Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Written by Adam Woolcott on September 30, 2003

First Impressions: It's always the turtles who are ninjas

For a good majority of the people in my age bracket, we all fondly remember the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles craze of the late 1980's-early 1990's. There was the television show, the action figures (don't dare call them toys!), the movies, and of course, the video games. While the stigma that licensed games sucked was alive and well back then, the TMNT games were classics Ц from the mega-tough original for the NES, to the conversions of the brilliant arcade games, to the fighting game that was created during the mass fighting game craze of the early 90's. Many consider these to be some of the top games for their respective consoles. Since then though, the Turtles have laid dormant, apparently just a passщ craze that ran its course.

Until these days, anyway. In the modern era, the Turtles have resurfaced from the sewers. But these aren't your daddy's Ninja Turtles, no Ц instead of the happy go lucky, pizza eating, lame-ass slang spouting Turtles, the heroes in a half-shell more resemble their original incarnation; tough, serious, sinister, and much more business-like in their ass kicking. We've got the Saturday morning cartoon, the new action figures, an upcoming film, and of course, a video game. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Konami's first TMNT game in a decade, simply titled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, closely resembles the classic Turtles games, brought into a new era of gaming. With a darker edge and much more action, TMNT looks to outstrip the classic NES/SNES/Genesis games, bringing a whole new generation of fans the TMNT game that they'll remember long after the Turtles run has ended.

As mentioned, TMNT doesn't stray too far from the path guided in the old Turtles games Ц it looks and feels like Turtles in Time or the TMNT Arcade Game that was converted to the NES. That being, it's a beat Сem up, complete with members of the Foot Clan and numerous characters such as Casey Jones and Shredder. Even if you don't even watch the new show, the old time Turtles fans will be right at home with the environment of the new TMNT game Ц it's just redone for a new generation, really. Along the way you'll encounter the typical Turtles environments such as the sewers, and you can collect special scrolls that contain special moves and unlockable items, adding a sense of adventure to this action-oriented game.

In what's probably the biggest snafu with this game is the ability for only 2 players. Now, there's 4 Turtles to choose from. Why not make it a 4-player game for those who want to spend the cash or already own a multi-tap? If you build it, they will come, and a TMNT game without 4-player action seems watered down. Anyone who played the classic arcade games are sure to remember the times with 4 complete strangers popping in quarters to knock off the tough bosses and hordes of enemies Ц not letting 4 players get together to play as each Turtle is a travesty.

You make do though, and TMNT looks like it will hold up pretty well. Each Turtle has his own set of skills and weapons, meaning they're more effective against certain bosses and enemies, though I doubt it will make a whole lot of difference. The gameplay is combo-based, letting you sock it to your enemies and rack up some serious points along the way. In classic Turtles fashion, the game should be very challenging and require serious playtime to complete (like the brutal original NES game, one of the hardest games ever devised by evil Konami), which is why having 4 players at once would have been a serious benefit.

One nice thing though, is the addition of a fighting game a la Tournament Fighters from the 16-bit era. 2 players can go at it to decide who is the best of the best. It's not a whole lot, and sometimes these things can be a throwaway, but knowing Konami they will pull out all the stops to make sure the fighting game portion is great as well.

Using today's technology, Konami has been able to create a game that looks exactly like the cartoon. Thanks to cel-shading (I can hear many of you groan in disapproval, but c'mon, your girlfriend won't dump you because you're playing a cartoon), the characters are designed and animated exactly like their counterparts on the television show. It looks like an episode of TMNT come to life, and interactive for your gameplay pleasure. Whether or not the fast-paced action will struggle with frame rates due to the cel-shading (thanks to the lovely limitations of the 4 year old PS2 technology) is unknown, but Konami has been known for sneaking the best out of the PS2 Ц let's hope that continues.