TMNT Meets SSBB. Cowabunga dude!
By Ben Salter
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles plus the king of (Nintendo) fighting games sounds like a fanboys dream come true. The Turtles have seen some failures recently as the comic turned cartoon series has attempted to find success in the realm of videogames. One classic that comes to mind is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters, which like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up was inspired by another popular fighter, Street Fighter 2, when it was released on the SNES. Jump forward to the present day and Ubisoft have decided to enlist the service of a fighting series veteran, in developer Game Arts, to try and take TMNT back to its former glory.
Game Arts are responsible for being one of the lead developers on Super Smash Bros. Brawl. So it’s no surprised that TMNT Smash-Up is more than just inspired by the classic brawler, it’s almost identical in some aspects. That’s by no means a bad thing; just don’t expect too much originality.
If you’re flying solo TMNT Smash-Up offers arcade mode, a short story complete with some of the worst cuts scenes this generation (more on that later), and missions mode, a series of scenarios that you are tasked to complete. You’ve also got a survival mode if you’re up for some one-against-all never ending action. Jumping online runs fairly smoothly, and fortunately we didn’t suffer from lag during the games that we played. It’s fairly standard stuff, but the Wii is certainly getting better at producing online games. While it probably won’t keep you online for the next 6 months TMNT Smash-Up is slightly above SSBB as an online title. Like most Wii games it takes a little while to get started, but once it did we found it to be a lot more reliable than Brawl. It was a little easier to find a random match and it was almost a luxury without the risk of dropping out at any minute due to intense lag.
Like any fighting game you’re really going to stick around for the multiplayer. The Battle Royale mode can be played against CPUs, but the 4-player fast and frantic action is what you’ll be after. You can set up a tournament for up to 8 players, which is almost a must have now for a game of this caliber. A cool new feature, that wasn’t in SSBB, is tag team; it allows you to select two characters and interchange them mid-battle. This sets up some interesting combos and presents a solution if you need to pull a weakened character out of battle.
TMNT Smash-Up uses a two button control system, offering a light and strong attack, with the latter being slower but compensating with a larger and more powerful range. Like Smash Bros throwing the analog stick into a certain direction will activate different moves. You’ve also got the standard grab and throw technique along with some stylish dodge moves. All in all the gameplay is fairly solid. It takes a leaf out of SSBB books, a big leaf at that, but who is to say that’s a bad thing? If it ain’t broke don’t fix it! Game Arts also elected to retain four different control options. TMNT Smash-Up can be played with either the Wii Remote, Wii Remote + Nunchuck, Classic Controller or GameCube Controller. It’s hardly surprising, and given the success of SSBB with more traditional control methods.
While they do differ, unfortunately the characters are a little too similar. It doesn’t really matter which character you chose as they control almost exactly the same. Each has some slight variations with their moves, but character selection is going to be based on your favourite character more than anything else. The character list is shameful to say the least; the four Turtles, Splinter and Shredder where a given and Fugitoid, Raphael's alter-ego Nightwatcher and Utrominator seem to have been picked out of left field. The characters themselves are based on the 2007 GC movie, rather than then the hit TV show, which is unlikely to please anyone. April, Casey Jones and the Foot were to be expected and Karai and three Rabbids make up the remainder of the list. In total there are only 16 characters, 3 of which are in game advertisements for Ubisoft’s Wii hit Raving Rabbids. Where are the cartoon classics such as Rocksteady and Beebop? That is perhaps the biggest difference between SSBB and TMNT Smash-Up. Beyond the massive character list in Brawl there was also a tremendous amount of fan service. Smash Bros is almost a tribute Nintendo’s great characters, and those hoping Smash Up would be the same for the Ninja Turtles are going to leave grossly disappointed.
Despite being a Smash Bros clone there are some minor changes here and there. None of the characters have big, slightly over the top, abilities as the do in SSBB; I’ll put this down to TMNT being more about accurately trained and respectful warriors. Game Arts also elected to bring in the more traditional health bar. Once it reaches zero it’s game over, rather than the damage system adopted in SSBB. Finally, the wall run is a great addition, and possibly one of the highlights of the gameplay. Any of the characters are able to run up nearby walls and catapult themselves back into battle, with terrifying results. Besides looking awesome it’s quite effective.
Level design is right up there, and possibly rivals the king. Had there been a few more TNMT could have over taken its spiritual predecessor in terms of stages. The levels are all spacious, and most transform quickly during the course of battle. One has you running along a moving train whilst your opponent unhinges carriages. Another has you in a burning building, falling through levels as they burn beneath your feet. The sewers level is the closest thing to a reference to the classic TV show. Fans will remember countless episodes of the TMNT crew running below the city as their fight against Shredder heated up. Oh and did I mention they are complete with a giant crocodile that can come out and end the battle at any minute?
The game looks good in some areas, and a little rough in others. The character models are particularly good, although, somewhat ruined by a coloured glow that illuminates from them so you can tell who’s who. At times the poor old Wii struggles to keep up with the fast-paced action leaving environments not looking quite as good as they should, but for the most part it’s decent to look at. However, I’m taking off big points for the cut scenes during the arcade mode. They’re an absolute disgrace, and look as if a 5-year-old whipped them up waiting for recess. Maybe this explains the lack of fan service. They attempt to tell the limited story throw comic panels, but it fails completely and is more likely to anger fans than impress them.
The Final Verdict
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Smash-Up takes Super Smash Bros. Brawl and translates it into the world of TMNT. From a gameplay perspective it’s fairly solid. The two-button control scheme works well, the levels are great and the characters are well balanced, although, very similar. Unfortunately there’s just not enough here. The character list is shameful, the single player component takesa handful of hours, and the weak extras make it feel as though Ubisoft wanted it to remain well in SSBB’s shadow. Make no mistake, it’s a solid fighter, but for TMNT fans who are willing to forgo the fan service, and gamers looking for an online service ever so slightly better than Brawl. After all if you have a Wii you already own SSBB right?
Gameplay
8.0/10
The core gameplay is great, and features some nice level design. Expect it to play almost identically to SSBB, but there was no need to change anything. Online is also a highlight.
Graphics
7.0/10
They hold their own, but come across a little rough in some areas. Cut scenes are an absolute disgrace.
Sound
7.0/10
The small amount of voice acting is nice. The background music is fairly generic and not very memorable, but it does the job.
Value
6.5/10
You’ll only play for a few hours by yourself. Online will keep you coming back for a bit, as will multiplayer, but it just feels like it’s lacking compared to the king that is SSBB, especially when you probably already own that and most of Smash-Up plays the same. The roster of 13 characters (plus 3 Rabbids) is disappointing, and will no doubt be a deal breaker for some people.
Overall
7.3/10