Review

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan

I don’t have a doctorate in genetics, but I’m pretty sure I know everything there is to know about genetic mutations. I mean, I’ve seen every single episode of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in my life, own every movie (and I mean EVERY) and I’m still an avid reader of the comics. Now, that may not actually gain me much credibility but it at least it speaks to my fandom and how critical I can be. Basically, take my thoughts with a grain of salt…

When jumping into one of my favorite franchises, I tend to do my research on the team behind the game. So it eased my fears when I saw that PlatinumGames was developing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan. Not only are they known for creating great action games, they’ve been on roll as late when it comes to licensed games. Especially those that are based on nostalgic versions of popular franchises (Transformers: Devastation). They surely stayed the course with Mutants in Manhattan, giving more relevance to the old phrase “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it”!

This game feels fresh but familiar that makes it easy to get lost in your old childhood. Well, those of us who are old enough to have had a childhood with the ninja turtles, that is. But before diving into the gameplay, I have to talk about how the game looks. In recent history, there have been games, movies, and shows that have seemed to try their hardest to change how the turtles look. What developers/movie director’s don’t seem to understand is that they were already perfectly drawn the first time we were introduced to us. Its fine to tweak a couple things to make them look a bit more polished in high definition, but trying to make them look like beastly monsters is taking away the innocence of them still actually being teens. Deadly assassins in the comic, goofballs from the old cartoon – either way you look at it, they were till teens. That is why I appreciate these visuals in this game so much. It felt as if I was playing inside of a TMNT comic book and it looked just as great!

Cell shaded graphics seem to work perfectly with retro titles, and it makes complete sense when you think about it.  Artists of that time period did a huge amount of their art manually with little to no computer help. They knew the turtles didn’t look scientifically accurate, but then again, who cares? It’s a cartoon; allow things to be unrealistic because we don’t want our characters to grow old like we do.  I can appreciate the developers for allowing us to live in this world instead of taking us to a “Gotham” version of New York and making everything dreary and dark. They did an outstanding job of bringing so many different eras of visuals into one game and deserve to be applauded for staying true to the source material.

I remember growing up and playing TMNT: Turtles in Time with one of my best friends. It was at that point I realized how much I preferred co-op games to solo stories. Not only that, it set the bar for gameplay for every TMNT game to follow. Even on my SNES, I could easily perform combo moves with my friends to help take down the foot and their bosses. Then, PlatinumGames comes through and destroys what I claimed to be my favorite turtles games to play – it was so difficult for me to admit that. Each turtle feels different but no less useful than the other. No matter who was available in an online co-op game, I was excited to play with that turtle. Whether it be Mikey and his crazy nun chuck combos or (my favorite turtle) Leonardo slowing time down so that his brothers could attack with enhanced speed, the moment to moment action was a blast. I mean, hearing someone scream “WHOA! DID YOU SEE THAT!?” was common.

If you’ve played a PlatinumGames game before, then you know it’s all about combos, parries, dodges – basically actions packed fights are the focus. With MiN though, there are a smaller number of combos than one would expect. Instead, there are a large number of special abilities that can be combined with your teammates. For instance, Mikey has the ability to refresh his brothers’ cooldowns, allowing them to use a special move sooner than later. Dishing out a damaging combo, landing a special move, then following up with another combo while Mikey lowers your cooldowns equals one battered foe.  By using these powerful skills at the right time, it’s possible to roll over the foot in fun and interesting ways; teaming up with Donatello and going complete beast mode on enemies is just as awesome the twentieth time as it when I first started playing.

Another thing I liked was how this linear game had large open environments that allow players to move around freely. It’s easy to forget with all the funny banter and crazy characters that these mutated turtles have spent their entire lives mastering the arts of Ninjutsu. Here, you can run on walls, climb buildings, grind railings, and even use your turtle chute to float around these environments. There are also manholes in which you can use to go back to your sewer home. In your pad, you can purchase items to either help take down the enemies or to heal and shield your brothers. They come in handy when fighting difficult bosses like the Shredder.

One thing I wish was in the MiN is a drop in/drop out option for online play. Most of my playtime was spent with only one other person because it took too long to find other players. Allowing late comers to jump in mid-level would have alleviated this problem. Then I wouldn’t have had to rely on the computer controlled turtles during tough fights. Don’t get me wrong, the AI is probably some of the best I have ever played with in a game. Especially when you are downed, they will stop immediately and try to revive you. It isn’t the same as playing with real people though. Thankfully, if you AL brothers can’t get to you, the game doesn’t end. Instead, you are sent back to the pad to start a mini game of you eating pizza. You have to quickly eat the pizza to fill your life pie back up so you can get back into the game before everyone is downed. Hearing April O’Neill calling out to you to return because your brother needs you adds the needed push to scarf down pizza slices. That said, if you eat too quickly you’ll burn your mouth, prolonging the respawning process. Who would’ve thought that dying in a video game could be an enjoyable experience?

What brings the package completely together is the fantastic voice acting. Every character’s voice just felt authentic. I remember sitting there, letting every cut scene play – even after beating the game’s story at least five times – because it was like living in a TMNT movie. I equally enjoyed the soundtrack as well. If you can’t tell by now, this game is the supreme pizza of ninja turtles’ games. Nothing will ever replace the classic arcade titles, but Mutants in Manhattan sure came close. Basically, everything was near flawlessly put together into a package made for a TMNT nerd like myself. Now if you would excuse me, I have shell to kick!

Editor’s Note: This copy of Mutant in Manhattan was provided by Activision.