R eturning to street level allows the player to buy all manner of weapons, stat boosts and extra lives, whilst heading for the rooftops sees the turtles tackling one-off challenges, such as juggling an item with uppercuts, or deflecting shurikens. Splinter is on hand to provide level selection and high scores. There’s a punchbag to practice moves, a set of arcade cabinets as a nod to the game’s influences and an area to view memento e s earned through the completion of combat goals. Ra ph ael tak es the lead for a couple of levels, but for the remainder, you’re largely free to choose between the four iconic pizza-munching sewer dwellers.į us ing RPG elements into the mix, the t urtles’ sewer base makes for a likeable between-levels hub that’s packed with cool touches. Taking place over seven sizeable stages, TMNT conveys a simple story through static-image cut-scenes. TMNT manages to capture the fun, free-flowing combat and energetic spirit of the old coin-ops, leaving its mark through impressive visual design and busy action sequences. Indeed, it’s clear from the off that Ubisoft Montreal took cues from Konami’s early-nineties classics in crafting this excellent brawler. In the twilight of its lifecycle, Nintendo’s portable would play host to a super b hack ‘n’ slash throwback, one to delig ht those brought up on Turtles in Time or The Hyperstone Heist. Whilst seven of those would tackle 3D action with varying degrees of success, the best tie-in w as saved for the Game Boy Advance. Coinciding with the release of the first Turtles film in more than a decade, video game versions would appear on no fewer than eight platforms.

During 2007, multiplatform champions Ubisoft had their hands on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles license and true to form, they weren’t afraid to use it.

Download TMNT (Game Boy Advance)