Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: BattleNexus - Xbox

In the confused but strangely rich melting pot of culture generated by the transformation of the 80s into the 90s, many icons rose, and some fell, from the Simpsons to Howard the Duck. One such phenomenon were the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, originally the anti-heroes of a rather dark comic book created by Peter A. Laird and Kevin B. Eastman. Abducted by popular children’s culture, live action films and an animated series were made, accompanied by the traditional slew of merchandising. One such by-product was Konami’s four-player arcade cabinet, in which players took control of their favourite member of the mutant ‘group transformed from the norm by the nuclear goop’, as the song went. The game was known for nothing so much as seeking to squeeze as much money from players as it could, there being many parts of the game where it was practically impossible to proceed without losing credits. Funnily enough, there was also an incredibly similar game by Konami featuring the Simpsons, and both are remembered fondly by those who used to frequent arcades at the time.

Last Christmas saw the release of a new TMNT game, again by Konami, still the guardian of the license. An attempt to recreate the fast-paced action of the original in 3D beat-em-up form, the game fell short in that it only supported simultaneous play for two out of four turtles at once. In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: BattleNexus, this issue has been addressed – now four players can play at once as Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Donatello and Raphael. Recreated in neat cel-shaded graphics, and with comic book style touches such as ‘Thwacks’ appearing above the heads of pummeled adversaries, the game boasts both head-to-head and co-operative game modes (both four player), and the action is varied, with combination moves allowing thirty different types of attacks. Naturally, the four mutant turtle brothers have differing abilities, and a touch of authenticity is added with quotes from the animated series.

If you want to compare the game to its arcade ancestor, the original is unlockable and playable and is as faithful a conversion as has ever been achieved. Only this time you don’t have to feed it coin after coin to play it. Fans of the characters are sure to be seduced into shelling out for this action-packed title. more