Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan Reviews
I’m looking forward to Platinum Games returning back to what they do best—creating original games with unique settings and fast character-action with crazy combos to learn. They can certainly make these licensed games look fantastic, but nearly everything else they leave little to desire.
You could refer to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan as the best TMNT game in years, but that really doesn't mean much. While there's a moderately entertaining co-op experience underneath the lazy level design, short game length, bland missions, occasional bugs, and minor kinks in the combat system, the quality and value most certainly aren't in line with what we expect from a $50 game. Sure, it could be worse (look at the last three TMNT games, for example), but it's especially heartbreaking considering Platinum's history of delivering fantastic action games. This is not Bayonetta. It's not even Transformers: Devastation. Don't shell out your hard-earned cash when you could spend it on delicious pizza instead.
Even with a super-short running time, the repetitiveness that pervades Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan makes this fight a slog. I've heard all the jokes the team has to tell and have marveled enough at the rogues gallery of bosses – both of which I could’ve done by watching this game on YouTube rather than playing it – so I'm not planning another trip to Manhattan.
Not a Megan Fox in sight... and it’s still terrible.
TMNT: Mutants in Manhattan is a repetitive hack n' slash that forces the player time and again into encounters with samey enemies against a paltry selection of passionless backdrops. It's really only saved by the bosses, but the amount of filler you'll need to sift through to fight them just keeps a'coming.
That exact design decision is emblematic of most everything wrong with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan. It does its best to spread little content as far as it can possibly go. It's a very short game that still manages to be far too long. The anchovies on the pizza is that it doesn't even necessarily succeed where Platinum Games usually excels. Cowabummer.
Underneath TMNT Mutants in Manhattan’s shell are solid mechanics that could have been a great foundation for a technical brawler. Those technical elements, however, don’t get as much play as the game typically devolves into a four-turtle free for all. Add the lack of local co-op and you have a missed opportunity, especially given how the game nails the Ninja Turtles’ visuals. Overall, the game just can’t quite figure out whether to provide a solid single-player adventure or hectic multiplayer brawler.
But even with the admittedly enjoyable boss fights, all the letdowns of Mutants in Manhattan gave me an impression that this was just another rushed game. The mechanics were simple to understand; but it surely lacked the local co-op mode, and missing the satisfying achievement that each hack n’ slash / beat ‘em up game should always have.
One of Platinum’s worst games so far, with dull and repetitive action that doesn’t do the heroes in a half-shell any justice at all.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhatten is both basic and overly complex, delivering almost none of the magic that made previous four-player Turtles games so memorable.
Mutants in Manhattan is so aggressively dull and sub-par there’s little to no joy to be taken from playing it. Like a coloring book, it’s nothing more than a shallow collection of non-stimulating activities and disconnected clichéd references created with the purpose of alleviating mild boredom.
Platinum Games's take on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a mediocre hack-n-slash romp that ultimately fails to become anything more than just that.
The ultimate disappointment is that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan has a solid base. A good game could’ve been made with these combat mechanics, but sadly some abysmal level design makes this 4-hour game a complete chore to play. When an uninspired boss rush level is arguably the best part of the game, then you know something went wrong.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan is a very disappointing action game which isn't worth bothering with. Platinum didn't put its best foot forward with this one, and it's evident from the get go.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan is an utter disappointment, failing to return the game to its arcade roots. Perhaps it would have fared better as a side-scroller, dropping the regrettable meaningless tasks, and instead featuring the four turtles battling countless of Foot Clan ninjas until you reach the boss. The combat doesn’t feel smooth as the game is limited to 30FPS, instead of the typical 60FPS that PlatinumGames deserve. There are collectible comic book covers to find, but the game’s over before you know it and is almost fully priced as well.
TMNT Mutants in Manhattan stayed faithful to the comics in terms of art style and funny dialogue, but it failed everywhere else. There's a lack of innovation, and the replay value of this short game is shot by the fact nobody will want to play it again. If you just have to have your turtles fix, and can't get the NES/SNES arcade games, wait for this to hit the bargain bin.
It’s clear that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan was aiming to be Left 4 Dead with Ninja Turtles, which does sound awesome, but it’s too focused with cramming in elements from other games as well, including the classic TMNT arcade brawlers and Arkham Asylum (down to the Detective Vision and stealth takedowns).
Mutants in Manhattan looks flashy and captures the spirit of the Turtles, but the campaign is over in a flash and the combat is boring and uninteresting.
As mentioned above the game is only about 3 hours long and unless you want to get an S rank on all 9 stages on all difficulties there’s really no reason to replay it at all.
A disappointment, and the worst game from a developer known for its quality output. It might not be the a total loss if you want a co-op TMNT game, but it's a terrible waste given the developer's reputation and the license involved.
Review in Arabic | Read full review