As video game franchises go, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has a respectable record. Yes, that first NES game was heinous, and TMNT: Smash-Up was a forgettable Smash Bros. rip-off. Their first arcade cabinet and its sequel, however, Turtles in Time, are both classics, though, and TMNT Tournament Fighter back in the 16 bit era is an underappreciated gem of a Street Fighter clone. So is the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Official Movie Game forgettable sewer flotsam or madcap ninja mayhem? If you’re anything like me, you’ll be surprised to hear that this game is far more of the latter than it is of the former.
The Turtles seem built for gaming: four colorful ninjas with distinct personalities, weapons, and fighting styles versus an endless stream of ninja fodder and big bad mutants. The best Turtles games don’t deviate far from that—Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael are most fun when they’re kicking nonstop shell. This next entry into the lexicon stays smart, doling out stages of enemies to fight, as well as combat with a surprising amount of depth.
The action of the game drops the player’s chosen Turtle into an arena stage. There’s no virtual d-pad—the player controls his amphibious martial artist by swiping or poking at enemies. In response, the Turtle leaps to the selected opponent and performs a combo move. Each turtle has a unique set of four moves that can be mapped to four swipe directions (left, right, up, and down). Moves carry with them different practical functions: some guard-break, some launch enemies, others juggle, and others back-attack. The game encourages players to mix-and-match their moves and find out which move set/Turtle combo works best for them.
As the player progresses through either Story or Survivor Mode, red gems and gold coins are collected through the completion of achievements, the dispersal of enemies, the destruction environmental obstacles, etc., etc. These are used to unlock power-ups for the Turtles. Yes, the option to spend real money for gems and coins is available, but the game moves you at a fair pace through the unlocking process on its own. Within just a few hours of gameplay I had unlocked a solid amount of new moves for each Turtle, not to mention new weapons and training techniques that increase stamina, health, and “Turtle Power”. “Turtle Power” is a series of 3 meters that fill up during combat, and go down when the player fails to counter enemy attacks (performed by tapping the screen when lightning bolts surround an enemy’s head, not dissimilar from the mechanic in the Arkham series.) Once a meter has filled, the player can call his brothers to help fight. In a massive quick time event-style special attack, the player pokes, swipes, and slides fingers across the screen to direct the Turtles in action. The more meters the player fills, the more turtles show up to help.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles employs the bulky character design of the 2014 live-action film. This look is divisive among the TMNT fanbase (TMNT creator Peter Laird has gone on record as disapproving of these designs for the characters) and could keep some Turtles-lovers from investing in the game. That would be a mistake. The design does little to detract from the gameplay, although I did avoid using the extremely jacked-up Raphael character model; it felt a bit like I was playing as the Hulk.
The title’s graphics are animated in a sharp cel-shaded style reminiscent of the Viewtiful Joe series, and longtime fans will be happy to see old-school villains Bebop and Rocksteady make appearances as mini-bosses. The action is fast but the controls are sharp, the voice acting is solid (though Splinter sounds a little young), and the music contains plenty of nods to classic Turtles tunes. Most importantly, the act of beating up Foot Clan members is executed with weight and crunch.
So while the game risks repetitiveness, the visceral combat is enjoyable enough to keep players engaged, and the dangling carrots of new combos and weapons are easy enough to reach without excessive frustration. Some of my favorite games from way back when are the original Turtles arcade cabinets, and I know a good Turtles game from a bad one. This is a good one, and at $3.99 it’s a safe investment for TMNT lovers and fighting game aficionados alike. COWABUNGA! (Ha ha ha ha ha! I made a funny!)
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