Customer Reviews

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-shelled [Online Game Code]

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Turtles in Time Re-shelled has a little good, some that is mediocre, and a lot left wanting.
My friends and I all have fond memories of mashing foot soldiers to a pulp across many hours of our misspent youths, so when this game was released I was very excited. We fired it up last night and played through it in one sitting, four player.
First: this is a port of the arcade version, not the SNES version. To the point, the Technodrome stage is absent, The bosses Rat King, Rocksteady & Bebop, and Slash are missing, and there is no versus mode. We didn't realize this at first and were quite crestfallen.

The GOOD-
-4 player co-op is the main selling point. It was what we enjoyed the most - even when the game was bad, at least it was bad as a group experience. Friends make everything better.
-The new graphics have a certain charm. It's cool that each turtle has a different voice.
-It's only $10. I owned the SNES version, which you'll recall sold new for about fifty.

The BAD-
-The engine. The old version was satisfying to play for a lot of reasons, and those elements are now gone. If the brunt of your game is going to be spent mashing buttons, you'd better make sure those buttons are rewarding to mash. In this new game there is no 'dodge', no 'block', and most importantly no hit-stun. The slight plus of being able to keep hitting a downed enemy is outweighed a hundredfold when you get knocked down and THEY can keep hitting YOU. I will be clear here: you will be helpless to respond. One boss - Cement Man (replaced by Slash in the SNES port) will actually park on top of you after you go down, and keep damaging you until you die. The badguys also do not have 'I am being hit by something' lag - they will hit you right out of a combo you are performing on them, and the bosses are even worse.
-The details. You can't skip the animations in between levels, the music is forgettable (as opposed to the genuine charm of the original), and the controls are laggy making it difficult to avoid attacks even when you see them coming.

I played through this game again by myself today, and it was an exercise in frustration. Partly because of the lackluster reimagining, but mostly because the game I remember was so good. If you read the credits you will notice that the test team for this title consisted of a mere twelve people. As I former tester myself I know that you need more people involved. It betrays a motivation by the makers for money first, and fun second - if at all.
The first level of this game is really pretty fun - but you can play it for free in the demo. Save yourself ten dollars and the disappointment of seeing your childhood shoddily repackaged.

I'm a huge turtles fan so hearing a remake of arguably the best turtles game of all time was being made I got excited. They used the arcade version as a base which means the game lacks the Technodrome level, Rat King, Slash, Bebop, and Rocksteady. All these are minor complaints and understandable as those were all SNES console bonuses.

That aside I'm going to break down the good and bad about the game. Let's do the good first.

Good
* They used the voice actors from the 2K3 series so it's good.
* The cut scenes and character menu designs are awesome.
* Most of the boss character designs are good.
* Online multiplayer for up to four people.

The bad, and there's alot of it.
* The music is horrible. I don't normally care about music in games but I went in expecting something that at least remotely resembled the original games. Instead we got boring generic tracks that lack any defining sound.
* The graphics are terrible. The fact they brought it into a 3-D realm is fine but it's unappealing. The game looks like a Playstation game. I wasn't expecting anything amazing as it's an XBL game but why they didn't do it in the style of say "Castle Crashers" is beyond me. To me that was more fitting for a brawler like this.
* They removed flips and jump kicks.
* The 8 way directional attacking works when it wants to.
* There's a delay on the controls so you will get hit unfairly quite a bit.
* Some of the bosses are annoying. The Mud Monster especially.
* All the charm of the original is just gone and what you're left with is a hallow shell.

I'm not picky when it comes to games. You give me something playable that I can either beat up things to kill stuff in and I'm happy. Even I couldn't enjoy this as a casual gamer or a huge turtles fan. Being a fan is one reason I don't enjoy this game. However even if it wasn't turtles and I had no expectations on that front I couldn't enjoy this game. It's just not fun.

I don't recommend this game to people who want a good side scroller or want to re-live the glory days of Turtles In Time. If you can't help but play it I highly recommend you try a demo first.

This is NOT the original Turtles in Time - in any way, shape or form.

Shockingly, I went in knowing that this was going to be an updated Turtles in Time with open arms... and I was completely disappointed.

There is little charm to the updated graphics, music and sound effects, and because of the pseudo 3-D graphics, the game plays a little differently, and the controls are super-loose / wonky.

If you imagine that this is a stand-alone TMNT title, you'll still be disappointed.

Please just add the original Turtles in Time to the XBLA, Ubi-Soft.

I picked this up from the Xbox Live Arcade while it was on sale (during one of those Gold-Exclusive Deal of the Week bits) for 400 points (the equivalent of $5) and I feel cheated; I wouldn't spend double that and not want to slap myself silly.

TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled is essentially a 3D adaption of the classic 2D arcade game... and nothing more. Sure, you get 200G of achievements you can probably max out with 4-5 hours of play, but the game really shows how far this type of game has improved since the original was released in the early 1990s.

The voice acting is good, the menus are well-designed, and the 3D graphics are about on par for an XBLA game, but that's about where my praise of the game ends.

With the exception of the train level, the music is forgettable, and all the levels are monotonous - a bunch of drones, an explosive object 1/2 way through, more drones, mini-boss. The game lacks any kind of block or dodge: you can move, jump, attack, run-attack and jump-attack. That's it. This is a button-masher in its purest form. The 8-way attack system is finicky at best. There is also a VERY noticeable lag from when you press a button and the action is executed. Although the turtles have radically different stats, they all play exactly the same. And finally, unlike other game remakes, you don't have the option of switching to the original graphics.

The one instance this game might work is if you have friends over for a party and want to do some multiplayer that is not of the Guitar Hero/Rock Band/Lips or Mortal Kombat/Street Fighter variety you can complete in a reasonable amount of time (expect the game to last 30-45 minutes).

In short, get the original and keep your childhood memories intact.

Long story short- The TMNT Turtles in Time arcade game was great in a number of ways-bright colorful graphics, an awesome soundtrack and sound effects and 4-player co-op play.

While the new ReShelled edition retains 4 player co-op, the entire experience is a total letdown. The music has been replaced by generic boring rock tracks, the sound effects sound like the turtles are hitting the foot soldiers with sponges, and the graphics are very dull and muted in every level.

Theres also a survival mode included- but its the same exact game with one life. Not a lot of fun there at all. :(
Only buy this if you have 3 other friends who will play with you, other than that, unlike the arcade version, this version is a drag to play by yourself.

As with most gamers, I recall the excellent sessions with the SNES version of TMNT: Turtles In Time. However, what most gamers failed to realize prior to this titles release is that THIS ISN'T THE SNES VERSION. If you accept it for what they give you, it's a pretty decent romp through the turtle-verse. My gripe is that releasing two of these games (this and the original) leaves me with a sense of been there.. if you know what I mean. The Graphics are a great addition (as others have already commented on). And the boss fights are pretty tough, but that's more to do with cheap hits than a genuine challenge. Overall I'd say this entry is probably not worth $10 unless you REALLY want to add this to your Live Arcade collection/Turtle nostalgia.

Editor's Note: Because TMNT: Turtles in Time Reshelled is not available from the PSN Store @ Amazon.com, this review is for the PS3 version.

TMNT 4: Turtles in Time is still a very sought after Super Nintendo game, and for good reason. It was a blast to play in the arcade and on the SNES.

So, in a nice bit of fan service, Ubisoft did a remake of this game, and it's definitely a blast of nostalgia.

If it's one thing I've learned doing video game reviews, certain games can be really polarizing, and if you change something out of that perceived detail, people are not going to be happy with it.

The gameplay for Reshelled is pretty easy for anyone to pick up, making it a nice choice if you've got kids or a spouse that would not normally play a video game. On the Easy difficulty it is really hard to die. I lost 1 life only in my first playthrough, and I hadn't played this game in probably 14 years. However, go up the difficulty chain and it'll challenge even seasoned video gamers.

Obviously this is also a very good "party" game if you have 4 people that can play. As it was in the arcades. :)

One of the things people remember about this game is being able to throw the foot soliders into the screen, and that's present in this game. You can also do body slams, etc in addition to using your Turtle's primary weapon.

However, there are some things that keep this from a 5 star DLC:

- Attacking can be too simplistic (i.e. just keep mashing the X button). You'll get through the game just doing this for the most part
- Some of the levels/bosses are really cheap (especially the sewer level w/the mines, and the Cement Man boss which is where I lost my only life as it's almost impossible to avoid him turning into "cement" and hitting you since you have to be right up against him to attack.
- It's a totally linear game in an era of sandbox play, and while that flew in 1995-1996, it won't fly with everyone today.

So the bottom line is, yes, this game can be a lot of fun for your kids, it is easy on the lower difficulty levels, and it might be too linear for some.

But if you want a trip down memory lane with the Turtles, you could do worse then spend $10 at the PSN store for this game.