Impressions of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled

Now that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled is available for both Xbox LIVE Arcade and the PlayStation Network (as of yesterday), we are going to take you on a different type of trip through time as we try to establish how the Re-Shelled version of the game stacks up to its generations-old predecessors.

And indeed, “predecessors,” plural, is a key term here. From what I have observed, it seems that few are as familiar with the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time as they are with the original arcade game. Most who claim to have played it are more familiar with the Super NES adaptation, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time.

TMNT IV, while graphically similar, changed up quite a few things from the arcade original, and while inferior in some respects, it is still highly-regarded as the version to own. This is actually rather important, given the newest edition, Re-Shelled, has its roots planted firmly in the arcade game, with few (if any) of the additions of the home version included.

Just in case you haven’t caught it by now, I’m going to refer to each version throughout as follows: the arcade original will simply be “Turtles in Time,” or alternatively “the arcade game.” “The Super NES game” will also be “TMNT IV,” while the new version will be “Re-Shelled.”

Got it? Good. Moving on.

Perhaps the first thing to make note of is the game’s visuals. The old games were based on the old cartoon, whose star faded sometime in the late 90’s, but the appearance of the green teens and their ninja master, Splinter, are more reminiscent of the newer movies and cartoon series.

However, they seem to be the exception, rather than the rule. Everyone else, from Channel 6 reporter April O’Neil in her yellow jumpsuit to the hundreds of Foot Soldiers to the Shredder himself all evoke the designs of the Fred Wolf cartoons from days gone by.

But they aren’t directly on-model; there are some minor changes, such as more glowing parts to Krang’s android body, but more notably, Shredder’s design is spiced up a bit to make him appear more visually formidable and threatening. Though they still give him eerie glowing eyes, they aren’t red, and he still maintains the appearance of a human behind the armor.

The game plays upon the Turtles’ comic book roots rather heavily, though not in the way the upcoming Smash-Up for Wii and Arcade Attack for DS will. Rather than the “as close as we could get it” approximation of the cartoon that Turtles in Time and TMNT IV employed, the opening and ending cutscenes are colorful affairs with limited movement.

In addition, sound effects are written out across the visuals as the story takes place, in a way not unlike that made popular in the ’60s Adam West Batman TV show. This carries over to the gameplay as well, as many large sounds are given the word balloon treatment.

But as colorful as the onomatopoeias are, the game isn’t quite as colorful. In contrast to the bright, vivid colors of the original arcade and Super NES games, the visuals for Re-Shelled somehow seem tamer and more subdued, even compared to its own opening cinematics.

It’s not bad, per se, but the difference is about as noticeable as it is from the old cartoon to the newer ones. For some, this may prove to be a turn-off.

A number of visual cues are changed from before; rather than holding up a slice when they obtain pizza as in the arcade, the Turtles instead cross their weapons as they exclaim what time it is. On the other hand, this is a step up from TMNT IV, which cut such animations. The glimpse of your last and next destinations while time traveling are no longer in the portal, either.

On the other hand, the Turtles seem more animated on the whole; in said time portals, they actually move and struggle against the pull of the current, rather than spinning helplessly. Meanwhile, Foot Soldiers are sometimes fumbling in their attempts to ride a surfboard or make a leap from a horse onto the passing train.

In addition, the battle with Tokka and Rahzar still leaves the gruesome twosome as an adorable baby wolf and snapping turtle on it back when you defeat them.

Something else fans of TMNT IV might notice is different is the hoverboarding stage, Neon Nightriders. In Turtle in Time, it was just a regular stage, but with a vehicular theme, but when it was brought to the Super NES, it was changed into a bonus stage (as was Sewer Surfin’) that would show off the console’s Mode 7 visuals.

Being based on the original, Re-Shelled goes back to its side-scrolling regular stage ways. It has seen a makeover to make this version of the future appear a bit more ravaged, at least on the roads, but the difference may take some people by surprise.

On the sound effects front, TMNT IV was actually a huge step down from its arcade predecessor. Voice cues were few and far between compared to the arcade game, but Re-Shelled is fully-voiced, from the opening cinematic to the closing credits.

The voices used, however, may disappoint some. Where applicable, such as in the case of the Turtles and Shredder, the voices come from the new cartoon, while others who weren’t in the newer version of the series, such as Metalhead and fly Baxter, have been recast.

If the new voices don’t bother you, then the way they are used can definitely be marked as an improvement. In particular, the old games would feature a single voice for all four Turtles, whereas each Turtle has his own individual sound bytes… even though they all say pretty much the same thing.

But even so, it’s kind of funny to hear the more stoic, serious Leonardo cry out “My toes, my toes!” or complain about needing sunscreen after being torched by a fire-breathing dinosaur.

Meanwhile, Shredder has the much darker, gravelly voice of the 2K3 cartoon, rather than the whining of Uncle Phil from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The loss there depends on whether or not you want to take Oroku Saki seriously as a villain or not.

The music of Re-Shelled, much like the graphics, have received a contemporary tune-up, but at the same time seem much more subdued and downplayed. One might argue that the quality is better than the chiptunes from days of yore, but at the same time, it doesn’t stand out as those chiptunes did, and sometimes you have to stop and really listen to even know that they are the same.

Of added interest is that the original Turtles in Time theme, “Pizza Power” by the live-action costumed TMNT band, was removed for the home version, but has found itself reused here. However, this version has no lyrics, making it come off as little more than an imitation. It’s ironic that for a game where less has proven more in terms of music, less has proven less in the case of Pizza Power.

Finally, we come to the big question: the gameplay. Even the simple act of playing the game has not escaped from Ubisoft’s revision untouched, though whether that is good or bad is ultimately subjective to what you loved about Turtles in Time in the first place.

That said, Re-Shelled dumps the two-player action of TMNT IV, restoring action to a full four Turtles fighting at once, thanks to the power of Xbox LIVE Arcade. And one addition included to ensure you never get lost in the crowd is a “map” button, which places an icon over the corresponding Turtle’s head. But beyond the fun and mayhem of beating up wave after wave of Foot Soldiers, Stone Warriors, and the stage-ending boss, there isn’t a whole lot of depth here.

Those familiar with either previous version may find themselves on unsteady footing as they begin Re-Shelled. Moves, special moves in particular, are pulled off much differently in the update than they were before.

The Special Attacks are mapped to a separate button, as are some other moves, including the Turtles’ running backslide. Another move, a slow-falling overhead chopping attack, must now be performed following Re-Shelled’s new double-jump, which in itself never seems particularly useful.

Another addition, and not an unwelcome one, is that the Turtles are no longer limited to attacking only to their left or right. Now, they can attack left, right, up, down, and diagonally, and it seems to apply for almost any move they can perform.

The exception, nearest as I could tell, came from the attack in which your chosen turtle teen grabs a Foot Soldier by the arm and swings him around, smashing any enemies to his left and right like a giant fly-swatter. On that note, it’s too bad you can’t do that in battle against Baxter.

But the reason I am uncertain of whether that attack works diagonally or not is because unlike the Super NES game, the two grab moves are more difficult to pull off, almost as though they’re random. But I don’t think they are random, as they seem more proximity based, and I would find myself throwing and slamming Foot a little too often for it to be randomized.

Unfortunately, the game itself gives little clue as to how to pull off either move, so determining its mechanics comes down to a combination of trial-and-error and simple guesswork.

Regarding the eight-directional movement, the enemies also appear to have it, but in actuality, it seems they are still relegated to only attacking from your left or your right. This becomes particularly evident against enemies who launch projectiles, but can be used to a player’s advantage if they should keep above or below the enemies on the plane of battle. Even so, some enemies are still able to get you despite being off-sides, such as Cementman’s globs of goo.

Edit: As I have just discovered, it seems that the ability of the enemies to attack in multiple directions is tied to the level of difficulty the game is played on. I sincerely apologize for any confusion.

And if you’re wondering just who this “Cementman” is, then you’re clearly one who has only played TMNT IV. When the game was brought to the Super NES, several bosses were replaced or added, as well as an added Technodrome stage.

The original Sewer Surfin’ stage had no end boss, but TMNT IV added the Rat King on a “Footski” jetski watercraft, armed with missiles and spiked mines. Following that came the Technodrome, which took the duo of Tokka and Rahzar from the Skull and Crossbones level, and added a unique Mode 7 battle against Shredder before he sent you back in time.

And none of that part is in Re-Shelled.

“Prehistoric Turtlesaurus” originally culminated in a battle against a character named “Cementman,” who Konami took from a lone appearance in the old cartoon; a typical move of theirs from the time. In the Super NES game, it was replaced with the immensely more popular mutant turtle Slash, who incidentally was more fun to fight.

But Re-Shelled has no Slash, and no pirate-garbed Bebop and Rocksteady at the end of Skull and Crossbones, either; Tokka and Rahzar retain their original positions here, though it at least gave the developers the chance to bring back the arcade’s sequence where the ship enters a thunderous rainstorm for the battle.

From there, the boss battles and stages (aside from the aforementioned Mode 7 Neon Nightriders bonus stage) remain the same as many might know them from the Super NES, save for one.

At the end of TMNT IV, Shredder once more induced his mutation into the large, powerful Super Shredder. But in Re-Shelled, you instead simply face an unusually tall Shredder armed with a laser sword. Just like in the original.

There are likely numerous other small changes and updates to various parts of the game that I haven’t mentioned (such as the newfound inability to jump while using an invincibility pizza, or a seemingly wider playing field), but those can go into another article. Suffice to say, playing the game will feel familiar, but not exact to the versions which came before.

The game does pretty well for itself where replay value is concerned; in addition to offering four levels of difficulty, it also has added modes in the form of “Survival” and “Quickplay;” the former sees how long you can last on one life, while the latter simply lets you pick any stage you’ve already completed and play it at will, but only for that stage. For those TMNT IV fans who hoped the one-on-one Turtle fighting mode would return, it looks like you’ll have to wait for Smash-Up for that.

So, is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled worth your hard-earned dollar/Microsoft Points? Well, that really depends on what you are looking for out of the experience.

The over-the-top nature of the original seems to be what sold a lot of people on it, and that seems to have been scaled back to some degree in this game (although not entirely).

If you are simply a fan of the Turtles, be they the movie versions, the new cartoon, the old cartoon, or something else, and enjoyed what Turtles in Time originally had to offer, then this is definitely worth looking into.

If your interest in the Turtle lies solely in the past, with Saturday morning cartoons in your pajamas and bowls of TMNT cereal, watching the Turtles eat weird pizza and being rather un-ninja-like, and nothing else will do, you might not like this game so much.

And of course, if only the original Turtles in Time (or at least it’s Super NES port) will do, then you may very well hate this one.

Re-Shelled seems to be more about bringing the Turtles in Time experience to a new generation of TMNT fans, rather than appealing to the nostalgic nerve-centers of those who grew up idolizing the Turtles and have since moved on, only giving this game a look because “oh, hey, I remember that!”

For me, personally, I never stopped being a Turtles fan. Through the old toon, through the bad movies, through the comics, through the new cartoon, and even through the live-action “Next Mutation” TV show with female Ninja Turtle Venus de Milo, I never stopped.

So for me, the game has been a lot of fun, as I simply enjoy the Turtles, and don’t confine myself to a single form or version. And for me, the game is definitely worth the ten dollar/800 Microsoft Point asking price.

But again, if your memories of the Turtles are firmly those planted back in the late 80’s and early 90’s, then I really recommend trying the demo before you spend any money. It’s the only way to be sure.

All of that said, as a result of all the differences from the Super NES version and arcade game to Re-Shelled, there is also a lot of room for potential downloadable content here. Whether Ubisoft will capitalize on it, however, remains to be seen.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time images courtesy of VG Museum