Hope that all of you are enjoying absolutely wonderful things Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revengelatest addition to TMNT canon play video games from the game Dotemu and Tribute. We know we to be. It’s another gripping action game that traditionally beats the NES and SNES by Konami. And that’s cool – we call it “the best Tortoises ever made” in our review – but Revenge contains a glaring omission respect to another beloved teenage mutant Ninja Turtle incarnation; 2003 animated series.
It’s nothing more than an onslaught of darker, darker, more TMNT-led story-based games, but three of them seem to fly under the radar, and that’s it. are the three handheld games developed by Konami that we are going to look at today. Cover we started?
Publishing company: Konami / Developers: Konami
In some cases, Konami has followed the trend of converting their SNES games to GBA – however, their port Contra III: The Alien Wars somewhat compromised, and twin packs Kessakusen! Ganbare Goemon 1 & 2: Yukihime to Magginesuto our eternal sadness, never leaving Japan.
That’s a very good thing, it’s GBA Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles chose to draw inspiration from its predecessors, Game Boy titles like Back from the sewers and Radical Rescue. It’s a platform game, mainly, but with a focus on relatively nuanced combat. It can seem a bit disappointing at first that the action takes place on only one plane (except for the bike chase scene), but you’ll quickly get on to beating the seven shades of… well, Soup out Purple Dragon martial arts thugs.
The game plays out as an episodic exploration of four different species of turtles. You choose who you want to play as (we have yes name them?), then go through their unique stages – four for each Turtle, the final stage of each being boss fights. Of course, once they’re defeated, you’ll tackle the final stages as the ninja of your choice, culminating in a feverish battle with arch-enemy Shredder.
And well, it’s a very enjoyable side-scrolling/beating them up, with a few Mode 7-style gimmicks that don’t last long enough to be annoying. The music is amazing, with a variety Mega Man X feel some songs; check out the tune below that accompanies the fight with Casey Jones and let us know it doesn’t have that Mega Man X vibe.
Also worth replaying, with five hidden crystals for each Turtle to figure out that trigger a better ending if you’re curious enough to claim a lot. And you better get used to the crystals, because the next match will double them significantly.
Publishing company: Konami / Developers: Konami
You would think this sequel would offer much of the same, but you couldn’t be more wrong. Battle Nexus is a huge and compelling departure from its predecessor (the handheld version – all of these games have analogues on home consoles), with Tortoise Catching start each level with the missing weapon, making their only attack maneuver an extremely weak shuriken.
Of course, once you’ve recovered your weapons, you can fully head to town on the Triceratons – each Turtle’s fighting style has been revised, with new moves activated by holding the attack button and release – some of which become necessary for the secret search.
Unlike last time, you can choose your Turtle for each level, and they all have different moves to facilitate replay value. See, there are currently 20 hidden crystals in each level and buying them is the main goal of the game. It’s a quest that requires some level of repetition, with each level possibly needing to be played more than four times – once per Turtle, natch – but then there’s more effort for the crystals you get. missed. We’re not going to pretend that this iteration can’t bore you a bit at times, but certain types of gamers will get a big boost from exploring every nook and cranny of the game’s world.
Well, a collectible contest, then, but a well-designed one that fits the atmosphere and is fun if it clicks. The only downside is that the fight, while fun to make, gets lagged a bit with repetitive enemy encounters and some nasty scenes if you can’t stay out of sight. Still, a good, fun game, albeit one that dared to stray from the Turtle formula. As a sequel to the Game Boy titles, it makes a lot more sense.
Publishing company: Konami / Developers: Konami
The third handheld game in this trilogy came to the DS and did not receive stellar reviews at launch. On a surface level, it’s easy to see why. There’s a puzzling decision that drops the proceedings down to an annoying “cry” that goes off every time your Tortoise co-op – that’s it anytime. We found that we could tune it out and enjoy the game regardless, but your mileage may vary.
When you down it, Mutant Nightmare is a proper sequel, returning to the more action paced 2003 game, while still incorporating the background and exploration of Battle Nexus, albeit to a slightly lesser extent. Thankfully, the fight feels great; while the sprites are a bit smaller, this gives you more screen and therefore more reaction time.
Depending on which Turtle you choose for each level, you’ll be able to use party moves to access alternate routes, which means again needing to replay levels to collect them all. All crystals in each world. They are elusive, which means they are rewarding and fun to find.
Graphically, the game delivers consistent results, but never “weak”. It’s subtly crafted compared to the GBA games, with more animation frames allowing for much smoother Turtleage and the battles feeling more fair and accurate than what happened before. It’s not as rich as Shredder’s Revenge, but it’s pretty impressive stuff for fans of the older side scrolling school. Multiple routes (including full additional levels in places) keep things fresh and there are loads of different types of enemies to face. The music is pretty awesome too – if only it didn’t overwhelm it with team attacks.
Apparently, Digital Eclipse is coming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection there will be plenty of Konami-built TMNT features, but we feel the little-known handheld trio above is also worth investigating. They’re not perfect, but if you’re a Turtles fan who likes vertical gems, you’ll find they have a lot to offer. Let us know what you think below if you’ve played them.
