By Shaun Hatton - August 6th, 2009
As a Turtle fan, I gotta tell you it doesn’t get much better than a classic TMNT beat-’em-up game. TMNT Turtles in Time was a game I rented several times back in the SNES-era, and one I beat on single play-throughs repeatedly. Now that the game has been given the HD treatment in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled, I’ve once again come under the influence of Turtle Mania.
Two things you must know if you’re considering purchasing this game: The first, you have to really like TMNT. The second, this is a button masher. Some skill is required to avoid enemy attacks and find the right time to strike, especially with the bosses, but in the end it comes down to a war of attrition. You pound away at the Foot Clan until you are victorious. That’s it. It’s still lots of fun, but I don’t see why anyone who isn’t a big Turtle fan would be into it.
The game is based on the original Turtles in Time, and that original arcade edition is supposedly what has been re-vamped here. So some things from the SNES game aren’t in here. It’s been a while since I’ve played the SNES edition, but I recall distinctly that Roadkill Rodneys were in the game – they don’t appear to be in this one. I’ve played through the whole thing but didn’t notice them. Also missing is the end battle with Krang wherein you toss Foot Soldiers at the screen to defeat him (or am I just remembering things really wrong?).
While the 3D visual makeover is nice, there are some setbacks. For instance, character models have changed quite a bit, especially the bosses and the Aliens-like sewer, er, aliens. So it strays away a bit from the conventions used by the goofy 80s cartoon but it’s a forgivable offense as the feel of the characters remains unchanged. The visual makeover has slightly changed the control aspect – with the pixel art it was easier to judge distances and therefore evade attacks. Things feel a little more haphazard now. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s a noticeable thing.
There’s minor voice acting, as with the original version. However now it’s really easy to draw comparisons between Krang and Gollum from Lord of the Rings. The music is also jazzed up a bit but the departure from chip tunes makes the score a little less memorable.
In the end, you’ve probably already made up your mind about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled. Again, Turtle fans will not want to miss this one, and the more friends you can get together to kick some shell with, the better. It doesn’t take long to play through, but the title is a good mix of old, new, and some obvious fan service. One thing is for certain: I prefer this brawling style for my TMNT games and hope to see some more like this (and the excellent GBA TMNT movie game from a few years ago) in the future.
Posted in Byte-Size Reviews, LIVE, Xbox 360 | 12 Comments »
