TMNT

I would dare say that there is a lot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fans out there. The cartoons as well as some of the earlier movies were some of the most popular cartoons in when I was growing up. Often I found myself waking every morning to be glued to the T.V. set for a new episode in the turtle’s chapter. As time moved on the turtles evolved and followed a new drawing style which reminds us of some Pokemon cartoon which didn't please older fans.  

Gameplay

Well first off lets just say this game is one for he kiddies, I’m guessing most parents will take a look at TMNT and quickly hand over he controller to them. Either that or you’ll be playing it through to earn the easiest 1000 points from achievements that I've ever seen. Does that make this a bad game? No not at all, we need these types of games on our console to entice younger gamers on to the Xbox 360, something the console has been lacking of a bit of late.

The storyline follows sees the four turtles facing an onslaught of ninja foot soldiers known as the foot clan and various monsters from another dimension. The beginning of the story sees the four turtles heading on their own ways. Leonardo is sent off to to complete his training and to retrieve a mysterious medallion that is known to possess mystical powers. Meanwhile Raphael plays the role of the Nightwatcher which he keeps secret from his brothers and Splinter. The Nightwatcher is a hero in disguise who goes around ridding the criminals from the streets. This leads to Raphael getting in trouble and even the locals and the law aren’t welcoming to his vigilante style of approach towards the city. Last but not least Michelangelo and Donatello look after the cash flow running their own kids parties business. At the start of he game you play each role out individually until you all finally meet up again to fight crime as a teem. Your jobs are to un-ravel the city’s mystery of appearing monsters, and eventually, take out the 4 boss monsters that are controlling the city. Not to forget to mention investigate a strange link between the foot clan and a mysterious billionaire. To defeat these monsters you’ll have to pull of some sweet moves with the help of your 3 other ninja brothers.

Sound simple enough to follow? Well it is, the game is ridiculously simple. One thing lacking from the game which you will notice sooner or later was the lacking of any type of co-op mode which I seriously thought would have been included. The turtles were always about teamwork and 4 brothers fighting together, however the game simply put lacks this. The only time you will see more then one turtle on screen is during a cut scene or a special power up move which sees one other turtle appearing from thin air. It would have been really nice to play with 3 other friends through out the whole game. The enemies in the game are pretty simple to beat as well as the bosses once you figure out their routine. You even get a warning just as you’re about to face a group of enemies on screen with the word “Fight” alerting you to them. This really interrupts the flow of the game and is very distracting. Ubisoft should have just left it a bit more open and lost the on screen prompts.

The fighting itself is button mashing at its best but this is a good thing for young ones. Hitting 10 consecutive enemies sees your Star Meter fill up which then gives you basically a special move or the ability to get one hit kills. For the later levels holding down the X button will also call upon one of your brothers to take on the enemies in a joint effort which you will need to master to defeat the last bosses and to gain family bond points for your family hud meter. By the time you figure this out it’s to late, you’ve probably already finished the game like I did. Failing to read the instructions was the reason for my poor attempt. Worried about dying? Don’t be. The games checkpoints are all very close and you basically never die. Losing all your life sees you tapping you’re A button to get back up, once again making way for a simple game.

The majority of the levels feature some type of acrobatic. The game resembles Prince of Persia and sees the turtles running across walls to clear levels and often you find yourself clearing deadly gaps with your double jump ability. Don’t worry though, like I said the checkpoints are very close to one another.

Multiplayer

There is no multiplayer in TMNT which I thought was a let down seeing the turtles are all about teamwork. The game does feature a challenge mode which allows you to play with someone to see who can do the level in the fastest time.

Visuals

The games visuals come with a nice frame rate for the Xbox 360 version but still look like the Playstation version. The graphics have no real draw distance and are very blocky. The game simply comes across as your basic port with no real graphical upgrade.

Audio

Audio is average with some nice sound effects here and there. Again one for the children. You will soon become use to the annoying sound of your weapons while you continue to miss your targets due to clumsy controls.

Conclusion

TMNT is an average rated game aimed at children. If you have young children then this one is perfect for them. For adult games you may pick this up for the easy achievements found in the game. Overall the game feels a bit clumsy and visually it’s not much to look at being a simple port from the Playstation 2 version. I recommend waiting for the arcade classic release, at least you get multiplayer. If you’re looking for a game to fulfil your kids past time then pick up TMNT.

Summary

Gameplay – Clumsy controls and predictable levels hinder this game. The storyline gets a bit confusing at times as well. The combo fighting system is repetitive but also is the best part of the game. This game is best suited for young children.

Visuals – No real point in a next gen purchase of the game. The Playstation 2 version looks just as good. Perhaps something to look at when purchasing. 

Audio – Average audio, but what did you expect from the sound effects for air swings. 

Multiplayer – There is none, what a shame Ubisoft. TMNT is about four brothers teaming up which this game doesn’t even have a glimpse of. 

Replayability – Unlocking coins will see you able to unlock some extras like film footage from the new CGI film as well as other game development notes. This entices you back constantly to get all the coins to eventually unlocking everything. Saying that you’ll finish the game in about 4 hours and it won’t be hard to get a perfect 1000/1000 possible Gamerscore points.