Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Mutant Nightmare

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been whooping it up since I was a wee lad, experiencing a rebirth as of late with a new cartoon series and a host of new merchandising associated with it, including a series of games hitting the current generation of consoles. The series is now on it’s third entry, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Mutant Nightmare. While Mutant Nightmare is hardly the raging disappointment that its predecessor, Battle Nexus, was, it’s still a basic action game with an overall feeling of simplicity and shallowness.

In TMNT 3, you play as the four turtles, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Donatello, through a few different campaigns as they fight against the Triceratons in order to find the missing Fugitoid (Professor Honeycutt) and prevent their invasion of Earth. The story plays out through cutscenes lifted directly from the Saturday morning cartoon show, giving it the overall feel of TV show and playing well with that mood.

The gameplay is standard brawler fare, although all four turtles are onscreen at once, a nice new element that was lacking in previous entries to the series. With the other turtles around, you can initiate group attacks, where the turtles will team up against a target and perform special moves. You can also enter ultimate turtle mode, where your turtle will become somewhat invincible and be able to take down tons of enemies without breaking a sweat.

Also, by collecting special items like crystals, you can upgrade your turtles, giving them new abilities and special moves, which is a pretty nice touch.

However, aside from the new gameplay elements, this is still the under-whelming Turtles game that we’ve been playing for several years now. The fighting is barebones and very basic, growing repetitive very quickly.

The game is also very easy. The fact that all four turtles fight onscreen at the same time makes it a breeze to get through, as your turtle teammates can handle their own, often making it too easy to just sit back and watch as they take care of enemies

Graphically, the game sports the same look as previous entries to the series. TMNT 3 has a cel-shaded aesthetic that mirrors the TV show nicely, and the cutscenes integrate nicely. Unfortunately, the look is getting very dated, and the lack of detail doesn’t give players a lot to look at.

The sound department doesn’t really fare much better, with repetitive voice acting (albeit some done by the TV show cast) and some forgettable music.

TMNT 3 is a bit of an improvement over last year’s Battle Nexus (which wouldn’t be that difficult to pull off, honestly). However, the gameplay is still not at the level to compete against more capable platforming action games, and the sheer easiness and simplicity of the game makes this one a rental at best.

Gameplay: 5.5
Pretty standard brawling here. While there are a few new elements, some character upgrading and continuous four-turtle support, most of the game is very simplistic and boring fighting with very little dynamic.

Graphics: 6.0
The colorful cel-shaded graphics that the series has been known for are still intact, but the overall look is getting a bit dated.

Sound: 6.0
The voice acting, while done by the original cast from the new TV show, can be very repetitive and grow pretty grating (like in previous entries to the series), and the music leaves much to be desired.

Difficulty: Easy

Concept: 5.0 
Even though there are some new gameplay elements added to the mix, the game still feels almost exactly like the other two games in the franchise.

Multiplayer: 6.5
Like in the last game, up to four players can tag in to play through the game and the various gameplay modes.

Overall: 5.5
TMNT 3 is a step up from the previous entry to the series, offering up all four turtles onscreen at once and some new elements. Still, the gameplay is light-years behind where it should be, and this one stands as a rental at best, even for hardcore turtle fans.