Game Info
Game Name: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Developer(s): Activision
Publisher(s): Magic Pockets
Platform(s): Xbox 360/Wii/3DS
Genre(s): Action/Adventure
Release Date(s): October 22, 2013
ESRB Rating: E10+
The Turtles are cleaning up the streets!
There is trouble in the city as Shredder has returned and is working with the Kraang. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles must work together to find out what Shredder, Dogpound, Fishface, Baxter Stockman, the Purple Dragons, Justin, and the Kraang are planning before it is too late.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a sidescrolling fighting game which allows up to four players to play. The game was released to criticism and complaints about its short length for a full length game.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles actually feels more like a download. It was released less than two months after the highly buggy but more realistic downloadable Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. I honestly confused the two games (having played TMNT: Out of the Shadows briefly), and found despite the problems with Out of the Shadows, this game was even worse.
Let’s head to Chinatown for some takeout!
I would have been angry if I had paid full price for this game. This game is essentially a modernization of the 1989 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game. It has the four players beating their way through screen after screen of enemies with the Nickelodeon based Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Unlike the old game, these Turtles can be modified to have different attacks that are unlockable by collecting glowing orbs. Unfortunately, the modifications are too little too late to save a dull game.
You could argue that this game is for kids, but I think even kids would find this game dull. There are only essentially four enemies (ninjas, Kraang, flying Kraang saucers, and mousers) with a few bosses mixed in. It is painfully obvious when an enemy is going to attack and the fighting style is so simplistic (four buttons is pushing it since one of the four is a throw button). It is more tedious than anything else.
Cleaning out the sewers…one drain at a time!
I’m not a sound person necessarily, but the game is a mess of sound as well. The audio doesn’t always match up with the animation and what should be a loud, fun game (think something like Street Fighter), the sound effects are almost minimal and less than impressive. Like the original arcade, the game has audio by the Turtles that is overused (especially in modern day).
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a kids’ game, marketed for kids and adults, and boring to both. The game is like a throwback and reminds me a lot of the other failed kids’ fighting game Spider-Man: Friend or Foe by Activision which missed a ton of opportunities. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a great, squandered franchise that could have a great open world game, with multiple missions for the different turtles and their allies. Instead, you get this…and it isn’t worth the purchase.
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