine and game-play elements score very high.

Replay value 7/10

The majority of motivation for playing this game through again is going to be nostalgia. While the turtles each control differently, they aren't as unique as many other beat 'em up rosters. Still, it is fun to pop the cartridge back into the SNES to do a little brawling in the sewers or Techno-drome. In addition to the normal game, there is a time trial (who does those things?) and a somewhat lacking versus mode. Don't go in expecting an experience akin to TMNT: Tournament Fighters, though. It is just a little something extra that allows you to pit the turtles against another player for further playing incentive. Overall - the replay value is above average, a little higher or lower depending on your relationship with the TMNT franchise.

Overall 9/10

With the beat 'em up genre on the SNES still in its infancy stages, Turtles in Time stood out as a must-have title. 15 years later, it remains a solid game that recalls fond memories of one's youth and is accompanied by excellent brawling action. If you can snag a copy of this at a pawn shop or flea market for $15 or less, I would take advantage of the opportunity. Don't miss out on one of the last great TMNT games.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/17/07