Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

A Nostalgic experience

It's amazing how videogames can make you think of your past. I can still remember playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade for the original NES and how much fun it was for you and a buddy to go walking through a level and just beat the snot out of anyone and everyone who got in your way. Teenage Mutant Nunja Turtles for the X-Box brings back those familiar, nostalgic feelings. The game contains the usual fair. Choose one of the four turtles (Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, or Raphael) and go through 10 stages of foot ninjas, mousers, and goons. In the game each turtle is armed with his own classic weapon each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Michelangelo is fast with his nunchucks so his attacks are quick, but weak where as Donatello has his Bo which is somewhat slow but strong. Leonardo and Raphael fall inbetween those two. Each of the turtles possesses his own unique combos that can be performed by alternating between the strong and weak attack buttons. They're movments are fluid and look pretty cool in their own right. Enemy AI is non-existant as they pretty much exist for the sole purpose of being defeated. They are not very hard to defeat at all. The bosses aren't too hard either, though at times they can be a bit cheap. Just wait until you get to the Element Ninjas in the museum level. Co-op mode is nice but I have one question. Why only 2 players? Why not 4? Kicking butt with one friend is nice. Kicking butt with 3 friends is better. Ears open Konami? The turtles make a nice transition from 2D to 3D. The game goes for a slightly cell shaded look which emphasizes the cartoon on which the game is based. Sound effects appear on screen like "Bang!" and "Thok!" which adds to the comic book/cartoon feel of the game. "Mike-a-Saurus-Rex!" Get used to that phrase because you'll be hearing it over and over and over and over again in this game. Every turtle has maybe 3 phrases that are used constantly to the point where I had to turn the sound down on my TV to avoid hearing them anymore. The hit effects are bland and recycled. Raph and Leo share the same attack sounds with their blades as do Mikey and Donny with their wooden weapons. The music is forgettable, techno, midi-mixed trash. All in all Turtles is a good rental game to sit down with and play through once for a thrill or an old memory. Grabbing a buddy just makes it all hte more fun. But don't expect anything groundbreaking or eye popping. Worth a rental, not the $39.99 price tag.