Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Danger of the Ooze (360, PS3, 3DS)

TMNT_BOXTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been famous with kids since, well, I was young.  And now there is a popular new TMNT computer animated TV series on Nickelodeon.  This game is based on that series.  When Donatello picks up traces of a new super mutagen, it’s up to the four heroes in a half shell to find it before Shredder and the Kraang aliens do!  Danger of the Ooze is a single player 2-D platformer/beat em up that plays quite a bit like an old school Metroid game!  It’s available on Xbox 360, PS3, and 3DS, but reviewed on 360 here.

You can play as one of the four turtles and switch them out at any time.  You can run, jump, punch, and kick bad guys while exploring the sewers, streets, and buildings of New York City.  This game was actually developed by WayForward, and their style is evident here as it plays like a classic Metroid game.  You even get a map with plenty of hidden paths and upgrades.  If you find a room with a tatami mat, kneel and meditate to save you game and maybe even reveal more of the map area!

Hidden about the maze-like map are items and skills that’ll help you reach more of the areas.  Ninja throwing stars can hit long distance enemies and open certain doors, just like missiles in Metroid.  You can even find upgrades to let you hold more stars.  You’ll also learn other skills like double jumping and using smoke bombs to help you uncover more of the map and reach your goals.

While battling Mousers, Foot Clan Ninjas, and Kraang aliens, you can chain together attacks in a combo move and when the turtles start spinning their weapons, you can press a direction to perform a “Shell Kicker” which can knock the enemy back, skyward, and more, depending on what direction you press.  The only problem is that hit detection is not always what you think it is, and you can’t cancel a combo move right away once the turtles start spinning their weapons.  Plus, floaty jumping movements make the controls not quite as responsive.  Some items, like smoke bombs, are also hard to use at first.  What’s even worse is that the game doesn’t even come with an instruction booklet, and when you click on the icon that says “manual” in the game, it just shows a URL address for you to go online to find the instructions.  That’s no good!  Is it not that hard to put them in the game, too?

Normally in games like Zelda or Metroid, I don’t mind backtracking, but here it is bit of a chore.  Goals are sometimes not as clear, and if one of your turtles loses all their energy, they are sent to a random spot on the map for you to rescue.  So it can be a pain in the butt to go back to save one of your turtle brothers.  And if you only have one turtle left and lose all of your energy, you’ll be sent to one of the ‘prisons’ on the map yourself, and not at a save point.  But at least you’ll keep the items you found.  But finding the rest of your team can be a pain, especially if they are in an area you haven’t been to yet.  You’ll just have to make sure to switch out turtles when they’re low on energy and keep everyone filled with pizza pickups to prevent that from happening.  But it can be hard sometimes.  This aspect of the game reminded me of the first TMNT NES game, so if you enjoyed that one, you might like this new game as well.  Personally, I prefer the mindless four player action of the arcade game.  It’s a shame that these problems hamper the new game because a Metroid-style Turtles game sounds like a good idea initially.

TMNT_SCREEN

Kid Factor:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Danger of the Ooze is rated E-10 with ESRB descriptors of Comic Mischief and Fantasy Violence.  While you do punch and kick a lot of bad guys, they’re all either just robots or monsters that explode or run away when defeated.  If you’re OK with your kids watching the TV show, they’ll be OK with the game, too.  Reading is helpful for some of the text, and younger gamers may get frustrated at the high difficulty level.

2 Responses to “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Danger of the Ooze (360, PS3, 3DS)”

  1. How do you get your characters when they die!!!!!!!!!!!!

  2. When I go to the mediation rooms my game is not saving and sending me back write to the beginning in the swerrers please help my son is so unhappy

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