Enter Konami.
Back in 2003, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles finally got the TV adaptation they deserved. It was a happy medium between the gritty comics and the dumb show for kids from 1987. Alongside with the reboot, Konami was tasked with handling the videogames, like they did in the past. TMNT for the GBA is a very interesting beat'em up that plays it safe, but doing what it does well.
The game has no form of multiplayer, and it's made up of 13 levels. Each Turtle has 4 'Acts', or stages, to its name, as well as an unlockable 13th scenario. Each set of four levels is a loose retelling of
particular episodes in the series, for instance, Leo's 4 acts would be the very first Baxter Stockman episode, while Raphael gets to play through the episode in which he meets Casey. All four acts are made up of two beat'em up sections, a vehicle stage and a boss fight of sorts. Sadly, each Act can be finished in between 6-15 minutes each, to call it short is an
understatement. Lastly, the 13th scenario allows you to play as any turtle as you take down Shredder.
Basic controls are the same for each turtle. B initiates a normal attack string, B+Up is a juggling move, B+A is a desperation attack that
consumes some health, every one but Mikey gets a B+Down variation, then there's the A button which is used for jump. The game also uses a 'charge' mechanic, holding down the B button allows you to use two different special moves depending on how much you held the button down. It's a bit... weird in this kind of game, but enemies,
at least in the normal difficulty, are dumb enough to allow you to charge your attacks. Controls are responsive, and are just fine, for the most part... For some reason, they decided that after walking for a few seconds, your turtle will automatically start running. This is absolutely
annoying, as 'dash attacks' are a thing. Sometimes I just want to get close to an enemy in order to initiate a combo, not knock'em down with a dash attack. Why it was done this way, particularly when dashing can be done by double tapping, is beyond me, and annoyed me quite a bit more than I'd have liked.
One little touch that I did enjoy is that every turtle is slightly different from each other. Take Mikey, he can instantly turn around from a dash, heck, he can initiate a turn around attack from a dash, which no other turtle can do, although he can't crouch, which can be a huge
handicap when facing the overpowered shooting enemies. Lastly, Mikey is the only turtle capable of double jumping... which he only uses in one level. Donatello's dash attack is a flying kick, which
propels him forward quite a bit, and must be used for some platforming. He can also use his staff to do a pole jump, at the cost of the double jumps his brothers can perform. Then there's Raph, he can use his Sai to climb certain walls, on that
one stage of his. And Leo is the only one that can crawl. This is very neat, but very
underutilized, take Raph's climbing, he only gets to do it in one of his stages, a 10-15 minute stage.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' presentation is a bit lacking on the visual department. Sprites are
colorful, and I appreciated the different animations for each Turtle, but.... said animations could've used a few more frames, I
think. The style in which the turtles were drawn takes a bit of getting used to, as they have huge shoulders, but tiny legs! On the flip side, the game has quite a few different tunes, and, as far as the Gameboy Advance goes, they are pretty darn good.
All in all, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a valiant first attempt for a then-next generation Turtles game. It's a bit short, and some features go underutilized, but at its core it's a really
good game.
7.0 out of 10
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