TMNT

6.5
Average

Gameplay	6.0	"Not bad for a tie-in; not great either."
Graphics	7.0
Sound	7.0
Value	6.0

By Morgan Bates

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Cowabunga, dude! As you may have guessed from that inappropriate outburst, this review is about the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – titled TMNT to make it sound ‘cooler’ – movie tie-in. Previous Ninja Turtles games were been developed and published by Konami. Their efforts have ranged from the terrible NES original – which drove a reviewer on YouTube to swearing – to the arcade classic featured on Xbox Live Arcade.

Now, however, the license is in the hands of French publisher Ubisoft. For this game, Ubisoft have taken the focus away from a straight up beat-‘em-up action found in the Konami titles and mixed in Prince of Persia style platform elements, as well as teamwork aspects.

On the platform side of the game, it’s quite well done in most places: running along walls and jumping around the city is easy. However, the camera can’t be moved manually and is always positioned in ‘chase-cam’ mode, ever hinting at the next place to go. The problem with an automatic camera is that it doesn’t always move fast enough to reveal a lethal pitfall, and this can result in your turtle falling to his death. Other hazards include what I like to call “falling off the level”, although that’s not an intentional hazard; it’s just there.

In the team missions, you take control of any one turtle at a time, calling on the others for assistance in battle or in making long jumps. You can also switch between turtles on the fly. Now, the usual platform hazards are also here: platforms that drop away, wall-mounted flamethrowers, and swinging axes.

Every so often, you come to an area where hordes of enemies attack you. The teamwork aspect is most useful here, as you can switch out when your current turtle becomes weak or use another turtle to club the enemies. Unfortunately, fighting is a button-mashing affair with little in the way of combos. The turtles are all capable of taking out any given enemy, and picking one comes down to the player’s preference. As your character becomes weak, one the other turtles may ask to tag in – usually they will be at full health, so this is a good idea. However, you can’t select the specific turtle you want to switch to so you may have to waste a couple of switches to get the right turtle.

Each turtle has their own solo missions, which tell their individual stories. Raphael’s missions are the most interesting, as he goes disguised as the vigilante Night Watcher. In his missions, it replaces the usual star bar thing with an anger bar. Once charged, he unleashes a powerful blast of energy, wiping out the surrounding enemies. However, it does run out faster than the standard bar, so attacking quickly is essential for making the most of it.

TMNT doesn’t feature many of the villains that older fans of the turtles will fondly remember from the 80’s show, and with the easy boss battles and stupid enemy AI, this won’t appeal to older gamers much either. However, it will appeal to younger fans of the TV show and movies. Everyone else may look to Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia series for great platform/action games.

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