Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time

"When they stop being teenagers, they're gonna have to face the real world."

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV is one of the many games in the TMNT game franchise that was popular in the early 90s, not the current TMNT cartoon that airs on Fox. The whole TMNT game series was based off the movie of the same name.

This game plays like any normal beat 'em up. You go around a few different levels and you kick the living crap out of anything that comes your way. There are a few levels, which is good, I don't like a beat 'em up with a bazillion levels in it, it just gets tedius after a while. There are four characters to choose from, obviously, they are the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The one thing I'd've liked to see in this game were temporary weapons. Knives, swords, masamunes, the closest thing you come to is Pizza, which recovers your health. I would've really liked to see you actually be able to use the weapons each turtle has, IE the staff, nunchucks, when you have those, you should be able to use them to their full capacity instead of this. The game isn't all too difficult, once you get the hang of it. There's also a two player co-op mode, which is fun to play when your partner doesn't suck, so don't play it with a younger sibling or something, they'll just accidentally hit you instead. It's like a less realistic form of Final Fight, but with the same dynamics. I also wanted more playable characters, they had all the villians playable in TMNT: Tournament Fighters, as well as the four turtles.

The levels are very nice looking, they really remind you of the old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon show, with those semi-cartooney game graphics. I like those games that have very cartoonable graphics, but not cel-shaded graphics, that goes a little too far for me. These graphics give off a slicker feel to the game. The levels are very nice and unique, one takes place on a big building with a nice look out on the ''Big Apple'', another takes place on surfboards in the sewer, (I had no idea turtles liked the sewer), and the enemies are cool also, there are the standard beat 'em up generic enemy type (In this case, ninjas), and there are other big bad meanies, many from the series.

The music is nice, enjoyable, but not very memorable. It feels like the TMNT series, which is to be expected. The sound is your standard beat 'em up fare. The voices are average, they just spout out those TMNT buzz words like ''Cowabunga!'' (I can't believe people used to think that word was cool). I also love that ''pause'' sound the SNES Konami games had. The groans and moans from the enemies being hit have little variation also, it would've been cool for each ninja to have different dying sounds.

The controls are okay, but I would've liked some more moves, it's so easy to be cheap in this game with some of the moves. When I'm playing with someone else they usually just dropkick the whole time. But there are some cool moves, they're not all too original, it just looks cool when the turtles are doing them.

Doodleheimer Runs Down the Scores!
Gameplay - 7/10
Graphics - 7/10
Sound - 5/10
Control - 6/10

Score - 25/40

Overall - 6/10

If you like beat 'em ups or TMNT games, get it, if it's cheap, get it, if not, don't risk it, unless you also want some good old fashioned early 90s nostalgia, I know I like it. It also makes a great multiplayer game if all you still have is an SNES as a console.

Street Price - $7.99

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 08/31/03