“Time to kick some serious shell,”
proclaims one of the four turtles. Normally, one would not consider that much of
a threat, but – you see – these are not ordinary turtles. Having come into
contact with a mutating factor, the turtles have grown to the size of small
adult humans and become – what else? – ninjas.
The story of the Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles is familiar to those who have delighted to their televised cartoon
assault on the Foot (soldiers of the infamous Shredder), and the quartet of
Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo have been quite proficient when
it comes to dispensing martial arts justice, with a smidgen of turtle antics. Of
course, the attitude is also a major draw when talking about these “precocious”
teens.
Konami has tackled the turtles with
the GameCube release of TMNT: Mutant Melee. The game gives players the option to
play as one of the four (in the adventure mode) through a linear path that
rarely branches (and yes, there are a few side-steps you can take for minigames)
en route to the predictable final boss battle. Each level has obstacles to
overcome, and successful completion earns tokens as well as the potential to
unlock new levels and characters.
There are 20 playable characters,
though most do not come into play unless in the game’s melee match
multiplayer-enabled segment. There are four multiplayer modes – Knock Out, Last
Man Standing, King of the Hill and Keep Away. Each level, just as in the
adventure mode, has power-ups and weapons hidden in boxes.
The environments are somewhat
destructible, and the fixed camera is a high third-person perspective.
In the adventure setting, players
choose from one of the four turtles (Raph, Mike, Don, or Leo). Depending on the
turtle chosen, the story line can get a little harder. For example, if one takes
the first turtle offered, you will face off against the others in one-on-one
matchups. But if you take the last turtle on the list (Raphael), you will find
the dojo-level challenges much more difficult. Rather than facing each of the
others one at a time, you will face off against them in matches of 1v2 and 1v3.
As you progress through the
adventure, which is detailed only in text, you will find that side trips are
available. These are often the mini-game portions of the title. While the
difficulty does ramp up a bit depending on the turtle selected to play as, the
overall game is rather simplistic. This is an arcade-style action game geared
more for younger players than older, more experienced gamers. And even then,
considering the seemingly target age level, the game is not as detailed as
younger games may want.
The sound of the game is incidental
to the overall design structure. In other words, there is a taste of music, and
repetitious turtle clichés sprinkled throughout. The controls are simple with a
main attack, a secondary attack (A and B buttons), a block hot button, signature
move (once you have powered up the meter to enable it), and the X and Y buttons
are for action and jumping.
The key to the game is to bound
about, avoid taking damage, break crates for powerups, and defeat your enemies
or survive when time runs out (as in the minigames). You can attack while in the
air (if your opponent is in the air), and you can pick up objects and enemies
and toss them about.
Graphically the game is average,
with fluid animation and bright lush environments. The only problem with the
semi-destructible environments is that they are not overly developed and are
simple affairs.
That is probably the best way to
describe this game. While not a bad game, it just lacks innovation, and a sense
of excitement. It is repetitious and limited in scope.
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Gameplay: 5.5
Repetitious button-mashing gameplay that rarely engages the brain is the
undertones of this title. The simple control scheme does not take long to
understand, and the challenge does improve as you progress through the game, but
it felt fairly short in terms of length of the game. And the game almost has as
much time devoted to load times as it does to playing the game.
Graphics: 6.5
The levels are not big, but the animation is smooth and the game – overall – is
bright and colorful.
Sound: 5.0
Repetitious clichés spout from the turtles, and this gets old after a short
while.
Difficulty: Easy
There is the standard array of difficulty settings, but this game is not overly
challenging, and even if you fail at one level in the adventure setting, you can
begin anew quickly.
Concept: 5.0
The story/adventure mode is more of the same at each step along the way. Because
of the limited actions, players basically bounce around the level, which is not
overly big, and attack from angles to hit without being hit. The levels are not
all that intricate, and the interface is simplistic – which more or less sums up
this game.
Multiplayer: 6.0
One of the ‘saving’ graces of this game is the multiplayer arena combats with up
to four participants. The AI can be adjusted in terms of difficulty settings if
you lack the numbers on connected controllers.
Overall: 5.5
Repetitious and lack of original gameplay makes this a less-than-exciting title.
The martial arts animations are good, the action is fast-paced, but the game
fails to generate enthusiasm. The multiplayer elements would fit either the
Turtles or the WWE-backstage circuit easily. This is a title that TMNT fans may
enjoy but it lacks anything fresh to lure in melee-combat fans.
