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Growing up, I was a huge fan of the pencil and dice game of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The comic/RPG then became a hit morning cartoon, and it remains burned into my memory for life. The Turtles are back again, and while may not be the hit fad that spawned figures, stickers, catch phrases, lunch boxes, and much more, they still have a decent following as well as a pretty cool series on Saturdays once again. To cash in on the license, Konami picked up the franchise that they once owned in the early days, and have developed a new batch of titles to support the new series. While last year’s games were more for nostalgia buffs, the team at Konami is trying to prove that there is life behind this series and not just a fly by night flashback. Konami has brought both a console and Game Boy Advance title to the mix, and it is easy to say that the new Turtles on GBA is one title worth checking out if you are a fan from the past or the present. The graphics in the handle held Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battlenexus resembles a strong mixture of the first arcade version and the platform version on the original NES. The side scrolling environments vary from inside power plants, to the outworlds of the Turtles universe. The Turtles themselves are detailed and fluidly animated with specific moves and weapons for each unique Turtle. Some levels will even have your scrolling side to side on spaceships and air cars to supply some diversity from the hack and slash monotony that would typically keep the game from being fresh. Some great cut scenes that help move the story about are straight from the animated series. While only in screen shots, the presentation for a hand held is pretty good. The enemies are varied and the bosses are enormous. TMNT 2 on the GBA does not push the hand held to its limits, but does bring back fans of the older version great memories of when games were games.
Audio does a fair job providing the atmosphere of the cartoon series. There are a few voice samples present, but there could have been more, especially with the ton of text you must read in order to grasp the story. Knowing that the GBA is capable of much more, you have to wonder why more voiceovers were not incorporated. Other forms of audio are adequate and do a fine job supplying sound effects and background music to the action title. The core game play is dodge and slash from level to level. The A.I. is not terribly difficult, even in boss battles. The fact that you must share life bars does not make for any more of a difficult game either. What really shines in TMNT 2 is the fact that in 60 levels of game play, the monotony of hack, slash, and repeat is broken up by some diverse shooting and air combat levels. There is plenty to do and unlock throughout the story mode, including playing up to four players. Providing you have 4 GBAs and 4 carts, the multiplayer action adds more to the replay value of this title. Lastly, each Turtle’s unique ability is needed to complete some objectives and will give the game more than just slashing your way through each level. For example, Donatello is the only turtle that can see traps with his sense ability. With 60 stages of action, there is plenty of Turtle Power to digest on this handheld version. In some ways, this version of TMNT 2 is better than its console brother (Click Here for the review). The game play is straightforward, fun, and action packed, all without the trials of camera issues and other problems that the console version endures. If you like the Turtles or even like the old school game play of the TMNT arcade game or NES game, you should pick up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battlenexus for the GBA. Kowabunga!
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