Turtles in Time Re-Shelled
By: JediLincoln
TURTLE POWER!!!! Now that we’ve got that out of our system. This game, a “re-shelling” of the original released to Arcades in 1991 and to SNES in 1992, is one we should expect a lot of. Unfortunately, the experience anticipated and the experience had are not one in the same.
It is not to say that traveling through time with the Turtles in Re-Shelled isn’t enjoyable. In fact the game play is remarkably consistent with its earlier counterpart. I was overcome with nostalgia when, in the mist of battle, I was able to throw a foot clan soldier at the TV screen. It was also nice to see that you could still slam your enemy back and forth like a wet towel on the floor. The game play is simple and with multiplayer options both via Xbox live and 2-4 player co-op, this is definitely full of potential entertainment.
Nonetheless, the things that make gameplay simple and nostalgic also keep this game from precision. The controls are the same for each hero and there are little to no attack combinations either. I would go as far as to say that this game is made to 1992 gameplay standards and if you hadn’t noticed we have come a long way since then. Attacking in diagonals seems to be the only addition made to general gameplay.
Graphically the game is stunning. The restyled 3D turtles, menus, and general cartoon artistry create a delectable feast for the eyes. The conversion from a 2D sidescroller to a 2.5D sidescroller is done well. One minor issue I had with the conversion is the flipbook style turning mechanics used to compensate for diagonal attacks/movements.
When this game was originally released it was one of the best TMNT games to date, however it hasn’t aged as well as one would have hoped. If the original version had been made available without any updates whatsoever we could have held it to standards permitted 17 years ago. However, UBISOFT set out to create a more contemporary version and because of that modern standards of evaluation should be used.
The unimproved gameplay, graphical oversights, and 800point ($10.00) price tag serve only as an encumbrance to Turtle greatness. I give this remake a 3/5
Trailer:
Article from Gamersyndrome.com
Related posts:
James Lincoln, 24 years, has been a gamer since Atari. A native of Connecticut, he has a B.S. in Mathematics from Eastern Connecticut State University and is pursuing a BA in Philosophy from the University of Illinois’s online program. He owns an Xbox, Xbox 360, Playstation 2, Playstation Portable, Playstation 3, NES, SNES, N64, GameCube, Wii, and a Nintendo Dsi. He has lived in greater Boston for 2.5 years and follows the gaming industry intently. His passions are Gamming, Math, Philosophy, Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Comics, and other science fiction/fantasy.
Game Safe. 
$10 for a game they butchered? Ok maybe butchered is an exaggeration, but Turtles in Time was by far the best Turtle game of the Genesis/Arcade era. I’m glad you held it today’s game standards, since they did go into the programming and change it. There’s no reason they couldn’t of added more as in content and combos and whatnot. Guilty by omission if you ask me. Isn’t the original of this game already on Xbox Live? I’m really sure I bought and played a TMNT arcade game via Xbox Live when I had my system. Anyway good review.
Harsh.. it looks like the old school turtles game but really do you want to play it? id rather save my money and get it emulated on my PC.. haha
The graphics looks quite good for an arcade game on the 360, but, it’s something I probably wouldn’t want to play.
for an arcade game from the 80′s or 90′s maybe but if you have been to an arcade lately they are pretty advanced now, its just like pc or console play.
That’s too bad that they haven’t re-shelled the entire game play. It sounds like maybe someone was just trying to capitalize on an old, familiar name. I know I smiled when I saw it and was disappointed to read the review. Sad.