The story goes like this; a giant object approaches Earth. It is the Tricerton’s home world with its awesome powers and advanced technology. Their goal is to find the inventor of the Teleportal technology, who happens to be the Fugitoid, also known as Professor Honeycutt and a friend of the Turtles. Even though Honeycutt has left earth, the Tricertons do not believe it and invade Earth anyway. It is up to the four green mutant machines to stop them and save the world.

Visually, Mutant Nightmare looks much like the other Turtle titles on this generation’s consoles. You have the cartoon cut scenes that move the story along, the cartoon cel shading, and the environments are not the most varied works of art known to man. Oddly, there are some cut scenes done in a cel shaded CG form as well, I assume to add more story that the cartoon series didn’t tell. Intriguingly, when watching these polygonal scenes, I wonder what the next gen Turtle titles will look like. Animations, explosions and other special effects are done to par, but nothing here is ‘wow’ inducing.

Audio, much like the visual effects, won’t capture the eye of the tech whores out there, but for the style of game it is, and who it is developed for, it more than does the job adequately. The game supplies full voice-overs from the TV series, the sound effects are campy, yet fit the bill, and the grunts and groans are to a minimum and are only used as ambient fodder. This is a sigh of relief as if I had to hear any more of “slice and dice, talk to the feet” or any other annoying catch phrases repeatedly, I would have to go into the sewers and kill those turtles myself!

Gameplay is pretty cut and dry. Hack, slash, use special weapon or power, repeat. While the game does diversify by adding hover board levels, fighting, and exploration stages, the meat of the game remains the classic brawler. Thankfully, the mission stages are quite short, which will alleviate having to fight a multitude of the same enemies for a long period of time. Multiplayer action not only will add some replay value, but there are special combos and attacks that can only be utilized with a friend. With up to four players being able to team up with, you can relive the magic of the old arcade versions, without the musty smell of old tokens and sneakers.

TMNT 3: Mutant Nightmare has you battling your way over 30 stages, and tons of unlockable goodies such as the classic Turtles in Time arcade game will give you and maybe some friends something to shoot for. It is not terribly long, but for fewer than 30 bucks, how can any fan of the series complain? You can even power up your turtle and customize him as you progress through the game. While this feature is not too in-depth, it does add more value the overall experience.

In the end, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Mutant Nightmare is just what Splinter ordered. This is a fun little romp that captures the feeling of the old school arcade game, while adding some features that keep the game from feeling too dated. Fans should not pass up on this, especially those of you with TMNT lunch boxes and skateboard decals…you know who you are.