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Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Genre: Fighting
Region: NTSC
Format:
Release Date: 15 Mar 05
User Rating
7.8 (4 votes)- Preview
- Review
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- Guide
- Secret
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- Remember when these turtles ruled your Saturday mornings? How things have changed, as even the budget price can't save this abysmal fighter.
Overview
I don't know about you, but when I was growing up I was totally into the whole Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles scene. With that and He-Man, my Saturday mornings were set. Then I remember when these four turtles went on the original Nintendo, and wow did I have some great times with those games. Now quite a few years later we haven't seem the same overwhelming support for these four turtles, as their previous outings have been rather lousy. So now we get to take a look at Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Melee for the Nintendo Gamecube. Does this game change the series?
Gameplay
When I see a budget priced game like TMNT: Mutant Melee that has garnered so little attention before its release, I get a little skeptical on how the game is going to turn out. Now let me make one thing very straight, just because games are budget titles do not make them automatically bad. For example the whole 2K Sports lineup this year has been budget priced and they have been excellent. So does this game make a game worth $20?
So what is TMNT: Mutant Melee you may be asking? Well I guess the easiest game to compare it to would be Super Smash Brothers, but then again this game probably shouldn't deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence. You basically have the same sort of idea with four people on a screen and you basically are going to want to beat all the bad guys up.
TMNT: Mutant Melee has both single and multiplayer support, which is definitely a good start for the game. To start with the game features an adventure mode, which is really the deepest portion of the single player. With this mode you are basically given a list of character to choose from, and are sent into some extremely bland and boring missions that really just feel like they were drawn out of a hat and put together. Once you complete the extremely short single player mode, you are given points to go buy unlockables, which, let's just say, aren't all that exciting. For the most part the adventure mode is really bland, boring, and pointless.
So maybe you will want to play the game with friends? Well actually you're probably not even going to want to do that either. The reason for this is because the gameplay in the game just really doesn't flow all that well when playing with friends. This game just focuses so much on button mashing and luck, that it really doesn't even make for much competition at all. There's no need to practice and hone your skills when your buddy can just pick up the game and take you to school by mashing the buttons. The core of the gameplay just does not suit the multiplayer mode all that well and in my opinion I really doubt many people would have the patience or the desire to play this with anyone.
The game does have some good points that I enjoyed, which was the power ups which are scattered throughout the levels along with different weapons. The idea is definitely there and it does add some more diversity to the gameplay.
I must say that even for the low price tag I really would hope for a lot more then what is offered here in TMNT: Mutant Melee. The gameplay just feels so rough around the edges and is just not all that entertaining. Plus to make matters worse the game just doesn't have all that much to do, and therefore you're probably going to get through everything that game has to offer in one to two sittings.
Graphics
The one thing that Konami has been trying to accomplish with their TMNT series has been to make the cel shading work for the game. And to be honest I think it has, but the gameplay just has never been there to back it up, and thus is the case with TMNT: Mutant Melee.
The game's graphics go for the same sort of style as we have seen with the last few games, and that is a good thing. I must say the most impressive thing I think TMNT: Mutant Melee has is in the character models, which show quite a bit of detail and color. Otherwise the game is rather bland, with lackluster environments and just not all that much graphical flair, you're just getting a pretty average looking game.
Fun Factor
TMNT: Mutant Melee is just not that much fun. Plain and simple I just could not get into this game. The gameplay just seemed so bland and boring that I really don't think I ever enjoyed this game. You could see if this game had been done right that it could have easily been a much more entertaining game. Heck the fighting genre as a whole is made to be fun but this game just never gets off the ground. But instead we are left with a frustrating game that just is not fun.
Overall
TMNT: Mutant Melee is a pretty sad attempt at a fighting game even for the $20 price tag. Unless you are a diehard TMNT fan, I would say that this game is better staying on the shelves then in your living room.
- Gameplay
4.0 - Graphics
6.0 - Fun Factor
3.0 - Overall
4.0
