TMNT Hands-on

March 16th, 2007, 22:45 Posted By: wraggster

Via IGN

So, in just a few days from now Ubisoft will flood the market with games based on the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles flick, titled TMNT. GameCube, Wii, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, Game Boy Advance...if you own just one videogame system, then chances are you'll have the opportunity to play a virtual version of the flick. Nintendo DS owners, it's the same for you: not only will you be able to play the absolutely rockin' side-scrolling brawler that's to be released for the GBA, you'll also get an original version that makes use of the Nintendo DS capabilities.

In our early playthrough of the version sent over by Ubisoft, you won't need the stylus -- all of the action's taking place on the upper-screen using the D-pad and buttons. The game isn't a port of the console games, however -- it's a completely original design that's admittedly very difficult to describe.

Yes, there will be weapons combat in TMNT for the Nintendo DS. The game features battles where you'll need to kick, punch and block while fighting with multiple enemies on-screen. But these fights are merely intermissions to the game's main focus: using the cityscape as your playground as you jump from situation to situation.

There's a lot of jumping in the Nintendo DS version of TMNT. A lot. So much that you'd think the second T in the title stands for "Toads." In this game it's all about leaping left, forward, or right by using the Y, X, or A button. Timing is everything as you'll need to prepare your next jump ahead of time -- if you hit the button at the proper time your speed will increase, and this jolt in pace will come in handy when you have to beat the timer. In many cases one of your brothers will show up on the scene and you'll need to race to his location so he can throw you to a particular part of the level that normally wouldn't be accessible. Take too long and he'll grow impatient and leave, which means you'll miss the opportunity to reach that hidden area.

You'll also have to time jumps while sliding through the sewers -- miss the proper opportunity to leap over a gap and you'll have to try that move again...with one live removed from the queue.

We'll hold our full impressions of the game for when the game ships next week, but at the very least the Nintendo DS version is a unique design that doesn't play anything like anything you've experienced on the handheld before. It looks pretty decent in motion, too -- though the character models are a little angular, the game runs at the Nintendo DS's silky smooth 60 frames per second mode which gives the production a bit of fast-paced energy.

If words didn't do this game justice, take the time to check out the game in motion by hitting the media link below.

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