TMNT

"Nostalgia doesn't make a game great"

Intro: Growing up, I was an avid fan of the TMNT. Along with such heroes as Batman and the Power Rangers, I wished one day to become in league with any one of those heroes. Quite fortunately, I lost my taste to turn into a crime fighting turtle sa I grew older, but it didn't stop me from noticing TMNT on the shelves at my local Blockbuster. I of course thought that this game would be sweet, and thought of all the potential the game had. So I rented it really quick fast-like. Took it home real quick fast-like, and beat the game disappointed real quick fast-like. Here's the run down.

Graphics 8.5/10

The overall feel of the graphics and designs of the levels are very cartoonish, which seems right, since the Ninja Turtles are aimed directly for kids. Although kiddish, some of the level designs can still be very nice, and well thought out. Also, since you do not control the camera with your joystick, a lot of thought ahs to be put into how the camera follows you, and it was also done very well. The camera follows the character perfectly and smoothly. One thing about the designs and layouts for levels is that they get to feel extremely repetitive. I kept finding myself wondering how many times I've jumped across the exact same building, doing the exact same trick. Nonetheless, I give the graphics 8.5/10.

Sound 6/10

Although I have never much cared for backround music, it was kinda lame. There are no really memorable pieces in this game, although one wouldn't expect any ground-breaking music from a game like this. However, I did really enjoy the voice overs for the turtles, they fit the characters exactly. Mikey is goofy, Leo is still high and mighty, Raph always sounds pissed, And Don is as nerdy as ever. The dialogue is very appropriate for children, and still keeps its comic relief. It would have been about a 1 or 2, but the nicely done voice overs bumps the score right up to a nifty little 6.

Controls 6/10

Once again, not much going on here. The controls are similar to most games like this. B is attack, Y is to do a sort of spin kick clearing type thing. X uses your fellow turtle power, and A is to jump. One thing I didn't like about the control is how they did the wall runs and wall jumps. I personally would have prefered if you had to hold a button like LT or anything and jump at a wall to run along it. However, all you have to do is be near a wall when you jump and you will start running across it. I can't count the number of times I tried to jump a gap, but being close to the wall when I jumped, accidentally did a wall run, and sent myself running about 300 feet towards the ground. It was pretty sketchy. Nonetheless, I'll hit it up with a 6.

Story 2/10

I wasn't even sure what the story was about until the very last level. It would have probably been a lot easier to understand what was going on had I seen the movie, but I'm just too old and way too cool/sweet/awesome to go to the movies and seen Ninja Turtles. I'll try not give anything away for all you die-hard spoiler fans out there, but the end just rushes on you out of nowhere and then ends just as fast. For it's non-existence, I'm giving story a 2.

Gameplay 2.5/10

Here it is, the only really important thing about a game, and he shoots......HE MISSES!!! First off, in a TMNT game, you'd expect some pretty sweet fights right? Nope. None. Nodda. Zilch. Zero. Nothing. 90% of your time is spent traversing the simplistic puzzles that the city offers you, wile trying to do it as fast as you can. Thew few fights are extremely boring and repetitive. Once I found out that you could just hold B and unleash an attack that kills any random 5 guys around you, the challenge went from 0 to -2. The few fights all you have to do is hold B, and kill 5 guys, then repeat. I would not want to resort to this, but the game designers completely forgot about combos. The only combination in the entire game is B-B-B. No mixing kicks and weapons and jumps or anything sweet that you'd expect. Just mashing B over and over and moving towards a guy. The only reason this isn't a 0 is because I actually did enjoy running through the cities. It can be fun trying to jump from building to building and trying to make it look smooth and cool. Buuuuuuut, even that gets boring after awhile. Although it was enough to get me to add 2 and a half points to the score. Overall, I give it a no good.

So to conclude.

Graphics 8.5/10
Sound 6/10
Controls 6/10
Story 2/10
Gameplay 2.5/10

Overall 4/10

The only 2 things this game had going for it are the nostalgia purposes of playing, and the easiest 1000 points you'll ever get playing a game. Took me all in all about 3 hours to get all the points, and I didn't even enjoy it. I'd never dish out money to actually buy the game, but if any gamer is looking to beef up their gamerscore, rent this game for a couple hours to get all the points, and then try to repress the one of the worst times you've ever had playing it.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 06/11/07