In the second appearance of the iconic turtles on the Wii, Ubisoft puts together a fairly admirable, yet fairly dull Smash Bros. style game (as opposed to the fairly dull TMNT platformers gamers have been subjected to for the last several years.)
That said, the game has several weak spots, overall it is an amusing game and a must buy for hardcore fans of the series.
This is where the game is bittersweet. Though the controls are easy to pick up, they’re extremely simple. Obviously the game is geared to a younger audience, but even still the controls equate to basically just button-mashing. In keeping with the Smash Bros. style, there really is no strategy involved, though various ninja power ups and pizza healers do add some semblance of gameplay depth.
One thing I liked was the flexibility of control. You could use the Wii Remote in conjunction with the Nunchuk, or you could simply use the remote by itself. Also, the Wii Classic Controller and Gamecube controllers are also fully compatible with the game.
The major downside to controls, as you might assume based on the different controllers you can use, is that the game largely fails to utilize the Wii’s innovative controls. The only significant instance that comes to mind is your character receives a critical hit, you can get him out his stunned state by shake the Wii Remote furiously.
The graphics are very impressive, especially given how many developers neglect graphics and put emphasis on gameplay. The turtles themselves are obviously modeled after the 2007 CGI film, “TMNT,” while many of the other characters are modeled after the recent animated series or combination of the TV show and most recent movie.
The background environments are also pleasing to the eye. Typically, if part of an environment is destructible, it looks
generally poor from a graphics standpoint, but even in this regard, the backgrounds look very sharp.
Sound effects are decent, though not overwhelmingly impressive. The voice acting is good, though I would have been surprised if it had been the other way around, as many of the voice actors from the series have reprised their respective roles here.
The highlight of the entire presentation of the game is the nod to the Turtles comic book origins through the various cut scenes and load screens. While some may believe it’s a bare bones attempt by Ubisoft, to me is seems more like appropriate creative license.