Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled review

Zeroes in a half-shell

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Full of nostalgia

  • +

    Lots of beating-up

  • +

    Just like you remember - almost

Cons

  • -

    Utterly shallow

  • -

    New graphics are kinda worse

  • -

    Combat feels vaporous and indistinct

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

The first Turtles game hit Xbox Live back in 2007 and became one of the biggest sellers on the Marketplace. It was, of course, rubbish. Ubisoft are gambling on the same nostalgia-fuelled sales for their 3D remake of its sequel Turtles in Time. Which is, of course, also rubbish. Even the critics of the day were guarded in their praise for the Turtles games. Turtles in Time was half-shelled mediocrity back in 1991 and no polygonal makeover can disguise a game near-identical to the original – a straight trek through hordes of identical chumps, hacked through with a single button press.

In the remake on PlayStation Network, those chumps are 3D, but the new lick of paint has made every strike even more vaporous and indistinct. It’s an 18-year-old 2D game dragged into the 3D space whether it likes it or not, and it doesn’t like it one bit. In a bracket it shares with Final Fight, Streets of Rage, and the old Simpsons coin-op, Turtles in Time is distinguished by its utter mindlessness and resistance to any kind of strategy; a game of will over skill.

Sep 17, 2009

More info

GenreArcade
DescriptionThis may be a classic arcade brawler that's come to XBLA, but the title's vapid repetitiveness should have been left in the past.
PlatformXbox 360, PS3
US censor ratingEveryone 10+
UK censor rating12+
Alternative namesTMNT: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled
Release date5 August 2009 (US), 5 August 2009 (UK)
More
CATEGORIES
Latest in Fighting Games
"I didn’t have a single ally": Tekken 4's negative reception put series boss Katsuhiro Harada under so much stress that he left Namco for a year
Tekken 8
Tekken lead Katsuhiro Harada says he's spent decades "mentally preparing" for AI to overtake humans, but it's not happening: "If AI had really advanced, we wouldn't be pouring 10, 20, 30 billion Yen into making games"
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Super Smash Bros. creator says instead of making more "Americanized works," Japanese devs should "seek the uniqueness and fun of Japanese games"
Minecraft characters Alex and Steve riding in mine carts in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, being chased by Bowser Jr..
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate villain Minecraft Steve is the star of the "best Smash clip of all time," as genius player makes a literal Trojan Horse to destroy an unsuspecting opponent
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS key art.
Masahiro Sakurai says Super Smash Bros "might have died out" if not for late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata: "There's no doubt that he influenced me in many ways"
Mortal Kombat 2 3DO
After 32 years, Mortal Kombat 2 has finally been ported to the one hyper-expensive '90s console that could actually do it justice
Latest in Reviews
Zombicide box featuring stylized art of survivors fighting zombies
Zombicide 2nd Edition review: "Like a zombie flick brought to tabletop"
Razer Handheld Dock with Steam Deck sitting on cradle, pink and yellow RGB lighting on, and Alienware monitor in background with Tomb Raider Trilogy gameplay on screen.
Razer Handheld Dock review: “Your Steam Deck will ride shiny and Chroma"
Photographs of the Agricola board game in play
Agricola review: "Accurate representation of the highly competitive and often unstable world of agriculture"
Photos taken by writer Rosalie Newcombe of the Shure MV7i microphone, within a pink and white themed room.
Shure MV7i review - convenience and excellence rolled into one superb sounding package
Key art for Atomfall showing a character in the English countryside looking at a nuclear plant some distance away
Atomfall review: "This isn't British Fallout – it's something much better than that"
Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% gaming keyboard with purple RGB lighting on a desk setup
Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% review: "a niche luxury"