Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 1989 Classic Arcade (Xbox 360) review "If you were a kid in the late 80s or early 90s, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were the ****. The cartoon was at the height of its popularity and merchandise was selling like hotcakes. Then, in 1989, TMNT graced the arcades, causing hardcore fans to wet themselves in joy. If you were one of those kids, you better gear up because the nostalgia is going to hit you like a brick wall. "

If you were a kid in the late 80s or early 90s, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were the ****. The cartoon was at the height of its popularity and merchandise was selling like hotcakes. Then, in 1989, TMNT graced the arcades, causing hardcore fans to wet themselves in joy. If you were one of those kids, you better gear up because the nostalgia is going to hit you like a brick wall.

The gameplay here is simple yet effective. Each turtle has an attack button and a jump button. Pressing both of those buttons at the same time unleashes their special attack, which, with the exception of Raphael, results in a one hit kill. Despite this simplicity, there’s a difference in the way each turtles plays, resulting in certain turtles being the best for certain situations. Donatello has the longest range, so he can effectively attack without getting hit back. Leonardo has a decent attack speed and range, though not as long as Donatello, so he’s the most balanced of the bunch. Raphael is the fastest when it comes to attacking, so it’s usually hard for enemies to counter-attack him, but he lacks range. Michelangelo also lacks range but is the best when it comes to combos. Enemies come at you from absolutely anywhere and everywhere, including Mousers, robots and a wide variety of Foot Ninja that wield spears, guns, throwing knives and even bombs. Yes, bombs. Bosses include Bebop, Rocksteady, Baxter, Krang and more. All these enemies bring us to another important point: the game’s difficulty. This game is HARD. You will die and you will die a lot. The difficulty is most likely there to prolong an otherwise short game. Luckily, the game offers unlimited lives in the single player mode, so you can finish the game no matter how bad you do.

Unfortunately, the online multiplayer isn’t as forgiving. You can play with up to three other players cooperatively and each player is awarded 20 lives. Now you may think that this makes the game easier, as four players can surely breeze through this game. Well, you, good sir or madam, are dead wrong. The more players you are, the more enemies the game throws at you and the harder the bosses are to defeat. This also poses a problem as, at times, there will be so much going on at once that you’ll lose find yourself searching for your turtle on the screen. Don’t get discouraged by this, however, as meeting the right players online will definitely help you improve. I also found it fun simply because you meet Turtles fans and will get into some good discussions over the Turtles, making the online multiplayer that much fun. As for the actual online setup, you can either join a quick match or create your own match, either public or private. The quick match works quite well and will almost always successfully pair you with players.

Being an arcade title for the 360, you also get a range of achievements to unlock over the course of the game. Some of the achievements, such as “Turtle Soup” (don’t get turned into a normal turtle when fighting Shredder) and “Strategy” (defeat Krang's robot, losing 10 health or less) can be quite challenging to get, but definitely aren’t impossible, so you’ll constantly be online trying to get them. The achievements system really helps add some replay value to an otherwise simple and short game that might get boring fast.

TMNT is an arcade title that will surely please all Turtles fans, whether they’re looking for some nostalgia or just a TMNT game to play with friends. It’s a short but fun title worth the $5 (400 points) price tag.

Community review by sansname (March 22, 2007) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.