GENRE
	Fighting
	DEVELOPER
	Game Arts
	PUBLISHER
	Ubisoft
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1-4
	WI-FI ENHANCED
	Yes
	DS COMPATIBLE
	No
	BUY NOW AT

In the eighties and nineties, Ninja Turtle fever swept across North America. Thanks to the Saturday-morning cartoon, kids everywhere went around debating who the most awesome turtle was and shouting "cowabunga dude" at their friends. History has shown, though, that there have been high points and low points in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. An excellent example of this is the video games. From hits such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game on NES and TMNT on GBA to flops such as TMNT: Mutant Melee and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus both on multiple consoles, fans never really know if they're going to be getting a quick cash-in or a quality game. Enter Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up, which attempts to serve both new and old fans of the series. Does it succeed? The result is a resounding "kind of."

First off, the game is not explicitly tied to any of the cartoon series. The current series put out by 4Kids Entertainment has definitely inspired the look, but the story in arcade mode doesn't really have anything to do with the Turtles' Saturday-morning adventures. Master Splinter has called together the Turtles, along with Casey Jones and April O'Neil, to have a tournament. The winner gets to pick any item from Splinter's Trophy room to keep. The story does take one twist, but it's not going to win any awards for originality. It doesn't aspire to be anything more than a basic reason for the characters to be fighting each other. The story is delivered through comic-book style cutscenes before battles. The cutscenes are well done, and fully voiced, but it's almost like the quality of the cutscenes is trying to make up for the anemic story. However, it is a fighting game, so most players probably won't be playing for story.

What it comes down to, then, is: how does the game play? Unsurprisingly, the gameplay is incredibly similar to Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Unsurprising because Game Arts, which developed the game, features the talents of many of the people who worked on Brawl. The main action of the TMNT game takes place in an "arcade mode" where players take the character of their choice through the basic story of the game, which means they fight an opponent, then another, than a bonus game, and so on. There's very little difference in opponents between the various playable characters, and apart from a cutscene at the end, the story is exactly the same for every character. The other major mode is "Battle Royal," which lets up to four players fight in one of the game's arenas. Players can set duration, number of lives or how many kills to play to. Players can also fiddle with what items show up and what stages are playable. The customization is a little hard to find and could possibly be overlooked, but it's nice to see it there.

The game also includes "Tournament," "Swap-out," "Survival," and "Mission" modes, as well as a number of mini games that may be played after they have been unlocked in Arcade mode. Tournament is what it says on the tin, Swap-Out allows up to 8 players to start a game and swap the winners or losers out after each battle, Survival has players try to make it through increasingly harder waves of enemies and Mission Mode gives players specific win requirements such as only throwing opponents or grabbing pizzas. All the modes are nice and feel comparable to similar games.

Unfortunately, Game Arts did not perfect the online play with Smash-Up. While it is easy to jump into a game online with up to four players, the game chugs the second there are more than two players on the battlefield. It's the worst on battle fields that have a lot of environmental factors or scene shifts -- the "Sewer" and "Jungle" stages are almost unplayable online. The game also lags online. The more players, the worse the lag, but any lag is unacceptable in a fighting game where timing is one of the most important elements. It is a shame that this lag exists as it was one of the major complaints against Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and if it were taken care of it would be a reason to recommend this game over Brawl.

One feature that isn't limited, however, is customizable controls. Players can choose between GameCube, Classic, Wii Remote, or Wii Remote and Nunchuck control schemes. No matter what controller players choose, they can further customize the control set-up assigning various functions to different buttons. This sounds similar to Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but as similar as the controls are, there are a few glaring differences between Brawl and Smash-Up. The biggest difference comes from the lack of "special moves." Instead, players have a button for light attacks and a button for heavy attacks. Also included in the game is a pointer function that feels tacked on and relatively useless, especially when the action gets intense. Thankfully, the pointer feature is only required in one "mission," so gamers can easily forget it's even there.

Graphically, the game shines. The various environmental effects in the levels look great, even as they are killing you. The music is a nice sampling of rock tunes that fit within the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle mythos nicely. Unfortunately the theme from the '90s cartoon didn't make it into the game... except in an unlockable commercial for the series on DVD.

Yes, the game has some unlockables, though again, nowhere near as many as another certain game on Wii. According to the "Bonus Content" screen, there are 36 unlockables. This includes secret characters, stages, concept art, trailers, and alternate costumes. There are also figurines of most of the playable characters that can be collected in a fun shooting gallery mini-game, but collecting these figurines only allows players to look at them, providing no interesting information or extra tidbits, which is frustrating since one of the best features behind the figurines in Super Smash Bros. Brawl was the short description that accompanied each one. It's in features like this that the game is measured up to Super Smash Bros. Brawl and found wanting.

It is inevitable. No matter what, people are going to compare Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up to Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Smash-Up attempts to be a solid party-brawler with a coat of Ninja Turtle paint, and at that it succeeds. If Super Smash Bros. Brawl didn't exist, then this game would be a must-buy, but it's hard to recommend a game when there is a superior alternative to it already available on the system. For die-hard Turtles fans, Smash-Up is a no-brainer. Fighting-game fans also will find some things to love here, though not as much depth as the Street Fighter series. Gamers looking for a quick brawler to play with a group of friends are probably better off sticking with Super Smash Bros. Brawl because when it comes down to it, there's just more there. Bummer dude! Total Shellshock!

6.8/10