It’s peculiar that is Ubisoft’s first Xbox Live Arcade release, considering the vast number of 360 titles they’ve published recently, but what’s really bizarre is that it’s a joint release between Konami and Ubisoft. Seeing the two publishers’ iconic logos on the loading screen next to one another is a little… unexpected.
This isn’t the first time that this once celebrated scrolling brawler has reached a home system. Konami managed to a fairly decent conversion on the NES, albeit with smaller sprites and less colours; if memory serves, the Turtles’ shadows were actually dark green. While we’re on the subject of colours, it’s genuinely pleasing to see such a vibrant game on 360. The animation isn’t anything fancy and some of the boss characters – which include Bebob and Rocksteady – aren’t very accurate, but there’s no slowdown or other technical issues. When playing online there’s the occasional pause but this is likely to be down to somebody’s crappy connection.
Up to four heroes in hard shells can play online co-operatively, each with 18 continues per person (you get infinite in single player, incidentally). Voice chat is fully enabled and even when all your credits have gone you can carry on chatting while watching the survivors play. Having played a few games it seems that most people argue over who gets the health giving pizza pick ups and squabble with those who selfishly avoid boss battles so they don’t get killed. The boss battles are pretty unfair though – in most cases you give them a couple of whacks then they retaliate with a powerful attack that sends you flying.
With only seven levels it’s not the longest lasting Xbox Live Arcade experience, but at a mere 400 points (around £3.60) it’s still pretty good value for money. The achievements are nicely designed too, ranging from avoiding getting hit by certain environmental hazards to simply destroying every breakable item in the game. Our fingers and toes are crossed that Konami will be kind enough to let EA put their similar Simpsons beat ’em up on Xbox Live Arcade next. It’s not as if the hype from the upcoming movie is going to do them any harm.
