The Bottom Line
- Co-Op play
- Everything you remember is completely intact
- Only 400 points ($5)
- Excruciatingly difficult
- Not nearly as fun as you remember
Description
- Co-op play with up to four people on Xbox Live is great. Much better than playing by yourself.
- Two button gameplay is limited and gets repetitive and dull after a while.
- Excruciatingly difficult. Single player offers unlimited continues, and you'll need them. Only 20 continues in co-op.
Guide Review - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Arcade Review
TMNT for XBLA is exactly like it was all of those years ago. It is a side scrolling beat-em-up where you can pick from any of the four Ninja Turtles and then take on the minions of the Foot Clan while fighting bosses such as Bebop and Rocksteady and eventually, the evil Shredder. The game only uses two buttons, a jump and attack button, and you can press them at the same time for a more powerful attack, as well as do a jump kick attack. It is very simple, but you have to remember, 18 years ago, it was the greatest thing ever.
These days, though, TMNT is a bit too simple for its own good. You just mindlessly hammer the attack button and beat up hundreds of identical enemies. Seeing the same attack over and over and over again is mind numbingly boring. Also, the game is extremely difficult. You will die many, many, many times on your way through the game because you don't have any defensive moves and the enemies are just cheap. It is just frustrating, not fun. Thankfully, you have unlimited continues in single-player.
The one saving grace of TMNT is the co-op play for up to four players on Xbox Live. Having friends to play with makes the game quite a bit better, and a bit easier, but it is still brutally difficult and somewhat annoying as you only have 20 continues.
Overall, TMNT is a game that is better off left in your memory. Like most memories of our youth, going back and experiencing those things again just isn't worth it.
