PixlBit

Let's kick shell! The turtles have never been better. 

Beat 'em up games are a lot of fun. They're definitely my favorite kind of games; beating the crap out of punks is pretty awesome. Taking a bat or a big pipe to someone's face is so satisfying. However, beat 'em up games are usually either really fun or really frustrating; if it somehow falls in-between, it's mediocre, and not fun, but repetitve. Tragically, the tendency in beat 'em ups is to become repetitive (I've played a lot of BAD beat 'em ups). But when it comes to awesome kick-butt fun, you won't find a better game than TMNT 4. 

TMNT 4 was released for the SNES in 1992, developed and published by Konami. As with many Konami games, it was an arcade port, but this is no typical port; Konami made drastic changes to the game, and it has a high and rare honor, being that the SNES game is actually superior to the arcade game. I will expound on this point a little later. 

Most beat 'em ups have very typical plots: someone is captured and you must rescue him/her. Usually in the Turtles games April is captured, but in TMNT 4 the Statue of Liberty is actually captured! The Turtles must retrieve this timeless monument, so they set out to get her back. After choosing your turtle, you play four stages, and at the end of the fourth stage, are thrown into a time warp. Now who doesn't like time travel? TMNT 4 is a unique game because you get to fight in the prehistoric era, a pirate ship from 1630, a train from the Old West, then you jump to the future (2020 AD), then to 2100 AD in a space station, and finally back to good ol' 1992. Wow, what a ride! Talk about a unique beat 'em up game! But we've barely scraped the surface of this incredible Turtle-tastic game. 

Konami went all-out for this one. For one thing, the Turtles are not pallete swaps of one character. Each Turtle looks and plays differently; they each have a unique fighting style. The controls are tight and spot-on. The combat is smooth and fluid; each turtle will hit an enemy four times in a row if you press the button repeatedly, and this never gets old. You can also do a flying kick, a powerful attack if you're surrounded, a grab attack (where the turtle grabs the enemy by the arm and smashes him into the ground on both sides a few times), and everyone's favorite, you can throw an enemy into the screen! That's right, this awesome attack had never been seen before in a beat 'em up, and it would actually be used in level 4 to defeat a boss! So the combat in this game shines; it's fun, fast, and solid. 

  Who knew that Lady Liberty could be so easily snatched from her pedestal?

Each level is unique in its setting. The game contains nine stages, which is pretty extensive for a beat 'em up. Levels 3 and 8 are considered bonus stages, as the turtles try and defeat as many bad guys as possible while also collecting pizzas. The game starts you on a construction stage, moving to a back alley street level, then into the sewers, to Shredder's Technodrome, and then you go back in time to the places I mentioned earlier. The fourth level is unique to the SNES game, as in the arcade game, Shredder appears at the end of the sewers level and somehow sends you back in time. It makes more sense that he would do this after you fight him in the Technodrome, so props to Konami for adding a whole new level! 

The bosses are great as well. You'll face some classic Turtles villains, such as Baxter Stockman, Metalhead, Rocksteady and Beebop, Tokka and Rahzar (from the second Turtles movie), Krang, and of course, Shredder himself. By far the most difficult boss in the game is Slash, a feisty turtle-like creature who fights you at the end of the prehistoric level. He can block your attacks, jump from side to side, and roll into you very quickly. He's really tough, especially on the hard difficulty. The final boss is Super Shredder, who looks like he's straight from Dragon Ball Z, especially since he shoots green orbs out of his hand. He moves quickly and has three attacks, keeping you on your toes at all times. What makes this fight even better is that you fight him in front of the Statue of Liberty's huge head. Epic! 

The foot ninjas are the bad guys you'll be throwing around, even in the time travel stages (somehow they went back in time too). There are several different kinds of ninjas: the purple ones are the normal ones, white ones have whips, orange ones jump up and throw knives, blue ones attack with swords, yellow ones throw bombs, and pink ones actually block your attacks. Each stage is littered with different kinds of foot ninjas, so they never become repetitive. Also, the foot ninjas are not just stupid bad guys; one may grab you and hold you while another punches you silly. Some levels also have those R2D2-like robots that roll around and try to shock you with an electric wire. Level 4 also has mousers, which come up to you and try to bite you. Oh, Level 5 has dinosaurs, but you don't fight them (just don't let them squish you). Level 3 has sewer monsters that jump out of the water at you. In level 6, you'll face ninjas that shoot arrows at you. A few levels also have ninjas which throw this green boomerang blob at you; these dudes are tough, as they are hard to hit and that stupid boomerage always gets you on the way back. The rock dudes are also found in many levels with lazer guns or some other deadly weapon. So as you can see, there is a great variety of enemies in the game. 

This game shines even brighter because Konami pays attention to the details. For example, in the prehistoric stage, watch out for rampaging dinosaurs that will flatten you, and for huge spikes in caverns that may fall right on top of you. In the pirate ship level, an opposing ship will float by and shoot huge cannonballs onto you ship; once again, they will flatten you if they hit you. In the western train level, foot ninjas will be disguised in ponchos and hats, then throw them off to fight you; others will ride by on horses and jump on the train. In the space station level, look out for electric fields and fast-freezing panels. There are so many little details in this game, I can't talk about them all! 

The music is great; pumping, exciting, it makes you want to kick shell! The first and last leves have the awesome Ninja Turtles theme play, and its just fantastic. The music fits each stages well; the pirate level has a sea-faring tune, while the Old Western train level sounds like its from a John Wayne movie (sort of), all the while keeping that frantic pace that we know and love from classic Turtles games. I especially enjoy the boss theme from this game. 

                    Dude! Shredder has never looked this awesome! 

The main game is not very long; you can beat it in just about 30 minutes. Grab a friend, this game is a blast when you're kicking shell together! If you lose all your lives, you will have the chance to continue and even choose a different turtle if you like. There are three difficulties, easy, normal, and hard. So if you beat it on normal, try hard. Konami won't give you the ending until you beat the game on hard, and let me say, it is hard! Slash and Super Shredder are by far the most difficult parts of hard mode (they are FAST). The SNES version also gives you a little fighting game (which is only two player); you and a friend choose a turtle and fight each other. It's nothing amazing, but it can be pretty fun. Konami would expand on the fighting front with their game Tournament Fighters, which was released in '93/'94 for three different systems (NES, SNES, and Genesis). I hope to reveiw all three in the future. 

I have to mention the boss fight in level 4. Shredder comes out in some kind of attack ship to fight the turtles. The view then changes so that we are looking through Shredder's windshield at the turtles. The only way to bring him down is to throw the foot ninjas into the screen; the best way to do this is to get the turtles running and ram an enemy, then press the button again to throw them into the screen. After several hits, Shredder will jump out of his ship and then cast you into the time warp. This has got to be one of the best bosses in any video game. Konami took one of the play mechanics and used it as a tool of bringing down a boss. That's amazing, my friend!

Final Verdict--5 Stars: Awesome!

I could go on and on about this game, and no wonder, this is my favorite game of all time! No game has ever given me more fun and satisfaction than this one. I can honestly say that this is a flawless game. If you've never played it, you're missing out big time. This game is not only the pinnacle of the Turtles games, it is the pinnacle of the beat 'em up genre (that's my opinion, of course, you may disagree). No Turtles game has come close to topping this one. Ubisoft tried to remake it with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled, but it was a remake of the arcade version! Why? Anyways, I haven't played it, but I've heard it's not that great; in fact, Screwattack stated that it's one of the worst remakes of all time. I hate to say it, but I don't think any Turtles game will ever surpass this one. Oh, and the box art is awesome too. 

                                         It's hard to improve on a perfect game

Join me every Saturday as we take a look back at all kinds of retro games, good and bad.