Developer: Konami Publisher: Konami Release: 10/21/03 Genre: Beat em up
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were ubiquitous during the early to mid-90s. From cartoons to video games to merchandise, you could not get away from them. But like all mainstream properties eventually its popularity began to wane. Even I, as a diehard fan only occasionally tuned in to the cartoon by the end of its run. TMNT’s disappearance from the public eye was no more evident than in the gaming sphere. Between 1995 and 2003 there was nothing; they missed an entire console generation! The 2003 reboot on Fox Kids was the perfect opportunity to remind gamers why the fab four are so beloved. And who better than Konami to do the honors? That being said while TMNT is a good first step it makes a number of amateur mistakes that leave it a chore to play over the long haul.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is based on the 2003 series and loosely covers the first season of the show. For the most part the story covers the Turtles first encounters with the Shredder and the Foot Clan in truncated fashion. The story is episodic, each of the game’s six stages contain five or six areas that are preceded by an animated cutscene from the show or an in game cutscene. The story is disjointed as not all levels neatly fit in to the overall plot. Despite that I will say the original voice cast and animation lends the game an air of authenticity usually missing from licensed games. While I may have my problems with the game overall I will admit it is better than I was expecting.
The decision to go with cel shading was an easy one. The simplistic look of the show lends itself perfectly to the game and you could easily mistake it for the cartoon. As there are levels that are adaptations of specific episodes they nail the look in video game form. In addition the 60 fps allows for smooth animation and combat. The only giveaway is the real time cutscenes, where the characters stand around and do not emote. Sadly Konami did not bless this game with a fantastic soundtrack like its predecessors. The music is forgettable leaving the excellent but repetitive voice acting and sound effects to carry it.
All four Turtles are playable and differ in terms of range, speed, and strength. In addition they have unique move sets too. Eagle eyed gamers will recognize familiar attacks from prior Konami TMNT brawlers in each Turtle’s move set which is cool. The controls offer a decent range of possibilities. Attacks fall in to a few categories: weak, strong, and uppercut. Different strings of these attacks will produce combos and other special moves with each Turtle having a decent variety. Uppercuts are launchers that allow you to juggle enemies too. In addition you can double jump, dash, and toss shuriken. For a brawler you have more options than the prior Konami titles.
Each level is setup in familiar fashion to Konami’s prior beat em ups except now in 3d. As you progress there are environmental objects to use as weapons such as fire hydrants, oil drums, and even exploding cars. There is a bit of platforming here and there but for the most part the game focuses on combat. Whenever enemies spawn you are locked in the current area until they are gone. They vary: some stages are in an enclosed arena while others are full maps. Because the game is based on the 2003 show they have a greater variety of enemy to face instead of mostly colored foot soldiers. The Purple Dragons and mutants join the foot clan to bash your brains in. This is one area the prior titles were lacking. As much as they did their best to vary the foot they became repetitive. Speaking of which….
Konami provide you with a range of tools to keep the gameplay engaging. However the pacing betrays it. Simply put the game does not know when to let up. The enemy AI is dumb and will often stand in place until you approach. Because they are stupid they try to make up for it with numbers. It is rare you are not accosted by at least 4-5 of them simultaneously. While they go down quick there are usually 5-6 waves before you can move on. Most levels would last 2-3 minutes if they did not pad them with repetitive waves. Sadly it gets worse as you progress and deal with more resilient enemies. If they chopped the enemy count in half my opinion of the game would rise significantly. As is I was looking at my watch more often than not even though I was enjoying the game.
I wish Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was not so tedious. The game has a veritable army of extras to entice you to play it long after the credits in story mode. The campaign has a few unique boss encounters and routes per character. There is a bonus for completing the game with all four characters as well. You can even play through the story as a few surprising characters too. In addition Makimono scrolls unlock a treasure trove of art and such. These are tedious as there are some that can only certain Turtles can collect. We didn’t like this shit in Donkey Kong 64 and I don’t like it here. Challenge mode is an extensive boss rush that will require true skill to complete as some of the bosses are a nightmare.
The one I never bothered with is the versus mode. Not because I think it is bad but I simply did not care. Some of the previous games like Turtles in Time also had a competitive mode but they were a novelty at best. At least here Konami put a little more work in to it as the fighting mechanics are deeper. There are more characters too although you must play through the campaign with multiple characters to unlock them. While I do not care for this mode it rounds out the package at the very least.
In Closing
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a good first step toward reviving the brand and is fun for a brief while. However the game’s length and pacing make it a monotonous experience after a while. I enjoyed the game at first but by stage four I wanted it to end. This one will be divisive; some will love it and think I am out of my mind. Others will see where I am coming from. These are some of the hardest to put a number on but such is life.
