The 'spin nunchucks to fly' routine never gets old
Rather then being a spin off or complement, the game directly follows the plot of the new film. After defeating Shredder (in 1990?), Splinter and the turtles went their own separate ways. But a new evil is afoot (get it?) and this is where the game picks up. The first level is set in a jungle, where Leonardo has been training to become the ultimate Ninja, and this setting serves as the game's tutorial level. It's quite clear that the main inspiration for the game is Ubisoft's recent Prince of Persia series, indeed, the game appears to be running on a modified version of the game's engine. You can run on walls, shimmy along edges, jump up and down ledges – even the combat is similar. The difference is that you're forced to play with a fixed camera, and that the turtles are marginally less annoying then either the 'whiny' or the 'tough guy' princes for the last gen games. Just like the Prince of Persia games, the turtles narrate what's going on the whole time, keeping the story moving. The basic platforming elements are quite fun, with plenty of forgiving double jumping around the environment and running on walls. There's obviously no rewind mechanic, but the more mellow challenges and abundance of re-start points mean you never get too frustrated and always keep moving forward. As the game goes on, most of the action moves to a city setting (and the sewers underneath it of course) but no matter the graphics, the challenge to move forward using the world as your jungle gym remains the same. The path is usually quite linear, but the wide variety of ways you can interact with the objects around you keeps it somewhat fresh.
Ubisoft have mastered fun, forgiving platforming
Also like it's Persian inspiration, the fighting element is the weakest part of TMNT's gameplay. There are two basic attacks – weapon and kick, and you can do all the usual combos you expect from a simple action platformer. It's dumbed down considerably, enemies are brain dead, and most fights can be won with the most basic of crowd control tactics and button mashing. For the half dozen levels we've played so far, even the bosses follow simple patters. But once again, it's still quite enjoyable, and the beat-em-up combat feels meaty, if shallow. Fights don't last terribly long, and they serve as a reasonable change of pace from all the platforming acrobatics.
You may be picking up on a running theme here – 'simple, but enjoyable', and the graphics and sound also fit snugly with this description. There's nothing remarkable about the graphics – they're solid, but pretty basic at times. The jungle levels look decent, but some of the street levels look like an early Dreamcast game in terms of technology. Enemy models are undetailed and not brilliantly animated. Yet environmental textures are at least decent, the framerate is high and steady, and the turtles themselves animate quite nicely. TMNT's not going to win any awards, but the visuals get the job done with a hint of style. Aurally, you'll have to put up with a lot of turtle banter (we hadn't heard the word 'cowabunga' in literally almost a decade!), but it's polite and well surprisingly well voice acted. The music, however, is great, it's well produced and really fits in with the game.
The levels can be quite bare at points
Overall, it's clearly a game designed for kids, with very simple and forgiving gameplay, simple graphics, and a kid friendly plot. But it's one of those games that's tightly designed enough that adults can enjoy it too, despite it being a walkover. Hopefully the new film will be able to claim the same crossover appeal.
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