Are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles even teenage anymore? Created in 1984, they're hitting the big two-five this year. For the red-eared snapper (the proposed breed of Raphael and co) with its 40-year lifespan, that's closer to OAP than Teenage Kicks. Heroes in a half shell? Heroes in a half snooze dribbling down their shirts, more like. As far as gaming legacies go they're no spring chickens either, the wonder days of the Konami arcade brawler1 tarnished by flop after flop.
Fight club So, how have these bastions of gaming shoddiness made it into the mag this month? That's down to another organisation celebrating their 25th anniversary this year: Games Arts, or 'them what made Smash Bros Brawl under Masahiro Sakurai's guidance', as they're more commonly known. Not only that, they're joined by members of the illustrious Team Ninja, who are well versed in beat-'em-ups (Dead Or Alive) and ninjas (Ninja Gaiden). Interested now?
Working on the game since being turfed out of Smash Central last January, Games Arts were clearly hired for their newly gained Smash Bros know-how. Glance around this page and you'll see the influence is overwhelming - the four players, the 2D perspective with 3D models, the way the camera zooms in and out based on character proximity. Even the platform formations remind us of the Nintendo title's arenas. Hell, the game even has the word 'Smash' in its name.
Not that Games Arts are resting on their laurels, TMNT could - whisper it - surpass Brawl in the looks department. The Turtles' world is a grittier, more realistic place, showing off an eye for real-world detail that simply didn't have a place among Brawl's puffballs and plumbers. Between the noir-ish vibe of a Manhattan skyline bathed in the glow of neon signs and the shimmering rapids of the jungle arena, Smash Up is really challenging the Wii to bring its A game.
Smash Up also replaces Brawl's damage build-up fight model with a traditional HP-depleting affair. Death by fall-out is still pretty common, but victories depend on cracking some serious shell. The roster of attacks, special attacks and throws won't trouble Smash-heads (or their wrists: attacks are motion-free), though Games Arts do stir things up with context-sensitive moves, such as running up walls and launching into flying kicks, or arcing Prince Of Persia-style on poles before ending with a gymnastics-powered kick.
Brawl's location-shifting stages are also an influence, as Smash Up fights rarely conclude where they began. While fighting in an underground sewer a misplaced foot knocks a grate, sending a wave of New York filth-liquid cascading over our pugilists. Carried away, they're deposited at the base of a subterranean aqueduct - home to a mutant crocodile with a taste for terrapins. Yes, that's right, all you grumpy tournament fighter types - Smash Up features all kinds of environmental deaths for you to gripe about.
Fighting atop a motel, even more ways are uncovered for a turtle to die. The neon signs pump a real neon sign's worth of volts through their shells (how very Eternal Champions) and bashing the water tower sends liquid violently gushing towards foes. We could understand how such a tidal wave could nark off the prim April O'Neil, but quite how water damages a turtle is beyond us. Never fear, though, chomp down on health-replenishing pizza and all is well once again.
No shell-out Franchise-wise, Smash Up plays loose with the TMNT universe. There's a hint of the 2003 show in the anime artwork, and the detailed character models remind us of the CG renderings in the 2007 film, but otherwise this feels pretty new. TMNT's co-creator Peter Laird2 is penning the single-player story (don't worry, it won't be a rehash of Subspace Emisary), while Mirage, the original comic's publisher, are shaping the roster. Only the Turtles and Splinter are confirmed so far, but we'll be upset if bubblegum brain Krang isn't there.
How refreshing to see a licensed game for the sake of a licensed game, and not just as part of a painful cross-media PR campaign for a film or cartoon. The choice to go with serious talent for a serious stab at some serious entertainment really harks back to the days when games of the film didn't need suicide warnings on the packet. The simple fact is: when big-name talent weighs in, titles of note emerge, and Games Arts and Team Ninja are on the right track.
So yes, it has been a long 20 years since the Turtles last dazzled us in game form. But 20 years older and 20 years wiser, Smash Up sees our heroes prepared to raise shell.
Ya know what? Every time I see a superhero in the game I automatically hate it, take Batman: Arkham Asylum. Tons of people are waiting on the edge of their seats for this but I think it looks horrific, and now TMNT are being planted into a SSBB clone. I'm sure it will play well but it's still an epic "MEH"...
This looks really promising. This year gamewise is making me feel like a kid again. Already i've got Ghostbusters and Batman to look forward to and now this.
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