TMNT Impressions
For many, TMNT brings back memories of all that was great about the Arcade experience. It was one of the best four player games available at the time, adding one of the era's biggest licenses.
I've been looking forward to this game for what seems like forever. For the longest time it just seemed to be the Arcade game that everyone wanted. The one game that would fit what Microsoft wanted to do with the XBLA service better than any other. I had a feeling that even if Microsoft had to pay for the game themselves, sooner or later we'd be able to play this coin op classic on the service. Then three weeks ago, due to someone with partner net breaking NDA, we found out that it was coming, not only that, but it was coming out soon.
When I first started the game up, I was instantly reminded who had done the port, the menu's and non-game graphics absolutely looked like a Digital Eclipse game. While not really bad, the interface, as I'm sure you know, isn't really good either, but at the end of the day it serves it's purpose and isn't why you bought the game in the first place.
Playing through the Single player campaign first just to reacquaint myself with the controls, I had a great time of it. The only real change from your memories of playing this at the local arcade is that they have set it up to be free play. Unfortunately this changes the dynamics of the game greatly, instead of playing it safe and taking your time to prevent a build up of enemies, you end up trying to blast through the game because there is no reason not to. Not only does blasting through the levels change the dynamics, but it also shortens the game. Having not played TMNT in the last five or so years, I was able to make it through the entire game in less than an hour.
What really saves this game though is the online co-op. The ability to relive the experience of having you and three others play the game at once without having to worry about any of them elbowing you during a boss battle is worth the $5 alone. While playing with various people last night, I was reminded of what online XBLA titles were supposed to be all about, having fun playing games with people you've just met as well as those you've known for a while. Another plus of the multi player is the fact that you are given only 20 lives to get through the entire game. It's somewhat akin to your parents dropping you off with $5 in quarters for an afternoon of video games, it really is that fun.
Unfortunately this version is not without it's faults. The controls, while close to the original feel slightly sluggish at times, not enough to ruin the experience, but definitely enough to notice. The biggest issue though is lag. While this seems to be a repeating issues with XBLA titles, it's quite noticeable in TMNT when you get more than 10 different characters on the screen at one time.
And now just because people need numbers, here they are:
Graphics: 7
While obviously nowhere near Alien Hominid or Roboblitz, the graphics stay true to the original. Better filtering for HD resolutions would have been welcome, but (due to the original not being a true 4:3 game) this is one of the few games that looks good when stretched to a wide screen display.
Audio: 9
Again, this game isn't pushing and boundaries, but it never intended to. The original audio keeps you in the mood that was set so many years ago.
Controls: 6
As I mentioned earlier the controls feel a bit sluggish, which when you consider the fact that all you can really do is attack, jump and jump-attack, it is completely inexcusable.
Fun Factor: 9
Fun Factor is where this game excels. The simplistic controls added with the 4 player co-op have set the bar for beat-em-ups that get ported to the service.
Overall (Not an average): 8
If they had fixed the controls and lag problems as well as made the single player cap at 20 lives this could have easily been a 9-9.5.
All in all it comes down to one thing, it's $5 there is absolutely no reason what so ever that you shouldn't pick up this classic the next time you boot up your 360.
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=74181
Yikes, the funny part is the complaints are mostly about the game play of the original as opposed to the XBLA version
Joined: 2006-07-25