Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

"A True Blast From The Past"

This game is simply amazing! I was kind of skeptical at first, but after playing it straight for 6 hours until 3 a.m., I am most impressed. Well, let's get it started, shall we? Here goes...

Graphics-10/10

Ever heard of jaw-dropping visuals? Well, this game comes pretty darn close, (so close you won't even tell the difference) featuring awesome cel-shaded graphics with cutscenes that make you feel like you're watching the animated series, as well as some classic effects such as ''Thud!'' and ''CRASH!'' when you hit the enemies, so when you're not watching the cutscenes, you're playing through a comic book. The stage designs and backgrounds are also very well done, and the little green men haven't looked better.

Sound-8/10

The music here is pretty sweet, and the sound effects are nice, ranging from the 'whoosh' of swinging blades to the water flowing from that fire hydrant you just busted open, and the turtles' voices are awesome, which are accompanied by some pretty comical quotes they use when fighting opponents, like Donatello's ''Let's play stickball. I'll be the stick, you be the ball!'', and others like Raphael's ''Outta my way, nimrod!'', yet sometimes these do get just a little repetitive.

Controls-9/10

Very nice, indeed. The controls for the game and control of the game both work very well here. You mainly use your light and heavy attack, which you can mix and match for varying combos, and on occasion your jump and dash buttons, jump when you gotta get away from that getting-ready-to-explode robot, dash when you wanna get from baddie to baddie to link some combos, and you also have a launcher (R) button to conduct that raving 12-hit combo. (Yeah, that's just one enemy.) But all in all, the controls are very good, and the XBox controller compliments them all the same.

Story-7/10

Well, there's not too much going on here, just the turtles doing their thing, with either them trying to stop the bad guys, or them defending themselves from the bad guys. Pretty basic, but it is entertaining and keeps you involved.

Gameplay-9/10

Now this is the good part. Many have said that this is merely a button masher that was made for the toddlers, where you don't even have to think to defeat the bosses, just roll up and whale on 'em. Well... Many can be wrong. (Or just playing it on Easy with the ''Character is Invincible'' code on...) This is your classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Now, while it is not 4-Player, 2-Player Mode is just as good. You follow a main storyline with the character you pick, where it varies depending on which turtle you are (i.e. you'll see some different events, fight certain characters, unlock others), with the second player being the ''Assist'', with which you can do a team move, and along the way you can learn new techniques from the ''Secret Dojo'' stages. And the fighting is just heavenly, with the number of enemies and massive combos, whereas on 2-Player, if you get a bad guy in a corner with two turtles goin' at it, you can go ahead and consider him street pizza! Simply amazing! However, having to save after the whole level (usually about 5 parts, adding up to at least a good 45 minutes to a couple of hours), that's the downside.

Replay Value-8/10

Well, with that many stages, and to have to fully complete them with each turtle... That's a long time. And after that long time, you can just pick it up and play for the sheer heck of it! Definitely replayable.

Overall-9/10

Yeah. If you enjoyed the classics, then you'll absolutely love this one! And if you don't know what the classics are, then you'll still love this one! Go get this game!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/27/03