Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time

"TIT is a hit"

Officially ''Turtles IV: Turtles in Time'' This was the final chapter in the Turtles beat ‘em ups. It improved on 3 on the exterior in many ways, due to the jump to the SNES, but it didn’t quite hit that sweet spot TMNT3 did. Still a quality game worth picking up though.

Back Story- 7/10- It isn’t plausible, but neither are mutant turtles. At least in this existence of a story is present, you’re not just randomly wandering about. The turtles are fighting their way towards shredder, but when they finally reach him he sends them back in time. They then fight their way through prehistoric times, pirate, uh, times, the wild west, the future, possibly a few more, until they get to the present, 1992. I have to subtract points for one of the main plotholes; how does getting to the end of the level send the turtles back/forward in time? Who has control of where they’re going? Why are there foot soldiers back in prehistoric ages? I’m a very busy man and I need answers to these important questions.

But before you can FULLY appreciate this game, you have to go a little deeper…learn a little more about the turtles themselves. Just listen to the title, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. What genius came up with that? Not only have these ordinary turtles been mutated, they were also granted ninja powers along with the mutation…it’s unclear whether the ooze gave them the skills directly, or whether their enhanced physical abilities allowed them to quickly learn the techniques from splinter. It’s difficult to imagine how the ooze would manage to directly affect the brain so that it ''knew'' such refined arts…but then again they were able to speak almost as soon as they were mutated as well, so it isn’t entirely out of the question.
It doesn’t stop there though, they’ve also been referred to as ''teenagers.'' I’m not too sure why their creators were so specific about this, and again the meaning is fairly ambiguous…are they teens by when they were born as turtles, or when they were mutated? Are they even teenagers at all, or do people just assume they are because of their typical teenage-like behavior? (eating entire pizzas in one mouthful, smoking tons of pot, saying cowabunga, etc.) Most of this is left for speculation, but one thing is clear: the games based on these extraordinary turtles will never be topped when it comes to mutated animals fighting foot-themed robots with pseudo-ninja supermoves

Graphics- 9/10- Huge jump over the third installment, obviously because of the platform jump. More colorful, less slowdown, better sound effects, and cool features like being able to throw the baddies into the screen and more interactive backgrounds.

Gameplay- 9/10- Clearly 3 and 4 are the two best in the series, and I’m sure many people will tell you that 4 is better…but don’t listen to them, they probably suffer from mild retardation. IV scores better in every category except the one that really matters. It has all the flash and gloss, and most of what made 3 so good, but it doesn’t quite cut it. Something about the level choices and the baddies, it just didn’t hold your attention or last nearly as long as III did. Overall it was still very good though, another typical quality beat ‘em up; same system as 3 where you pick a turtle and go, with Leo and Don having the slight advantage.
The bosses were better and more varied than in 3, you could do more with the enemies, there were special boxes you could pick up, more interactive objects…it had everything except all the replay value. There’s a 2-player one-on-one mode, but it’s barely worth mentioning. It's akin to Double Dragon's 1-on-1.

Overall- 8.5/10- Great game, but not the best of the series. The story and graphics are quality, but the lasting appeal just isn’t there. Good for a quick run-through if you’re waiting for something or just want to pull out one of the good ol’ SNES classics.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/12/03