Best of the Game Boy trilogy.
This was actually the first TMNT game I received for the Game Boy. It was a Christmas present when I was thirteen, and it's quite possibly the hardest TMNT game ever and certainly the hardest for the Game Boy.
The story is quite different from what we usually get. Oh the evil Shredhead's up to no good as always, but there's a twist. Not only has he kidnapped April and Splinter, but three of the turtles as well, leaving Michaelangelo as the only turtle not yet in Shredder's clutches. Can Mikey save his pals? It won't be easy, that's for darn sure. Not only is Shredder holed up in a labyrinthine abandoned mine filled with all kinds of traps and pitfalls, but he's recruited a whole new group of generals, none of which had yet been featured in a TMNT game. And these four bad dudes aren't going to go down easily. And the Shredder himself has a few nasty surprises in store for our heroes.
Control wise the game is very responsive. A jumps, B attacks. The A button will also be used to perform each turtle's special move, all of which will come in useful at least once during the adventure. And they're not just the usual jump kick (although eachh turtle can still perform said move), but a unique attack. Mikey, for instance, can spin his Nunchuks like a helicopter's roters, thus enabling him to hover for short distances. Raph can pull into his shell, making himself small enough to access places he otherwise couldn't.
Audio wise the SFX are nothing spectacular. The only one I find particularly annoying, however, is the sound of a turtle taking damage. Musically the game beats out the other two in the trilogy quite neatly. Not much variety but they're all catchy, well except for the ominous, hushed tune you hear while standing just outside a boss door. The boss music is pretty catchy as well, very fast and uptempo. And should you survive long enough to hear it there's even a remix of the final battle theme from TMNT 2: The Arcade Game.
Overall this is definitely a great game. If you're looking for a challenge this game will definitely offer that. That's probably why they give you a password system and passwords that are fairly easy to remember. Not only that but it's possible with the right password to start right at the boss corridors, which comes in handy when it's a boss you're struggling with. The passwords also give you some ability to customize them, enabling you to start with more health or more continues. Well you can't increase your life meter much if at all when starting at the first boss battle, but any password will allow you to customize the number of continues simply by making the last number a one or two, depending how many continues you want. So this game does give you a little leeway so you can better cope with its difficulty. And it's definitely nice not to face the same cast of TMNT bosses yet again!
Reviewed by: Bryan Peterson from Twin Falls, Idaho on 11/28/2011
5 5