Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back from the Sewers

"It may be bland, but I like it."

I've always been a fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Though I don't go in for the show much now (although I doubt it's on the air anymore), I liked the movies and I haven't yet found a game that I hated. True, the first NES game featuring our green pals wasn't the best, but the later ones (I haven't played Turtles in Time or any of the ones on Sega if there are any), but I liked the NES games and the Game Boy ones. This review is where I get to talk about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back from the Sewers for Game Boy. I'll be making mention of the other two Game Boy TMNT games here too, so bear with me.
Gameplay 9-10. It's basically like Fall of the Foot Clan and the other TMNT games on NES (the one exception being the first one). You run right, killing enemies and avoiding traps. Like the first NES Turtles game, this game features no codes, not even the traditional Konami Code. There's no thirty life code or even a stage select. At least, there wouldn't appear to be any, or else someone would have found them out. There are like six stages and a few bonus games and that's about it. I do believe this game brings back the special move type situation found in TMNT III: The Manhattan Project.
Control 10-10. Like it's predecessor, TMNT2: Back from the Sewers features two modes of control. Mode A features the usual Jump on A and Attack on B. Mode B features the opposite setting. The controls work well, at least I think they do. If you press your Attack and Jump buttons simultaneously, your turtle will perform a special attack. However, I think it's the same for each one, and they all have the Jump/kick they've had since TMNT II: The Arcade Game.
Audio 10-10. Where Fall of the Foot Clan's music was very bland and for the most part uninspired and uninspiring save the TMNT theme song, this game's music has life! There's a lot of it considering the overall shortness of the game. If you play this game and then play Radical Rescue (that's TMNT III for Game Boy), you'll recognize a tune or two. Well, you will if you play them in reverse order, too. That was what I did. The Heroes in a Half Shell fanfare is featured in both TMNT's II and III, and there's a level theme featured in this game that appears in TMNT III: Radical Rescue. Actually, the one in T3 is a remake and doesn't sound exactly the same, but the general melody and rhythm are the same. Also, there's even a remix of a song from TMNT III: The Manhattan Project in this game, and it's very well done.
Sound Effect wise, this game surprised me. Though the weapon sounds are just what you might expect in a TMNT game, this game features surprisingly clear speech. I didn't know the original Game Boy could handle speech at all, then I hear this. Wow! When you select your turtle, he says Cowabunga! When you pause the game, he says Pizza time! Then this really catchy sorta song plays kinda like for the opening story for TMNT III: RR. One thing's for certain. It's a definite improvement over Fall of the Foot Clan.
Story 5-10. It's pretty much the same story as it's been since the original TMNT. Kill Beabop. Kill Rocksteady. Kill Baxter. Kill Krang. Kill Shredder and rescue April O'Neil. True, there are some new enemies and bosses thrown in, but it's generally the same. If you want an original TMNT game, check out Radical Rescue. It totally redefines the series.
Overall 9-10. It's not horribly tough, nor is it horribly easy. Well, it may be for some of you, but I'm happy with it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/03/02, Updated 03/01/03