Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled
A 2009 remake of the classic arcade beat 'em up.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled is a 2009 beat 'em up developed and published by Ubisoft. It is an enhanced remake of Konami's 1991 arcade game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, and draws primarily from the 1987 animated series, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comic, and the second film. The game was a commercial success, moving over 444,000 units on Xbox Live Arcade, despite receiving mediocre critical reviews.
Quick Facts
- Publisher
- Ubisoft
- Artist
- Audran Guerard
- Designer
- May Ling Tan
- Programmer
- Benedict Yeoh
- Composer
- Sylvain C. Grant; Dominique C. Grant
- Series
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Genre
- Beat 'em up
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Turtles in Time Re-Shelled is a side-scrolling beat 'em up in which players control Donatello, Leonardo, Michaelangelo, or Raphael, each with distinct strengths and weaknesses. Up to four players can play simultaneously in any combination of local and online multiplayer. The controls include jump, attack, and special attack buttons, with certain combinations executing sprint, dash attack, or special moves. Unlike the original, the remake allows attacking in eight directions. The graphics were fully recreated in 3D with a true 3D camera, and the opening and closing cinematics were given a stylized comic-book look. The vocal quips were re-recorded by the cast of the 2003 cartoon, and the original music and theme song were replaced with new compositions. The game includes Survival and Quickplay modes and leaderboards for high scores, but does not feature any levels from the SNES version.
Synopsis
The turtles watch a newscast of April O'Neil reporting from Liberty Island when Krang, using a giant exosuit, steals the Statue of Liberty. Shredder then hijacks the airwaves to taunt the turtles. They pursue the Foot Clan through downtown New York and the sewers, where Shredder sends them through a time warp. The turtles must fight through multiple eras to defeat him.
Development and marketing
The game was first unveiled in April 2009 at the Galabunga event in New York City. Originally slated for a July 22, 2009 release on Xbox 360, it was instead released as a timed exclusive on August 5, 2009, as part of the Xbox Live Summer of Arcade. Its price was lowered before release; a Ubisoft representative stated the reduction was to give something to loyal TMNT fans for the 25th anniversary. It launched on PlayStation 3 on September 10, 2009, after the exclusivity period. The game was delisted from both the Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Store in June 2011 due to an expired license.
Reception
Turtles in Time Re-Shelled received mixed reviews, with the PlayStation 3 version scoring 56.50% at GameRankings and the Xbox 360 version scoring 61.79%. Metacritic reported averages of 55/100 for PlayStation 3 and 60/100 for Xbox 360. Despite the reviews, it was a commercial success, selling over 387,000 units on Xbox Live Arcade by the end of 2010 and over 444,000 units by its delisting. It was the top downloadable title on the North American PlayStation Network in its release month. Reviewers generally praised the upgraded graphics; Dale Nardozzi of TeamXbox said the visual upgrade has a fancy sheen that modernizes the code, while IGN's Daemon Hatfield praised the new visuals but regretted the lack of an option to switch to the original graphics. Official Xbox Magazine's Ryan McCaffrey also wished for a classic-graphics toggle. The online multiplayer was appreciated, though some reviewers noted the inability to join games in progress, which the original arcade version allowed. Scott Sharkey of 1UP.com and a GameZone reviewer found the game more fun with four players. Criticisms focused on simplicity and low replay value. GameTrailers found the control scheme too simplistic, and TeamXbox's Nardozzi noted that despite eight-directional attacking, players often receive a severe beatdown. IGN's Hatfield criticized the difficulty, saying the game's arcade origins show in cheap bosses and unavoidable traps.
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