I just read IGN’s review on the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and came away thinking, am I the only person with high hopes for the movie? No matter, I’m pretty sure that the movie tie-in iOS game, titled TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, would pretty much wow anyone who is willing to give it a chance. Featuring cell-shaded graphics, the game is an arena style brawler whereby after picking the Turtle of your choice, you’ll be up against waves of enemies.
Now, this sounds a bit similar like the Guardians of the Galaxy game I reviewed earlier (click here for the review) but there’s a key difference. GOTG is squad-based whereas TMNT focuses on a single Turtle of your choice. Both games have their merits. The former has a lot more micromanagement going for it and players (if there are like me) would derive satisfaction from choosing the right GOTG character to tackle the right enemy type. The latter on the other hand, since it only focuses on a single turtle, focuses on swiped-based attacks, allowing players to go crazy with the moves.
It’s the Ninjutsu-style moves that steal the show in TMNT, and to be honest, having your Turtle move around the screen like some bad-assed ninja kinda reminds me of the Batman: Arkham games, right down to the part where players are alerted on impending moves from the enemy AI so that they can counter those moves with a tap on the screen! The difference here is that you’ll be yelling “Cowabunga!” instead of “Holy Ninja Reptile Batman!” There’s this crazy Turtle Power super attack that you get to unleash on enemies which borrows elements from games like the DS staple, Ouendan. You need to watch my video to check it out.
You’ll get to unlock more moves as your Turtle gains experience and the same goes for upgrades and weapons. TMNT has two game modes, the Story Mode as well as the Survival Mode, not forgetting the in-game challenges peppered across the game. I must be on a roll somewhat as this Nickelodeon/Paramount Pictures published title is right up there with Guardians of the Galaxy as some of the best games out on the App Store (IMHO). The only drawback is that despite the USD 3.99 price tag, TMNT still has in-app purchases. Shucks.
As such, we rate Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at a 4.5 out of 5…awesome stuff! The game is available on iTunes App Store for iOS devices: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/id797809194?mt=8, as well as for Android (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mtvn.tmntMovieGame)
A review code was provided to Nineoverten.com for the purpose of this review.
