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TMNT
X-Box 360
nostalgia [nos tal gia] noun.
A wistful desire to return
in thought or in fact to a
former time in one's life; a
sentimental yearning for the
happiness of a former place
or time.
Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles |teeneyj mycxxnt
nin juh turtuls] noun. A
family of crime fighting
brothers that today’s 20-
something crowd spent the
majority of their childhoods
mimicking and spending
their parents' money on. See
also: nostalgia
It has been nearly a
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles back with a vengeance
P
By Jesse Duke
Editor in Chief
zarkme@msn jcom
Late one night, over 25
years ago, comic creators
Kevin Eastman and Peter
Laird jokingly hashed out a
sketch of a bipedal turtle clad
in ninja garb and weaponry.
By the next morning the
story behind this creature
had been completed, telling
of four brothers, their rodent
sensei, and an ancient
Japanese ninja organization
lurking in the dark comers of
New York City. This bizarre,
edgy concept quickly
spread through the comic
community, catching the
eyes of television producers
with hopes of creating the
next big children’s craze.
A Saturday morning
cartoon kept the premise
behind these comics, but
blcxxl, obscenity, and
mystery were replaced
with marketability, pizza,
and puns. For many, this is
where the story becomes
more familiar. Now, after 3
shows,4 films, video games,
an ungodly number of action
figures, several on-going
comic series, and even bed
sheets, the Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles continue to
prove that they are no mere
fad.
While it’s true that
many incarnations of this
Quiet roommate wanted. Gated community in Villa Rica.
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770-851-7507 11AM-3PM
decade and a half since the
lean green fighting machine
was last seen on the big
screen. After the abysmal
Hollywotxl disaster known
as Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles 111, it kx)ked pretty
bleak whether the turtles
would ever resurface.
Yes, a turtle pun already.
Deal with it.
Fourteen years later,
first time director and fellow
geek Kevin Munroe has
successfully revived the
brothers four once again in
their completely new and
computer generated film
aptly titled TMNT. Fans
worldwide rejoiced at the
chance to see a potentially
decent movie starring their
favorite characters, but for
a certain West Georgian
video game reviewer this
movie represented a slightly
different glimmer of hope.
It represented a hopeful
return of a respectable Ninja
Turtles video game.
Since the epic release
of Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles: Turtles in Time for
arcade and Super Nintendo,
the market for acceptable
TMNT games has sharply
plummeted, especially
tale are still considered
"classics” today (Vastly
underrated 1990 film)
‘Turtles' has had more than
a few embarrassing misses.
Anyone who has seen Turtles
///, the live-action series. and
especially the live concert
tour (shudders), can vouch
for this. So of course when
word of anew film hit the
web, there grew a collective
wave of emotions that only
devoted fans could produce.
Our inner child grew green
with anticipation while we
dreaded another tarnishing
of our beloved franchise.
For months I followed
the film’s production, basing
my opinions on interviews,
clips, and the barrage of
images leaked to the masses
online. This is a dangerous
but necessary process for
any self-proclaimed "geek”.
My initial reaction was,
as with most, anger that
the new film TMNT was
to be done completely in
CGI (computer generated
graphics). 1 consider this
cost effective method
somewhat lazy compared
to the realistic marvels
Jim Henson was able to
create two decades ago.
Fortunately, the animation is
one of the stronger aspects
of the new film.
TMNT picks up a few
years after the old trilogy
with Shredder still dead,
games following the new
2003 cartoon. But with the
brand new movie already out
in theaters now, is it possible
that the Turtles will get a
much needed boost?
The quick and
honest answer is
yes and no.
Onthepositive
side, TMNT is a
very solid game.
Not relying so
much on the beat
em-up type action
of past games, this
game insinuates
the stealthy ninja
characteristic of
the turtles with
platforming
gameplay galore.
Similar to
Übisoft's other
platforming and
Photo courtes\ Gamespy.com
Leonardo prepares to reenact the Vanilla Ice dance sequence from Turtles 11.
action game series Prince of
Persia, the Ninja Turtles are
much more agile than their
virtual predecessors. I’heir
newfound agility allows for
plenty of running across and
scaling up walls, incredibly
fluid fights with martial arts,
and altogether an improved
sense of why the Ninja
Turtles are so untouchably
cool in the first place.
In combat, each turtle
possessesauniquepersonality
and methixl of lighting that
reflects that personality.
Michelangelo's childishness
will result in him basically
Leonardo away training
in the jungles of South
America, and the leaderless
team disbanded. By this
time April O’Neil (Sarah
Michelle Gellar) and Casey
Jones (Chris Evans) are
living together and the Fcx>t
have been regrouped under
the leadership of a w arrior
known as Karai (Ziyi
Zhang).
The somewhat sloppy
plot focuses on business
mogul Max Winters'
(Patrick Stewart) attempt to
gather 13 ancient monsters
so that his also ancient
stone buddies’ curse can
be lifted as some distant
stars align. The director/
write Kevin Monroe seems
to have known this was a
lame setup for the film, so
it’s pretty much ignored.
Instead audiences are treated
to the only real character
development in the stories;
of Leonardo and Raphael.
After Leo’s long
absence, Raph decides to
pick up the slack; donning
an armored costume and
taking on the persona of
"The Nightwatcher,” a
Batman-like vigilante
hunting down crime by
moonlight. Fans are finally
treated to the all out brawl
we’ve been waiting for as
Leonardo confronts this
menace, shocked to discover
his brother as the problem.
break dance fighting with
his nunchaku while Raphael
is less forgiving and more
aggressive with his twin sai
in hand. I’his personality is
not only displayed through
their lighting abilities, but
also via voice actors w ho do
a decent job of representing
the turtles and their quirky
one-liners.
But as solid as the
gameplay is, TMNT has
some serious downfalls that
crush any chance of it being
the next epic Ninja Turtles
game for fans. The biggest
of these flaw s is the game's
embarrassingly short length.
The game is broken down
into 1 fi levels, which actually
sounds like a lot of levels.
However with each level
taking roughly five to ten
\ v tS, & C r \\ ‘
Photo courtesy Ninjuturtles.com
(Above) A panel from the first issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by Eastman and
Laird shows the gritty style and feel of the original series. (Below) Cleaned up consider
ably from their comic roots, the turtles now make their most recent big screen debut in
spectacular CGI.
Plwlo courtesy Kottentomatoes.com
In the most spectacular
scene in the film, a rainy
rooftop battle for the title
of leader ensues, ultimately
revealing the better tighter.
I can promise that not many
viewers will be disappointed
with this scene.
As for Mikey and Don
they have little screentime.
WhatfewlinesMichelangelo
actually has are written as if
a ten year old came up w ith
them, but Donatello remains
minutes to complete, a truly
inspired gamer could easily
play through the entire game
in one sitting. For a game
that is almost full price, this
is inexcusable.
Sure the game has a
few bonus missions and
secrets to unlock through
the collecting of turtle coins,
but said bonus missions are
speed completion levels
that take less than 20-30
seconds and the coins are so
abundant in the game that
all unkxjkable pictures and
videos can be opened up and
disregarded in no time.
Adding insult to injury,
TMNT is a completely
single player game with no
sign of a single multiplayer
feature. For a series that
is constantly preaching
consistent, with witty
dialogue. Casey Jones is the
biggest let down with lame
one-liners and no really
ccxil moments. This is a far
cry from the original film
in which the flawless script
and actor Elias Koteas really
brought the role to life.
TMNT is obviously
aimed at the children
demographic, and w ith good
reason. Thankfully Monroe
also kept the older fans in
*
the notion of friendship,
brotherh(xxJ, and all that
warm gcx>ey stuff , a lack of
feature that made past Ninja
Turtles games so popular is
downright shameful. The
point could be made
that this type of fast
paced platforming
gameplay may not be
ideal for two players
at once, but at least
add a few multiplayer
mini-games for the
younger audience
to share with their
siblings or friends.
While Turtles in
lime it isn’t, it is still
incredibly hard not
to recommend this
game for a quick play
through. OverUx)king
the faults of the
length, the slight
repetitiveness, and a
total lack of multiplayer,
TMNT is definitely worth
a rent. Whether it’s for the
youngsters or the youngsters
at heart Ux>king for their
nostalgic return to Saturday
morning cartoon bliss, this
game is a radically solid
adventure game that true
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle
fans w ill enjoy.
\\ a tors Rating
©J
(out of 10)
mind, including many nods
to the original cartoon and
comics. With that said,
most of my problems with
the film can be overlooked
and TMNT can be enjoyed
as a action packed family
film for a new' generation
of fans. But if you grew
up with the mythology and
are interested in its roots, 1
suggest you pick up the old
comics and check out the
original film again.