Are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles even teenage anymore? Created in 1984, they’re hitting the big two-five this year. For the red-eared snapper (the proposed breed of Raphael and co) with its 40-year lifespan, that’s closer to OAP than Teenage Kicks. Heroes in a half shell? Heroes in a half snooze dribbling down their shirts, more like. As far as gaming legacies go they’re no spring chickens either, the wonder days of the Konami arcade brawler tarnished by flop after flop.
Not that Games Arts are resting on their laurels, TMNT could – whisper it – surpass Brawl in the looks department. The Turtles’ world is a grittier, more realistic place, showing off an eye for real-world detail that simply didn’t have a place among Brawl’s puffballs and plumbers. Between the noir-ish vibe of a Manhattan skyline bathed in the glow of neon signs and the shimmering rapids of the jungle arena, Smash Up is really challenging the Wii to bring its A game.
Smash Up also replaces Brawl’s damage build-up fight model with a traditional HP-depleting affair. Death by fall-out is still pretty common, but victories depend on cracking some serious shell. The roster of attacks, special attacks and throws won’t trouble Smash-heads (or their wrists: attacks are motion-free), though Games Arts do stir things up with context-sensitive moves, such as running up walls and launching into flying kicks, or arcing Prince Of Persia-style on poles before ending with a gymnastics-powered kick.
