TMNT
- March 27, 2007 16:10 PM PST
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Gamers always hold their breath when a game is announced for a licensed series they're a fan of. Upon hearing of the new TMNT games, you likely conjured up fond memories of the NES and SNES titles and held your breath that these new iterations would hold a candle to their retro glory.
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TMNT on the DS and PSP unfortunately has turned out to be just another example of a too-short movie licensed game with only a few bright spots in terms of gameplay.
Shell Shocked
The majority of the game takes place over the streets of New York where you leap from rooftop to rooftop, slide down inclines, and perform other amazing acrobatic feats achievable only by amphibious ninja. These jumping elements are entertaining and at times thrilling as you "lock on" to specific points in the environment and are required to push the corresponding face button to jump to. If you're quick with your jumps you will be provided with a speed boost so you're rewarded for chaining together well timed jumps. These sections are fun and only occasionally frustrating due to camera angles.
Breaking up the jumping sections are forced bits of combat. Believe me when I say this is some of the dullest combat you will ever come across in a video game. Both your and your enemy's attacks are slow and lack any kind of variety; nothing more than your basic 3 hit combo is required to get through these sections.
Coupled with the terrible combat, the game is only 2 hours long. Both the DS and PSP versions play and look virtually identically to each other. Neither version of the game features voiced dialog; you're forced to read through text "dialog" instead. The PSP version employs some cutscenes and still images from the movie, and the PSP's wide screen also provides a better field of view for the platform sections giving it a graphical edge over the cramped top screen of the DS. Either way neither version of the game is worth playing for long--not that you could due to the staggeringly short length. If the movie turns out to be any good it may help erase your painful memories of the video game efforts.
Looking for a different TMNT game? Check out our reviews for the PS2 and Wii versions!
