Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a fondly remembered cartoon from the late eighties/early nineties. Of course it was also several other TV shows, comic books, action figures, movies and video games. But the original cartoon that ran for 9 seasons is the most remembered and celebrated. With the Turtles 25th anniversary upon us Smash-Up was the game to celebrate that milestone.
TMNT Smash Up is a Super Smash Bros clone and was created by GameArts and the dev team consisted of several ex-members of Team Ninja. As GameArts have some experience with the Smash Bros series you’d expect this to be a pretty solid title, and a great Turtles game.
The graphics style follows the most recent TMNT CG movie, and the style works well. Though fans of the original series that haven’t seen the new movie will wonder why the human characters look strange, and Shredder just looks lame.
Like Super Smash Bros, the game is a 1-4 player fighter. Up to four players in a large and interactive environment battle it out until one is left standing. There are power-up items and environmental hazards to add some more fun into the mix.
The control scheme is similar to Smash Bros as well. While you can use the gamecube controller, classic controller or wiimote/nunchuck combo, the analog stick is always move, and up is jump. This leads to the same frustrating control issues I have with the Smash Bros series, and the characters movements are also just as float-y as those game.
The biggest difference between Smash-Up and Smash Bros, is that your characters have a life bar. The idea is to just deprive them of all their health instead of trying to knock them off the stage. You can still knock them off, but there’s not meter that makes them easier to blow away.
Smash-Up features quite a few characters from the Turtles universe; initially you can play as the 4 turtles, April, Casey Jones, and Splinter. You can also unlock several new characters including Shredder, and other new characters from the latest TV series.
Smash-Up features arcade, mission, tournament, and collection modes.
The arcade mode is a single player mode with mostly 1 on 1 fights up til Shredder. You get to choose your character and it features black and white comic book style cutscenes by the original comic artist, and at the end of the mode you get to choose from a collection of unlockables.
The mission mode is comprised of set scenario battles. It could be 1 on 1, 2 on 2, or 1 vs 3 battles, and sometimes with specific winning conditions. It’s a lot like the mode from Smash Bros.
The collection mode is a mode where you use Shells earned in the other modes to buy trophies or play a game where you shoot shells at floating trophies to try and unlock action figure pieces. You can check out your figures and trophies in the collection, but that’s about all there is.
All in all Smash-Up is a decent fighter. It has the same issues as Smash Bros (like the controls and floaty-ness) which most gamers have gotten over, but also just doesn’t feel as fleshed out an experience as Smash Bros is. While it’s fun for a while, after a bit you’ll just wonder why you aren’t playing Smash Bros instead. It’s worth checking out if you love Smash Bros and the Turtles franchise, but doesn’t have much lasting appeal.
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