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03-29-24 01:46 AM

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04-28-19 11:35 PM
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04-29-19 02:46 PM
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04-28-19 11:35 PM
Rayman85 is Offline
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Rayman85
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It's been over 200+ days since my last video game review here on Vizzed.com, which was a special one dedicated to my all-time favorite video game, Banjo-Kazooie, made just in time for the games 20th anniversary. Yeah, I really do go on these long haituses, but that's because I usually don't feel in the mood to write a review and I don't want to rush out a lazy half-assed review. I want to pump out one that is full of quality and one you can truly savor. So, enough about my life story, it is time for me to begin my review for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. To this day, Turtles in Time (the SNES version, anyway) is many things; it's objectively one of the three best licensed games of all-time, right next to the four mainstream Batman Arkham games (Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City, Batman: Arkham Origins, and Batman: Arkham Knight) and GoldenEye 007, and also arguably the best beat 'em up game of all-time. In my personal subjective, this game competes with Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island for being my all-time favorite SNES game; I still can't decide which of the two is superior as both are incredible games, but that's another story for another time. Also, I am a HUGE fan of the original 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series (which is the specific Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles continuity that this game is based after, as it was not only the current one then, but the only one at the time excluding the original 1984 comics), as it's one of my all-time favorite cartoons ever, so that also contributes as to why I hold this game in such high regard.

One more thing I should add in is that I originally preferred the Sega Genesis (and not the Sega Mega Drive) counterpart of this game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist. Why, you ask? First off, I felt Raphael was crappy and useless in Turtles in Time due to having low attack, low range, and saving the worst for last, low defense - all in exchange for speed. Second off, Slash was just way too damn hard to take down at the time, and it just wasn't worth the stress. I came across The Hyperstone Heist, however, and tried it out because it was pretty much the Sega Genesis-equivalent to Turtles in Time (which was extremely fun to play even then, by the way) and hoped that it didn't suffer the same flaws as Turtles in Time did (underpowered Raphael, busted OP Slash boss), and I actually enjoyed it and even beat it (though I had to use a continue, even on Easy). Then I heard SNES Drunk go on about how this game is so great and three-dozen people calling out its absence from the SNES Classic and how it would be awesome if it was included in the compilation - I'm on that bandwagon, by the way, the licensing fees would be worth it - and I decided to give this game another shot; I decided to play as Raphael of all the turtles despite his so-called "underpowered status", I breezed through the game and had quite a blast more-so than earlier, and when I reached Slash, I realized that, like any video game boss, there's a certain strategy to killing him and unless you figure it out, you're going to be screwed. If you do figure it out, however (which I did via watching a boss rush of the game on YouTube and reading a guide or two on GameFAQs), it's not that hard; in fact, Raphael's high walking speed makes it easy to just walk behind him and strike. I actually managed to beat the game twice as Raphael; once on Easy, and once on Normal, and neither times did I have to continue (though I did lose quite a few lives, especially on Normal; they're there for a reason, y'know). After beating the game for the first time, I not only realized that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System is one of my all-time favorite video games ever, but that like SNES Drunk said, it quite possibly surpasses the incredible amount of hype it has received rather than simply living up to it.

Needless to say, I went back to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist on Sega Genesis, but it didn't take long for me to think to myself, "Why not just stick with Turtles in Time? It's superior in every way!" The turtles in The Hyperstone Heist (to my knowledge) have the same stats except for range and attack speed, and of course, different special attacks which cannot be triggered by hitting a single button unlike in Turtles in Time and must be done by hitting attack and jump simultaneously - instead, you can press the dash button whilst moving to dash instead of doing it via the control pad only like in Turtles in Time. Additionally, The Hyperstone Heist's third boss, Tatsu, is a gigantic pain-in-the-ass to deal with as he is always accompanied by Foot Soldiers, he strikes at a distance using throwing knives, he jumps to the other side of the screen when you get in melee range of him, and unlike Slash from Turtles in Time who just has a bit of an understanding curve to him, Tatsu is an irredeemably cheap challenge in the same vein as (though not nearly to the extent of) all the crap in Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts and the second half of Contra 3: The Alien Wars (though he is beatable, unlike those overrated turds). And then comes the fourth level which is a boss rush level against the three previous boss abttes who are stronger, there's enemies in-between, and no healing spots at all. All the while, I thought, "At least there's no Slash.", but like I said earlier, I decided to give Turtles in Time a second chance and it was a billion times better in every single way once I learned how to play the game right, and from there, I never went back to The Hyperstone Heist because like I said earlier, "Why not just stick with Turtles in Time? It's superior in every way!" Ultimately, The Hyperstone Heist is - ask anyone - greatly inferior to Turtles in Time, and once you play, complete, and enjoy Turtles in Time start-to-finish on any difficulty as any turtle, you'll ultimately understand why. And if you go back to The Hyperstone Heist after having played and enjoyed Turtles in Time, it won't take long at all for your mind to tell you, "Why the hell am I wasting my time with this mediocrity when I could be playing Turtles in Time?"

Okay, enough of my life story (again), and back to the review at hand. Bear in mind that Turtles in Time was originally an arcade game back in 1991 that was ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System a year later in 1992; the arcade version is also held in high regard, but is objectively inferior to its home console port on the SNES, which is unheard of for arcade games period. I brought it up because I will be comparing this game somewhat to the arcade version I originally played before even The Hyperstone Heist. Anyway, with no further ado, let's see why this game is held in such high regard even today and why I love it so much.

Gameplay (10/10):
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time is a straightforward beat 'em up game as I may have mentioned earlier, and true to its title, it stars all four of the iconic reptilian foursome as playable characters each with their own unique statistics that I will mention much later. Typical for a game of this genre, the player can jump, attack, and perform a special attack that comes at the cost of a small bit of health which in this game differs depending on which of the four turtles you are using (the attack, not the health cost, by the way). You can also perform a dash by walking forward enough, or if you modify it in the Options menu, you can instead dash off by tapping forward like what you'd do in the Super Smash Bros. trilogy (Smash 64, Melee, and Brawl; let's pretend like Smash 4 and Ultimate never happened). Whilst dashing, you can press the attack button to do an attack similar to Wario's Shoulder Bash from the Wario Land games that stops on contact with an enemy, paving the path for follow-up attacks such as a regular attack combo or a grab attack, or if you dash, press jump, then press attack, you'll do a sliding kick that pierces through enemies, though you could just dash then press the button(s) that would execute the special attack and you'd do a flying kick instead that also pierces through enemies; it's easier to perform, and despite having to perform a special attack, it doesn't cost any health. Why bother with the sliding kick, hmm? There's also the back attack which you can use to hit enemies behind you. It triggers automatically when an enemy is behind you and is simply just a weak attack you use to back them off. Of course, in the split moment you're booting an enemy off your back, the enemy you're initially hitting up front will be able to attack you and set you off guard. For whatever reason, I prefer to play with the back attack turned off, though unsurprisingly, the default has it on. Of course, there are aerial attacks you can use - three of them, at that. If you jump then quickly press attack, you will perform a rising aerial kick in which your turtle kicks upwards on a forward diagonal. If you press jump and press attack as you're about to hit the ground, you will perform a forward flying kick that boosts you forward a bit. Lastly, if you jump and press attack at the peak of your jump, you will do a different attack depending on whether you're holding the jump button or if you tapped it to jump and then let it go afterwards - the former has you attack with your weapon as you press the attack button during the suddenly slowed-down descent, and the latter has you do a diagonally-downward flying kick going forward a small bit.

True to being a beat 'em up, your goal is to defeat all the enemies that get in your way as you walk to right, beat up of a horde of enemies, walk to right some more, fight some more baddies, and simply just repeat that until a boss shows up, in which case you have beat the crap out this big boss enemy until he dies (Yes, all the bosses in this game are male). Once the boss is dead, you proceed to the next level, rinse and repeat. Also, this game is multiplayer. However, unlike the original arcade version of the game which supported up to four-player action, this game could only support either one or two-player gameplay due to SNES standards at the time, specifically because the well-known official SNES Multitap by Hudson Soft came out after this games initial release in 1992. Back to the main subject, there are ten stages total (Big Apple 3 AM, Alleycat Blues, Sewer Surfin', Technodrome - Let's Kick Shell!, Prehistoric Turtlesaurus, Skull and Crossbones, Bury My Shell at Wounded Knee, Neon Night-Riders, Starbase - Where No Turtle Has Gone Before, and Technodrome - The Final Shell-Shock). Of course, to curb the monotonous nature of beat 'em up games, this game features two auto-scrolling bonus stages (those being the third stage Sewer Surfin' and the eighth stage Neon Night-Riders) in which your goal is to kill enemies, dodge some hazards, and collect power-ups in order to boost your score, and once the ride is over, your statistics during the tour are calculated and you gain more points depending on your performance; for example, if you score 20 points during the ride from killing enemies and grabbing goodies, when you hit the end of the tour, these statistics are calculated and you'll gain another 20 points, thus resulting in 40 total points. Of course, even these bonus stages end in a boss fight, and you can die even during the pre-boss section if you're too careless.

It is important to note that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time (the SNES version, anyway) is one of those games that rewards you for getting a high score; in this case, the game grants the player an extra life for every 200 points scored, so getting a high score is more than just for show - it can also equal your survival. Also, the one thing that makes Turtles in Time stand out amongst other beat 'em ups is its unique grab mechanics. In beat 'em up games such as Final Fight, Batman Returns SNES, and Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon R SNES, you grab enemies by walking into them and then you press another button (varies depending on game) to throw them to deal damage to them. In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time, you hit a Foot Soldier - the by-far most common enemy of the game and the only enemy that is vulnerable to the common grab - with a basic attack first, and they flinch as if they just got smashed in the gut and they're holding onto their belly trying to recover, and then you press the attack button alongside one of the direction buttons to throw them and kill them instantly, and there are two possible outcomes of this special grab attack; if you press forward, you can throw them at the TV screen and score 3 points, and if you press any of the other directions, you slam 'em back-and forth on their spine to not only kill the Foot Soldier in your grip, but also the other ones he happens to hit whilst he's being slammed around, scoring 2 points for any enemy killed during this moves execution - both the one in hand, and the others caught in the calamity of the attack. What's nice is that this mechanic is easy to use but not TOO easy like a simple press of a button. It is very useful, and it's not only the main bulk of the game's unique beat 'em up factor but it's also the main reason that the game is fairly easy in comparison to any other beat 'em up game without simultaneously being boring and braindead. You can grab Stone Warriors (the burly rock guys with the helmets) too, but it doesn't kill them instantly and there is only one way to toss them - that being by flinching them and then pressing attack alongside any direction. However, you can only throw them backwards, and like I said earlier, it isn't a one-hit kill and you're just better off whacking them to death with basic attacks.

However, that's not all that the game has to offer, as now I am moving onto the Options menu. Here, you can change many things about the game to your tastes such as the difficulty, controller configuration, how many lives you start with, how the dash is triggered (automatically by walking a bit or manually by tapping forward à la the Super Smash Bros. trilogy), if the back attack is on or off, if the sound is Stereo or Monaural (There's hardly any difference at all, if any in some cases), and whether you want to play as the Turtles 1987 Cartoon incarnations or their 1984 incarnations from the original Mirage Comics (with a splash of color, of course). Saving the best for last, there's a sound test. Yep, you heard me right! A sound test! Here, you can have any of the games soundtrack play over-and-over to your hearts content. The names here are shorteners (for example, Sewerage stands for Sewer Surfin'), but they're very recognizable, especially if you've played through the entire game like I have. The game also has two other modes aside from the main game; Time Attack and Versus. The Time Attack mode is exclusively single-player and has you go through a series of stages killing a set group of enemies in a specific part of familiar locations from the game as fast as possible. There are three sets of stages; Big Apple 3 AM, Alleycat Blues, and Prehistoric Turtlesaurus. They start off at the places indicated by their names; for example, selecting Alleycat Blues will start you off in Alleycat Blues, but eventually they draft you off into a different part of the game. It's pretty weird when you select Big Apple 3 AM (the first level of the game) and then after a few rounds you get drafted off to (conveniently the absolute worst part of) Starbase - Where No Turtle Has Gone Before (the last level of the game excluding Technodrome - The Final Shell-Shock, which is a level solely dedicated to fighting the games final boss). Personally, I hate this mode. The controls don't feel as perfectly polished as the base game, and worst of all, there's no healing in between rounds, so on top of having to beat these rounds as fast as possible, you also have to stay alive. Gee, that's real nice... A real dealbreaker for me, but eh, to each his own, at least they tried something new and original. The Versus mode, on the other hand, is exclusively two-player. Both players pick a turtle, and from what I've seen and heard, you engage in a 1-on-1 battle against each other using the games controls. It's pretty simple from what I can recall, but since I can only play games on Vizzed.com in single-player (simply because I only have one controller, specifically a Logitech Gamepad F310), I've never played it so I can't give an opinion on it. Again, it's another mode they added to this game to spice up the beat 'em up mood of the game.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot! Each of the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have their own statistics that give the game a different flavor every time you play through. I should note that each of the turtles have the same running speed and that their speed statistic only applies to their walking speed. Anyway, with no further ado, here are each of the four turtles statistics as seen in the games manual:

Leonardo is the balanced turtle of the game with no outstanding strength nor does he have any glaring weaknesses, either. His special attack is a simple spin attack that hits enemies both in front of Leonardo as well as behind him. Needless to say, his special attack is the weakest of the four, but that's mostly because the others are stronger - not that Leonardo's special attack is exactly weak. The final hit on his basic attack combo has less range than the preceding strikes, too, but it's not that big of a deal at all and he's the only turtle with this almost unnoteworthy oddity.

Donatello walks slowly and his defense is below average, but he has impressive range on his basic attacks. His special attack is an attacking dash in the form of a flying kick that deals above average damage. That all being said, his basic attacks initiate a tiny bit slower than Leonardo (Hardly anything, really).

Raphael walks almost as fast as he runs, but his defense is notoriously low. The power on his basic attacks are a bit below average and have poor range, but they come out fast, and his special attack - a simple melee range kick in front of himself that can be used quickly in succession - as well as his dash attack pack incredible power. My favorite turtle to play.

Michelangelo has higher defense than his brothers (Yes, all of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are direct brothers) and his basic attacks have above average power, but his walking speed and his dash attacks have below average potential to compensate. Not to mention his basic attacks come out a bit slowly. His special attack - a forward leap followed by Michelangelo lashing out his nunchucks to his sides, seperating them from each other (I tried my best to explain it.) - is also a bit above average in terms of power.

If you're going to play this game, then I suggest using my preferred configuration Type C, where the B button is your jump, the Y button is for attacking, and the special attack is triggered simply by pressing the A button instead of pressing the jump and attack buttons simultaneously. It's actually the best way to play, in my opinion. If you wanna play more like me, adjust the dash feature to manual and turn off the back attack.

Oh my God, I am finally done with the gameplay section! As long as it was, I really do get into extensive details when it comes to games that I love (like this one), and weirdly enough, pretty much 95% of everyone on this website doesn't explain the gameplay section at all in their reviews even though it is the most vital part to a video game review. Needless to say, I think the gameplay section in this review alone is MUCH longer than most reviews on this website period. Sheesh, fellow Vizzed users! Don't be so lazy when it comes to pumping out reviews, will you? I could also complain about the low-quality of the reviews on this website, but that's being offensively subjective rather than being objectively blunt. Did I ever mention how much I hate the Featured Review feature on this website? Eh, that's another story for another time, but since I'm here, I'll explain that the main problem with the feature is that it pretty much forces ones opinion down others throats when their trying to enjoy a game or browse about user-posted content on the games page. I've had a long (and bad) history with featured reviews on this website, and that's mostly because they pick the worst reviews to be featured.

Anyway, with no further ado, let's finally call it a wrap for the gameplay section and head onto the other sections of this glorious review.

Graphics (9/10):
Considering this is an arcade port, the graphics are almost identical, and that is a HUGE thumbs-up, especially when you consider this was made in a time when arcade games were vastly superior to any home console in terms of technical capabilities. Of course, the SNES version of Turtles in Time does have a few graphical disadvantages in comparison to the original arcade version (Duh!), which is why I described it as "almost identical" rather than "identical". Most notably, the arcade version has SO many little sprite animations for everything in the game from characters to the environment. Characters also move much faster (To a fault, actually.) and they have different movement sprites for moving up on the foreground with their backs facing the screen, whereas in the SNES port, only the Turtles get sprites that face upwards, but even then, they're only used for looking up rather than moving up at all. Other differences are:

Shredder's taunting face in the introduction in the arcade version looks authentic, whilst the SNES version looks painfully pixelated.

Character silhouettes on the level cards spin around on the arcade version, whilst they do not on the SNES version - they move in both versions, though.

In the arcade version, if you stand in place for too long, Splinter will move to the right, pointing his cane forward whilst saying "HURRY!" and will rinse and repeat those actions whilst get increasingly bigger until a bomb drops on you and kills you. In the SNES version, instead April O'Neil will appear on the right side of the screen, standing straight up whilst facing the camera straight-on, and say "FIGHT!" until you get moving with no possible consequence to disobeying.

The health powerups in the arcade version are red panels with a pink heart on it that has light-yellow flashes off of it with a red heart spinning around above the panel itself. When you collect it, your turtle will strike a pose with a pizza slice in his right hand (in his point of view). In the SNES version, said powerups are simply blue panels with the word PIZZA engraved on it in slightly pinkish-red and collecting it won't pause your character at all.

That all being said, the graphics of the game look great. They truly represent the original 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon excellently, and every character has a good amount of detail to them. Heck, the first Shredder boss fight in Technodrome - Let's Kick Shell! has him fight you in his perspective and it greatly represent some elements seen in a first-person view (especially for its time) such as lunging mechanical arms forward, shooting plasma pellets, and even an overcomplicated HUD accompanying him. You get to throw Foot Soldiers at the TV screen as I've mentioned earlier, and that is exactly how you beat this boss is that you keep tossing Shredder's goons at the screen of his machine. The backgrounds look good, too. In Technodrome - Let's Kick Shell!, there are conveyor belts moving in the background and more than ten little TV screens depicting Shredder's taunting face from the games intro, Bury My Shell at Wounded Knee takes place on a train that is constantly autoscrolling at high-speed and the background moves along excellently as well and it feels like your actually going somewhere rather than just the same route again-and-again, and ultimately the usage of Mode 7 technology in Neon Night-Riders alongside the sci-fi theme of the stage overall gives it a huge F-ZERO vibe. The backgrounds, animations, and character sprites are all above average in terms of quality and it really oozes how much dedication the developers put into this game. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. As I mentioned earlier, you can also go to the Options menu to modify the turtles appearance to match their incarnations from the 1984 Mirage Comics - with a splash of color, of course. What color specifically? Kind of swampy dark colors that still make them recognizably similar to their 1987 cartoon counterparts, actually, and their eyes are blank-white. In my personal opinion, do not play as the turtles with their 1984 Mirage Comics design - simply just stick with their 1987 Cartoon design like what I do. Well, that wraps up the graphics section, so onto the audio section.

Sound/Audio (8/10):
Whereas the graphics didn't change much during the transition from the arcade to the SNES in terms of quality, the audio did. I downright loved the soundtrack of the arcade version - particularly the first three levels Big Apple 3 AM, Alleycat Blues, and Sewer Surfin' - but in the SNES version, Sewer Surfin' is the only song in the game that I'd ever sit down and listen to, whereas Big Apple 3 AM and Alleycat Blues are almost below average in my books. The music is still upbeat and it still sets the mood finely, but it isn't really noteworthy like Sonic Mania Plus or even Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. There's still many cool sound effects, though, such as when huge iron balls crash down and make a crashing sound, when electrical lasers get shot out of the background to make a strong and consistent zapping sound, and even a special little jingle that plays when you get an extra life upon scoring 200 points. Also, bosses make a bopping grunt-like sound when you hit them in the SNES version as opposed to making a sound similar to swooshing bubbles from the original arcade version and the sound of hitting enemies is more physically satisfying than the original arcade version. Almost all the voiceovers from the original arcade version where omitted during the transition to the SNES, however, with the only survivors being the Turtles' "Cowabunga!", "Pizza Power!", and "Ohh... Shell Shock!", and even then, they sound a bit "technically restrained" (Duh!) and the tone of voice is identical for them all whereas the arcade version had a different tone of voice for each of the voiceovers with very few exceptions. Oh, Shredder's evil laugh is still present, and it only sounds slightly different from the arcade version.

To conclude this section, the soundtrack to this game is fine even when you compare it to the original arcade version, but it's just nothing I'd ever sit down and listen to, but it still sets the mood for the game fantastically, with notable examples being the songs for Prehistoric Turtlesaurus and Bury My Shell at Wounded Knee. Oh yeah, the game also has a short remix of the iconic TMNT 1987 theme song that plays if you don't press anything for a while after the Konami logo shows up... you have to wait for it, though, but the screen is a dead giveaway on when it is coming. Personally, I'd actually give the audio of this game a 7, but because this game is so fun and the fact that the sound effects are actually really cool, I decided to be easier on the game and give it an 8 instead.

Plot/Story (9/10):
The plot to this game is both ridiculous (in a good way) and incredible. The day starts off normal as usual with April O'Neil doing a Channel 6 live report near the site of the Statue of Liberty, when suddenly Kraang in his Android Body comes flying out of nowhere, rips the Statue of Liberty from its place, and then flies off. A taunting face of Shredder - accompanied by an evil laugh - then appears on the TV screen of anyone who was watching April's report at the time; this is specifically aimed towards the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who are obviously provoked by this evil action. Leonardo reacts, "Hey, Kraang! Bring that statue back, you bloated bean bag!" From there, your turtle(s) proceed to travel across New York City beating the crap out of countless Foot Soldiers and other familiar villains as you attempt to find the Statue of Liberty. You start off in a New York construction site (Big Apple 3 AM), and then proceed to downtown New York back alleys (Alleycat Blues), and then the sewers from which you travel on a surfboard (Sewer Surfin'), and then... Holy crap, you're at the Technodrome already (Technodrome - Let's Kick Shell!)! This is Shredder and Kraang's base of operations if you're not familiar with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lore. Once you reach the end of this level, you realize you're already facing Shredder in a giant turtle-killing machine in what appears to be a final battle. Wait a second... Isn't it a little early to be the final showdown? Of course, it is. After you destroy Shredder's mech, he sends you into a time warp "from which you will never return". From there, you fight your way throughout various notable time periods including the prehistoric era (Prehistoric Turtlesaurus), 1530 AD on a huge pirate ship (Skull and Crossbones), 1885 AD - in which Chester A. Arthur was the president of America - on a huge train (Bury My Shell at Wounded Knee), an inaccurate prediction of 2020 that has a Jetsons and F-ZERO vibe (Neon Night-Riders), and what-could-be 2100 located on the moon in a space base (Starbase - Where No Turtle Has Gone Before). After that, you somehow escape the time warp and return back to the Technodrome to rematch Shredder - who is combating you on foot this time in the form of Super Shredder, as seen in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret of the Ooze live-action movie.

After you defeat him, a cutscene plays in which Splinter tells you that your ninja skills are improving but that you're going to need to train harder. The dialogue is different depending on whether you clear the game on Easy or Normal. But what about Hard, you ask? Well, much in the vein of Contra 3: The Alien Wars (another Konami SNES game made in 1992), the true ending lies in beating the game on the Hard difficulty and that Easy and Normal do not give you a "true ending". This true ending involves the Turtle Blimp flying in the sky with the Statue of Liberty in tow under itself hanging by a rope while April O'Neil announces that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have saved the day once again, and from there, the turtles place the statue back in its rightful place and the credits roll. Splinter also announces that "Congratulations! You have completed your training and are now true ninjas." which causes all four turtles to jump in joy in unison whilst shouting "Cowabunga!".

However, it's safe to say the Statue of Liberty did return to its rightful place even if you didn't clear the game on Hard, but only on Hard do you get to see it happen. Think about it. You went through a wild-ass adventure through so many strange places and even beat the hell out of Shredder for the sake of re-retrieving the Statue of Liberty from him and Kraang, so what makes you think you'd do all that just to return to your sensei and hear him say, "You're good, but you need to improve some more." and leave the Statue of Liberty inside the Technodrome, hmm?

Difficulty (4/10):
What makes this game so much fun for me is that, like Super Castlevania 4, it is quite easy for an early Super Nintendo Entertainment System game. Once you know what to do, this game is actually very easy to just breeze through, making it kind of an ideal pick-up-and-play kind of game. That all being said, this game still isn't pathetically easy like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and there will always be a few parts that will knock out a good chunk of your health or even consume an extra life or two even on the Easy difficulty. Particularly, the battle against Bebop & Rocksteady in Skull & Crossbones is a huge pain-in-the-ass because not only do they hit fairly hard, but they're also fast and have good range in their attacks. Needless to say, you just need to kill one of them and then they beat each other to death and end the battle (Morons!).

I'd also like to mention that in order to beat Slash in Prehistoric Turtlesaurus, you need to hit him from behind (despite him being a turtle). In order to do that, you need to move yourself to his behind before he turns around, and if he jumps, hit him before he touches the ground and he'll be stunned for a while. Likewise, in order to beat the first Shredder boss fight in Technodrome - Let's Kick Shell!, you have to throw Foot Soldiers at the TV screen to hit the front of Shredder's machine since the battle takes place in his perspective of a first-person view. And to do that, you have to hit a Foot Soldier, then press the attack button and forward on the movement pad simultaneously - just keep doing that 'till he dies.

So yeah, like I said earlier, once you know what to do, this game is actually quite easy, especially for an early SNES game. I mentioned the boss guides for Shredder's Mech and Slash because those are the two parts of the game I could imagine someone being stuck at with no idea on what to do, so I hope that helps you if you ever decide to play this wonderful game.

Depth (7/10):
In all seriousness, this game is pretty linear due to being a home console port of an arcade beat 'em up game. However, there is a good amount of depth considering that. How, you ask? Because you get four different characters each with their own unique statistics, there's exactly ten stages to play through (Two of which are unique autoscrolling "bonus rounds"), various minor things you can tweak about how you play the game such as controller configuration, a complete sound test, and much more! I could have gave the depth section an 8, but because I personally find the Time Attack mode to be a real stinker and I've never got to try out the Versus mode because I play all my Vizzed games alone, I instead gave it a solid 7.

Addictiveness/Replay Value (10/10):
Is this game addicting? Hell yeah! How much replay value does this simple beat 'em up game have? Enough to blanket the entire United States of America! This game is just so much fun to play through each and every time because it's simple and straightforward, but it isn't completely braindead, either. The simple difficulty of the game really adds to its replay value because you'll never feel stressed about a possible Game Over, and you can't put a price on just how fun it is to slam Foot Soldiers back-and-forth and throw them at the TV screen. There's not much else to say here, this game is just really freaking incredible!

Pros:
- This game is based after the original 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series, which is downright incredible as is. Seriously, it's one of my all-time favorite cartoons. It also represents the TV series fantastically.

- Though a bit simple and repetitive, this game is executed so well that it's actually a really great pick-up-and-play kind of game.

- Having each of the four turtles with their own unique statistics make each playthrough different depending on which of them you use. My favorite is Raphael because he moves fast without having to dash and, believe it or not, I like that he's close ranged. Given that throwing Foot Soldiers is the way to go in this game, Raphael is great for just that.

- Though not as excellent as Sonic Mania Plus or Super Castlevania 4, the soundtrack sets the mood for this game excellently. The jingles are pretty freaking cool, too!

Cons:
- There are no real cons. There, I said it. Shredder's Mech and Slash may not be beginner-friendly, but they're fun to fight once you know how to win against them. Additionally, I may not care for the Time Attack and Versus modes, but they do have their purpose for being here.

Overall (10/10):
Holy crap was this a long review! In my defense, I love this game that much. And of course, if I don't pump out high-quality in-depth video game reviews, who on this website will? That aside, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System is an extremely fun and satisfying game to play, and although it's a bit simple and repetitive, this game is executed so well that it actually never gets old. To double it up, I love the original 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series, so the fact that it's based after one of my all-time favorite cartoons is another grand factor as to why this game is so great. As SNES Drunk says, "So yeah, does Turtles in Time live up to the hype? If anything, it may surpass it. This game is just so much freaking fun! It gets everything right!". I admit I have a tendency to give perfect scores to games I enjoy, but that's because certain retro games such as Banjo-Kazooie, Panel de Pon, and of course this game are just so all-around perfect, unlike all the crap that gets released nowadays which is either overrated mediocrity that tries too hard to be the absolute best game ever but is actually quite below-average at best (For example; The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe) or easily among the worst video games of all-time that will make you appreciate the worst of LJN games (Bill & Ted NES, Terminator 2: Judgement Day SNES, Beetlejuice NES) so much more, are 50 times more overrated than any game that could appropriately fall in the aforementioned Non-LJN category, and ultimately are so bad (and controversial in some cases) that they actually cause literal headaches due to being that bad, and of course, emotional distress (Grand Theft Auto 5, The Last of Us and any subsequent titles, South Park: The Stick of Truth and South Park: The Fractured But Whole, the Bayonetta games and literally anything else crapped out by PlatinumGames, Undertale, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and even Super Smash Bros. 4 to a lesser extent, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game, and holy crap this list could go on forever. Sheesh, how much shameless s*** did the 2010s pump out!?). Don't get me wrong, there do exist really good modern games such as Sonic Mania Plus, Yooka-Laylee, A Hat in Time, Pokémon X & Y (Hey, I may not play Pokémon anymore, but those two games are really great considering that, and are my personal picks for the best games in the series, mostly due to re-usable TMs, as one-shot TMs are a crippling flaw in all games prior to Generation 5), Super Mario 3D World, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Rayman Legends, Mario Kart 7, League of Legends, Overwatch, and Street Fighter 5 to name a good handful.
Now that we're onto ranting about modern video games, I'd like to bring up Super Meat Boy; the game looks fun and simple, and I'd actually try it out if I didn't have to pay for it, but the problem is that it is overrated as f***! Seriously, critics and journalists call it not only one of the best platformers of all-time - which is downright crazy as-is - but they even go as far as to calling one of the all-time best video games period. Sheesh, that's f***ing nuts! It's just a simple but very challenging indie platformer, it's nothing THAT special, but it's still a good time. It's safe to objectively call it one of one of the best indie games yet and even one of 2010's finest games, but it's miles and miles away from even one of best platformers, never mind one of the all-time best video games. Although Undertale is called out for being overrated (which it most certainly is) by a good portion of the internet, Super Meat Boy isn't. Don't get me wrong, Super Meat Boy looks and most likely plays fine for what it is, but it's easily the most overrated video game that's still good, and even though the game is so painfully overrated, I feel as to if people don't call it out for being such, and that bothers me because I feel as to if I'm a loser whose opinion is generally shunned upon the public.

Sorry if I got off-topic there, I just REALLY had to get all that out of my system. Anyway, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System is quite simply the idealistic beat 'em up experience, although there are other good beat 'em ups such as Battletoads Arcade, Sailor Moon Arcade, Batman Returns SNES, Final Fight, and Streets of Rage. The reason why people (myself included) hold this game in such high regard is because Turtles in Time has a lovable western cartoon-vibe featuring well-known and iconic characters that everyone can simply get to know and love, there are four playable characters that generally play the same but with different statistics and special attacks to add some good (and easy to get use to) variety, it's easy to just breeze through the entire game in one sitting despite a small yet notable learning curve from two particular bosses (Shredder's Mech and Slash), and it's overall executed in such a perfect way as to be considered not only an excellent pick-up-and-play kind of game but also a strong dedicated title. So yeah, remember when I was debating as to whether this or Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was my all-time favorite game on the SNES? Well, after all this talk about this marvelous game made me come to decide that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time is my all-time favorite SNES game, mostly because there is no other game quite like it at all. Don't get me wrong, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island is an incredible title for the system and it's still a blast to play today, but the collectathon feel of the game is something I could also experience with Banjo-Kazooie on the Nintendo 64, whereas no other game on any other system even comes close to dishing out a similar beat 'em up style quite like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Like I said earlier, though, there are other good beat 'em up games that I do frequently play such as Battletoads Arcade and Sailor Moon Arcade, and even some that I don't personally take interest in but would highly recommend such as Batman Returns SNES (It's a good game, I have played it, but HOLY CRAP is it hard!), Final Fight, and Streets of Rage. That's the thing, beat 'em ups went straight to hell after the 16-bit era with crap like Viewtiful Joe (It isn't THAT bad, it just looks mediocre and really strange. I had a copy of the game on my Nintendo Gamecube, and personally, it sucked, so I sold it.) and MadWorld, and don't even get me started on abysmal s*** like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game and the Bayonetta games. Ughh... Those two games are so f***ING BAD! I'm getting a headache just thinking about them...

Of course, we did at least get a few good beat 'em ups in the later era, but EXTREMELY few considering. What games are these? 2008's Castle Crashers, 2014's Hyrule Warriors, and to some desperately tiny extent even 2018's Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn, which like the original Shaq Fu back in 1994, isn't as bad as the main public would have you believe, especially considering they are the same type of people who would praise irredeemable crap like Bayonetta and South Park.

Regardless, this review has gone on long enough and I should call it wrap and I hope you get the moral of this review and start playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System RIGHT NOW!!
It's been over 200+ days since my last video game review here on Vizzed.com, which was a special one dedicated to my all-time favorite video game, Banjo-Kazooie, made just in time for the games 20th anniversary. Yeah, I really do go on these long haituses, but that's because I usually don't feel in the mood to write a review and I don't want to rush out a lazy half-assed review. I want to pump out one that is full of quality and one you can truly savor. So, enough about my life story, it is time for me to begin my review for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. To this day, Turtles in Time (the SNES version, anyway) is many things; it's objectively one of the three best licensed games of all-time, right next to the four mainstream Batman Arkham games (Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City, Batman: Arkham Origins, and Batman: Arkham Knight) and GoldenEye 007, and also arguably the best beat 'em up game of all-time. In my personal subjective, this game competes with Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island for being my all-time favorite SNES game; I still can't decide which of the two is superior as both are incredible games, but that's another story for another time. Also, I am a HUGE fan of the original 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series (which is the specific Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles continuity that this game is based after, as it was not only the current one then, but the only one at the time excluding the original 1984 comics), as it's one of my all-time favorite cartoons ever, so that also contributes as to why I hold this game in such high regard.

One more thing I should add in is that I originally preferred the Sega Genesis (and not the Sega Mega Drive) counterpart of this game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist. Why, you ask? First off, I felt Raphael was crappy and useless in Turtles in Time due to having low attack, low range, and saving the worst for last, low defense - all in exchange for speed. Second off, Slash was just way too damn hard to take down at the time, and it just wasn't worth the stress. I came across The Hyperstone Heist, however, and tried it out because it was pretty much the Sega Genesis-equivalent to Turtles in Time (which was extremely fun to play even then, by the way) and hoped that it didn't suffer the same flaws as Turtles in Time did (underpowered Raphael, busted OP Slash boss), and I actually enjoyed it and even beat it (though I had to use a continue, even on Easy). Then I heard SNES Drunk go on about how this game is so great and three-dozen people calling out its absence from the SNES Classic and how it would be awesome if it was included in the compilation - I'm on that bandwagon, by the way, the licensing fees would be worth it - and I decided to give this game another shot; I decided to play as Raphael of all the turtles despite his so-called "underpowered status", I breezed through the game and had quite a blast more-so than earlier, and when I reached Slash, I realized that, like any video game boss, there's a certain strategy to killing him and unless you figure it out, you're going to be screwed. If you do figure it out, however (which I did via watching a boss rush of the game on YouTube and reading a guide or two on GameFAQs), it's not that hard; in fact, Raphael's high walking speed makes it easy to just walk behind him and strike. I actually managed to beat the game twice as Raphael; once on Easy, and once on Normal, and neither times did I have to continue (though I did lose quite a few lives, especially on Normal; they're there for a reason, y'know). After beating the game for the first time, I not only realized that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System is one of my all-time favorite video games ever, but that like SNES Drunk said, it quite possibly surpasses the incredible amount of hype it has received rather than simply living up to it.

Needless to say, I went back to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist on Sega Genesis, but it didn't take long for me to think to myself, "Why not just stick with Turtles in Time? It's superior in every way!" The turtles in The Hyperstone Heist (to my knowledge) have the same stats except for range and attack speed, and of course, different special attacks which cannot be triggered by hitting a single button unlike in Turtles in Time and must be done by hitting attack and jump simultaneously - instead, you can press the dash button whilst moving to dash instead of doing it via the control pad only like in Turtles in Time. Additionally, The Hyperstone Heist's third boss, Tatsu, is a gigantic pain-in-the-ass to deal with as he is always accompanied by Foot Soldiers, he strikes at a distance using throwing knives, he jumps to the other side of the screen when you get in melee range of him, and unlike Slash from Turtles in Time who just has a bit of an understanding curve to him, Tatsu is an irredeemably cheap challenge in the same vein as (though not nearly to the extent of) all the crap in Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts and the second half of Contra 3: The Alien Wars (though he is beatable, unlike those overrated turds). And then comes the fourth level which is a boss rush level against the three previous boss abttes who are stronger, there's enemies in-between, and no healing spots at all. All the while, I thought, "At least there's no Slash.", but like I said earlier, I decided to give Turtles in Time a second chance and it was a billion times better in every single way once I learned how to play the game right, and from there, I never went back to The Hyperstone Heist because like I said earlier, "Why not just stick with Turtles in Time? It's superior in every way!" Ultimately, The Hyperstone Heist is - ask anyone - greatly inferior to Turtles in Time, and once you play, complete, and enjoy Turtles in Time start-to-finish on any difficulty as any turtle, you'll ultimately understand why. And if you go back to The Hyperstone Heist after having played and enjoyed Turtles in Time, it won't take long at all for your mind to tell you, "Why the hell am I wasting my time with this mediocrity when I could be playing Turtles in Time?"

Okay, enough of my life story (again), and back to the review at hand. Bear in mind that Turtles in Time was originally an arcade game back in 1991 that was ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System a year later in 1992; the arcade version is also held in high regard, but is objectively inferior to its home console port on the SNES, which is unheard of for arcade games period. I brought it up because I will be comparing this game somewhat to the arcade version I originally played before even The Hyperstone Heist. Anyway, with no further ado, let's see why this game is held in such high regard even today and why I love it so much.

Gameplay (10/10):
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time is a straightforward beat 'em up game as I may have mentioned earlier, and true to its title, it stars all four of the iconic reptilian foursome as playable characters each with their own unique statistics that I will mention much later. Typical for a game of this genre, the player can jump, attack, and perform a special attack that comes at the cost of a small bit of health which in this game differs depending on which of the four turtles you are using (the attack, not the health cost, by the way). You can also perform a dash by walking forward enough, or if you modify it in the Options menu, you can instead dash off by tapping forward like what you'd do in the Super Smash Bros. trilogy (Smash 64, Melee, and Brawl; let's pretend like Smash 4 and Ultimate never happened). Whilst dashing, you can press the attack button to do an attack similar to Wario's Shoulder Bash from the Wario Land games that stops on contact with an enemy, paving the path for follow-up attacks such as a regular attack combo or a grab attack, or if you dash, press jump, then press attack, you'll do a sliding kick that pierces through enemies, though you could just dash then press the button(s) that would execute the special attack and you'd do a flying kick instead that also pierces through enemies; it's easier to perform, and despite having to perform a special attack, it doesn't cost any health. Why bother with the sliding kick, hmm? There's also the back attack which you can use to hit enemies behind you. It triggers automatically when an enemy is behind you and is simply just a weak attack you use to back them off. Of course, in the split moment you're booting an enemy off your back, the enemy you're initially hitting up front will be able to attack you and set you off guard. For whatever reason, I prefer to play with the back attack turned off, though unsurprisingly, the default has it on. Of course, there are aerial attacks you can use - three of them, at that. If you jump then quickly press attack, you will perform a rising aerial kick in which your turtle kicks upwards on a forward diagonal. If you press jump and press attack as you're about to hit the ground, you will perform a forward flying kick that boosts you forward a bit. Lastly, if you jump and press attack at the peak of your jump, you will do a different attack depending on whether you're holding the jump button or if you tapped it to jump and then let it go afterwards - the former has you attack with your weapon as you press the attack button during the suddenly slowed-down descent, and the latter has you do a diagonally-downward flying kick going forward a small bit.

True to being a beat 'em up, your goal is to defeat all the enemies that get in your way as you walk to right, beat up of a horde of enemies, walk to right some more, fight some more baddies, and simply just repeat that until a boss shows up, in which case you have beat the crap out this big boss enemy until he dies (Yes, all the bosses in this game are male). Once the boss is dead, you proceed to the next level, rinse and repeat. Also, this game is multiplayer. However, unlike the original arcade version of the game which supported up to four-player action, this game could only support either one or two-player gameplay due to SNES standards at the time, specifically because the well-known official SNES Multitap by Hudson Soft came out after this games initial release in 1992. Back to the main subject, there are ten stages total (Big Apple 3 AM, Alleycat Blues, Sewer Surfin', Technodrome - Let's Kick Shell!, Prehistoric Turtlesaurus, Skull and Crossbones, Bury My Shell at Wounded Knee, Neon Night-Riders, Starbase - Where No Turtle Has Gone Before, and Technodrome - The Final Shell-Shock). Of course, to curb the monotonous nature of beat 'em up games, this game features two auto-scrolling bonus stages (those being the third stage Sewer Surfin' and the eighth stage Neon Night-Riders) in which your goal is to kill enemies, dodge some hazards, and collect power-ups in order to boost your score, and once the ride is over, your statistics during the tour are calculated and you gain more points depending on your performance; for example, if you score 20 points during the ride from killing enemies and grabbing goodies, when you hit the end of the tour, these statistics are calculated and you'll gain another 20 points, thus resulting in 40 total points. Of course, even these bonus stages end in a boss fight, and you can die even during the pre-boss section if you're too careless.

It is important to note that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time (the SNES version, anyway) is one of those games that rewards you for getting a high score; in this case, the game grants the player an extra life for every 200 points scored, so getting a high score is more than just for show - it can also equal your survival. Also, the one thing that makes Turtles in Time stand out amongst other beat 'em ups is its unique grab mechanics. In beat 'em up games such as Final Fight, Batman Returns SNES, and Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon R SNES, you grab enemies by walking into them and then you press another button (varies depending on game) to throw them to deal damage to them. In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time, you hit a Foot Soldier - the by-far most common enemy of the game and the only enemy that is vulnerable to the common grab - with a basic attack first, and they flinch as if they just got smashed in the gut and they're holding onto their belly trying to recover, and then you press the attack button alongside one of the direction buttons to throw them and kill them instantly, and there are two possible outcomes of this special grab attack; if you press forward, you can throw them at the TV screen and score 3 points, and if you press any of the other directions, you slam 'em back-and forth on their spine to not only kill the Foot Soldier in your grip, but also the other ones he happens to hit whilst he's being slammed around, scoring 2 points for any enemy killed during this moves execution - both the one in hand, and the others caught in the calamity of the attack. What's nice is that this mechanic is easy to use but not TOO easy like a simple press of a button. It is very useful, and it's not only the main bulk of the game's unique beat 'em up factor but it's also the main reason that the game is fairly easy in comparison to any other beat 'em up game without simultaneously being boring and braindead. You can grab Stone Warriors (the burly rock guys with the helmets) too, but it doesn't kill them instantly and there is only one way to toss them - that being by flinching them and then pressing attack alongside any direction. However, you can only throw them backwards, and like I said earlier, it isn't a one-hit kill and you're just better off whacking them to death with basic attacks.

However, that's not all that the game has to offer, as now I am moving onto the Options menu. Here, you can change many things about the game to your tastes such as the difficulty, controller configuration, how many lives you start with, how the dash is triggered (automatically by walking a bit or manually by tapping forward à la the Super Smash Bros. trilogy), if the back attack is on or off, if the sound is Stereo or Monaural (There's hardly any difference at all, if any in some cases), and whether you want to play as the Turtles 1987 Cartoon incarnations or their 1984 incarnations from the original Mirage Comics (with a splash of color, of course). Saving the best for last, there's a sound test. Yep, you heard me right! A sound test! Here, you can have any of the games soundtrack play over-and-over to your hearts content. The names here are shorteners (for example, Sewerage stands for Sewer Surfin'), but they're very recognizable, especially if you've played through the entire game like I have. The game also has two other modes aside from the main game; Time Attack and Versus. The Time Attack mode is exclusively single-player and has you go through a series of stages killing a set group of enemies in a specific part of familiar locations from the game as fast as possible. There are three sets of stages; Big Apple 3 AM, Alleycat Blues, and Prehistoric Turtlesaurus. They start off at the places indicated by their names; for example, selecting Alleycat Blues will start you off in Alleycat Blues, but eventually they draft you off into a different part of the game. It's pretty weird when you select Big Apple 3 AM (the first level of the game) and then after a few rounds you get drafted off to (conveniently the absolute worst part of) Starbase - Where No Turtle Has Gone Before (the last level of the game excluding Technodrome - The Final Shell-Shock, which is a level solely dedicated to fighting the games final boss). Personally, I hate this mode. The controls don't feel as perfectly polished as the base game, and worst of all, there's no healing in between rounds, so on top of having to beat these rounds as fast as possible, you also have to stay alive. Gee, that's real nice... A real dealbreaker for me, but eh, to each his own, at least they tried something new and original. The Versus mode, on the other hand, is exclusively two-player. Both players pick a turtle, and from what I've seen and heard, you engage in a 1-on-1 battle against each other using the games controls. It's pretty simple from what I can recall, but since I can only play games on Vizzed.com in single-player (simply because I only have one controller, specifically a Logitech Gamepad F310), I've never played it so I can't give an opinion on it. Again, it's another mode they added to this game to spice up the beat 'em up mood of the game.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot! Each of the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have their own statistics that give the game a different flavor every time you play through. I should note that each of the turtles have the same running speed and that their speed statistic only applies to their walking speed. Anyway, with no further ado, here are each of the four turtles statistics as seen in the games manual:

Leonardo is the balanced turtle of the game with no outstanding strength nor does he have any glaring weaknesses, either. His special attack is a simple spin attack that hits enemies both in front of Leonardo as well as behind him. Needless to say, his special attack is the weakest of the four, but that's mostly because the others are stronger - not that Leonardo's special attack is exactly weak. The final hit on his basic attack combo has less range than the preceding strikes, too, but it's not that big of a deal at all and he's the only turtle with this almost unnoteworthy oddity.

Donatello walks slowly and his defense is below average, but he has impressive range on his basic attacks. His special attack is an attacking dash in the form of a flying kick that deals above average damage. That all being said, his basic attacks initiate a tiny bit slower than Leonardo (Hardly anything, really).

Raphael walks almost as fast as he runs, but his defense is notoriously low. The power on his basic attacks are a bit below average and have poor range, but they come out fast, and his special attack - a simple melee range kick in front of himself that can be used quickly in succession - as well as his dash attack pack incredible power. My favorite turtle to play.

Michelangelo has higher defense than his brothers (Yes, all of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are direct brothers) and his basic attacks have above average power, but his walking speed and his dash attacks have below average potential to compensate. Not to mention his basic attacks come out a bit slowly. His special attack - a forward leap followed by Michelangelo lashing out his nunchucks to his sides, seperating them from each other (I tried my best to explain it.) - is also a bit above average in terms of power.

If you're going to play this game, then I suggest using my preferred configuration Type C, where the B button is your jump, the Y button is for attacking, and the special attack is triggered simply by pressing the A button instead of pressing the jump and attack buttons simultaneously. It's actually the best way to play, in my opinion. If you wanna play more like me, adjust the dash feature to manual and turn off the back attack.

Oh my God, I am finally done with the gameplay section! As long as it was, I really do get into extensive details when it comes to games that I love (like this one), and weirdly enough, pretty much 95% of everyone on this website doesn't explain the gameplay section at all in their reviews even though it is the most vital part to a video game review. Needless to say, I think the gameplay section in this review alone is MUCH longer than most reviews on this website period. Sheesh, fellow Vizzed users! Don't be so lazy when it comes to pumping out reviews, will you? I could also complain about the low-quality of the reviews on this website, but that's being offensively subjective rather than being objectively blunt. Did I ever mention how much I hate the Featured Review feature on this website? Eh, that's another story for another time, but since I'm here, I'll explain that the main problem with the feature is that it pretty much forces ones opinion down others throats when their trying to enjoy a game or browse about user-posted content on the games page. I've had a long (and bad) history with featured reviews on this website, and that's mostly because they pick the worst reviews to be featured.

Anyway, with no further ado, let's finally call it a wrap for the gameplay section and head onto the other sections of this glorious review.

Graphics (9/10):
Considering this is an arcade port, the graphics are almost identical, and that is a HUGE thumbs-up, especially when you consider this was made in a time when arcade games were vastly superior to any home console in terms of technical capabilities. Of course, the SNES version of Turtles in Time does have a few graphical disadvantages in comparison to the original arcade version (Duh!), which is why I described it as "almost identical" rather than "identical". Most notably, the arcade version has SO many little sprite animations for everything in the game from characters to the environment. Characters also move much faster (To a fault, actually.) and they have different movement sprites for moving up on the foreground with their backs facing the screen, whereas in the SNES port, only the Turtles get sprites that face upwards, but even then, they're only used for looking up rather than moving up at all. Other differences are:

Shredder's taunting face in the introduction in the arcade version looks authentic, whilst the SNES version looks painfully pixelated.

Character silhouettes on the level cards spin around on the arcade version, whilst they do not on the SNES version - they move in both versions, though.

In the arcade version, if you stand in place for too long, Splinter will move to the right, pointing his cane forward whilst saying "HURRY!" and will rinse and repeat those actions whilst get increasingly bigger until a bomb drops on you and kills you. In the SNES version, instead April O'Neil will appear on the right side of the screen, standing straight up whilst facing the camera straight-on, and say "FIGHT!" until you get moving with no possible consequence to disobeying.

The health powerups in the arcade version are red panels with a pink heart on it that has light-yellow flashes off of it with a red heart spinning around above the panel itself. When you collect it, your turtle will strike a pose with a pizza slice in his right hand (in his point of view). In the SNES version, said powerups are simply blue panels with the word PIZZA engraved on it in slightly pinkish-red and collecting it won't pause your character at all.

That all being said, the graphics of the game look great. They truly represent the original 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon excellently, and every character has a good amount of detail to them. Heck, the first Shredder boss fight in Technodrome - Let's Kick Shell! has him fight you in his perspective and it greatly represent some elements seen in a first-person view (especially for its time) such as lunging mechanical arms forward, shooting plasma pellets, and even an overcomplicated HUD accompanying him. You get to throw Foot Soldiers at the TV screen as I've mentioned earlier, and that is exactly how you beat this boss is that you keep tossing Shredder's goons at the screen of his machine. The backgrounds look good, too. In Technodrome - Let's Kick Shell!, there are conveyor belts moving in the background and more than ten little TV screens depicting Shredder's taunting face from the games intro, Bury My Shell at Wounded Knee takes place on a train that is constantly autoscrolling at high-speed and the background moves along excellently as well and it feels like your actually going somewhere rather than just the same route again-and-again, and ultimately the usage of Mode 7 technology in Neon Night-Riders alongside the sci-fi theme of the stage overall gives it a huge F-ZERO vibe. The backgrounds, animations, and character sprites are all above average in terms of quality and it really oozes how much dedication the developers put into this game. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. As I mentioned earlier, you can also go to the Options menu to modify the turtles appearance to match their incarnations from the 1984 Mirage Comics - with a splash of color, of course. What color specifically? Kind of swampy dark colors that still make them recognizably similar to their 1987 cartoon counterparts, actually, and their eyes are blank-white. In my personal opinion, do not play as the turtles with their 1984 Mirage Comics design - simply just stick with their 1987 Cartoon design like what I do. Well, that wraps up the graphics section, so onto the audio section.

Sound/Audio (8/10):
Whereas the graphics didn't change much during the transition from the arcade to the SNES in terms of quality, the audio did. I downright loved the soundtrack of the arcade version - particularly the first three levels Big Apple 3 AM, Alleycat Blues, and Sewer Surfin' - but in the SNES version, Sewer Surfin' is the only song in the game that I'd ever sit down and listen to, whereas Big Apple 3 AM and Alleycat Blues are almost below average in my books. The music is still upbeat and it still sets the mood finely, but it isn't really noteworthy like Sonic Mania Plus or even Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. There's still many cool sound effects, though, such as when huge iron balls crash down and make a crashing sound, when electrical lasers get shot out of the background to make a strong and consistent zapping sound, and even a special little jingle that plays when you get an extra life upon scoring 200 points. Also, bosses make a bopping grunt-like sound when you hit them in the SNES version as opposed to making a sound similar to swooshing bubbles from the original arcade version and the sound of hitting enemies is more physically satisfying than the original arcade version. Almost all the voiceovers from the original arcade version where omitted during the transition to the SNES, however, with the only survivors being the Turtles' "Cowabunga!", "Pizza Power!", and "Ohh... Shell Shock!", and even then, they sound a bit "technically restrained" (Duh!) and the tone of voice is identical for them all whereas the arcade version had a different tone of voice for each of the voiceovers with very few exceptions. Oh, Shredder's evil laugh is still present, and it only sounds slightly different from the arcade version.

To conclude this section, the soundtrack to this game is fine even when you compare it to the original arcade version, but it's just nothing I'd ever sit down and listen to, but it still sets the mood for the game fantastically, with notable examples being the songs for Prehistoric Turtlesaurus and Bury My Shell at Wounded Knee. Oh yeah, the game also has a short remix of the iconic TMNT 1987 theme song that plays if you don't press anything for a while after the Konami logo shows up... you have to wait for it, though, but the screen is a dead giveaway on when it is coming. Personally, I'd actually give the audio of this game a 7, but because this game is so fun and the fact that the sound effects are actually really cool, I decided to be easier on the game and give it an 8 instead.

Plot/Story (9/10):
The plot to this game is both ridiculous (in a good way) and incredible. The day starts off normal as usual with April O'Neil doing a Channel 6 live report near the site of the Statue of Liberty, when suddenly Kraang in his Android Body comes flying out of nowhere, rips the Statue of Liberty from its place, and then flies off. A taunting face of Shredder - accompanied by an evil laugh - then appears on the TV screen of anyone who was watching April's report at the time; this is specifically aimed towards the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who are obviously provoked by this evil action. Leonardo reacts, "Hey, Kraang! Bring that statue back, you bloated bean bag!" From there, your turtle(s) proceed to travel across New York City beating the crap out of countless Foot Soldiers and other familiar villains as you attempt to find the Statue of Liberty. You start off in a New York construction site (Big Apple 3 AM), and then proceed to downtown New York back alleys (Alleycat Blues), and then the sewers from which you travel on a surfboard (Sewer Surfin'), and then... Holy crap, you're at the Technodrome already (Technodrome - Let's Kick Shell!)! This is Shredder and Kraang's base of operations if you're not familiar with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lore. Once you reach the end of this level, you realize you're already facing Shredder in a giant turtle-killing machine in what appears to be a final battle. Wait a second... Isn't it a little early to be the final showdown? Of course, it is. After you destroy Shredder's mech, he sends you into a time warp "from which you will never return". From there, you fight your way throughout various notable time periods including the prehistoric era (Prehistoric Turtlesaurus), 1530 AD on a huge pirate ship (Skull and Crossbones), 1885 AD - in which Chester A. Arthur was the president of America - on a huge train (Bury My Shell at Wounded Knee), an inaccurate prediction of 2020 that has a Jetsons and F-ZERO vibe (Neon Night-Riders), and what-could-be 2100 located on the moon in a space base (Starbase - Where No Turtle Has Gone Before). After that, you somehow escape the time warp and return back to the Technodrome to rematch Shredder - who is combating you on foot this time in the form of Super Shredder, as seen in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret of the Ooze live-action movie.

After you defeat him, a cutscene plays in which Splinter tells you that your ninja skills are improving but that you're going to need to train harder. The dialogue is different depending on whether you clear the game on Easy or Normal. But what about Hard, you ask? Well, much in the vein of Contra 3: The Alien Wars (another Konami SNES game made in 1992), the true ending lies in beating the game on the Hard difficulty and that Easy and Normal do not give you a "true ending". This true ending involves the Turtle Blimp flying in the sky with the Statue of Liberty in tow under itself hanging by a rope while April O'Neil announces that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have saved the day once again, and from there, the turtles place the statue back in its rightful place and the credits roll. Splinter also announces that "Congratulations! You have completed your training and are now true ninjas." which causes all four turtles to jump in joy in unison whilst shouting "Cowabunga!".

However, it's safe to say the Statue of Liberty did return to its rightful place even if you didn't clear the game on Hard, but only on Hard do you get to see it happen. Think about it. You went through a wild-ass adventure through so many strange places and even beat the hell out of Shredder for the sake of re-retrieving the Statue of Liberty from him and Kraang, so what makes you think you'd do all that just to return to your sensei and hear him say, "You're good, but you need to improve some more." and leave the Statue of Liberty inside the Technodrome, hmm?

Difficulty (4/10):
What makes this game so much fun for me is that, like Super Castlevania 4, it is quite easy for an early Super Nintendo Entertainment System game. Once you know what to do, this game is actually very easy to just breeze through, making it kind of an ideal pick-up-and-play kind of game. That all being said, this game still isn't pathetically easy like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and there will always be a few parts that will knock out a good chunk of your health or even consume an extra life or two even on the Easy difficulty. Particularly, the battle against Bebop & Rocksteady in Skull & Crossbones is a huge pain-in-the-ass because not only do they hit fairly hard, but they're also fast and have good range in their attacks. Needless to say, you just need to kill one of them and then they beat each other to death and end the battle (Morons!).

I'd also like to mention that in order to beat Slash in Prehistoric Turtlesaurus, you need to hit him from behind (despite him being a turtle). In order to do that, you need to move yourself to his behind before he turns around, and if he jumps, hit him before he touches the ground and he'll be stunned for a while. Likewise, in order to beat the first Shredder boss fight in Technodrome - Let's Kick Shell!, you have to throw Foot Soldiers at the TV screen to hit the front of Shredder's machine since the battle takes place in his perspective of a first-person view. And to do that, you have to hit a Foot Soldier, then press the attack button and forward on the movement pad simultaneously - just keep doing that 'till he dies.

So yeah, like I said earlier, once you know what to do, this game is actually quite easy, especially for an early SNES game. I mentioned the boss guides for Shredder's Mech and Slash because those are the two parts of the game I could imagine someone being stuck at with no idea on what to do, so I hope that helps you if you ever decide to play this wonderful game.

Depth (7/10):
In all seriousness, this game is pretty linear due to being a home console port of an arcade beat 'em up game. However, there is a good amount of depth considering that. How, you ask? Because you get four different characters each with their own unique statistics, there's exactly ten stages to play through (Two of which are unique autoscrolling "bonus rounds"), various minor things you can tweak about how you play the game such as controller configuration, a complete sound test, and much more! I could have gave the depth section an 8, but because I personally find the Time Attack mode to be a real stinker and I've never got to try out the Versus mode because I play all my Vizzed games alone, I instead gave it a solid 7.

Addictiveness/Replay Value (10/10):
Is this game addicting? Hell yeah! How much replay value does this simple beat 'em up game have? Enough to blanket the entire United States of America! This game is just so much fun to play through each and every time because it's simple and straightforward, but it isn't completely braindead, either. The simple difficulty of the game really adds to its replay value because you'll never feel stressed about a possible Game Over, and you can't put a price on just how fun it is to slam Foot Soldiers back-and-forth and throw them at the TV screen. There's not much else to say here, this game is just really freaking incredible!

Pros:
- This game is based after the original 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series, which is downright incredible as is. Seriously, it's one of my all-time favorite cartoons. It also represents the TV series fantastically.

- Though a bit simple and repetitive, this game is executed so well that it's actually a really great pick-up-and-play kind of game.

- Having each of the four turtles with their own unique statistics make each playthrough different depending on which of them you use. My favorite is Raphael because he moves fast without having to dash and, believe it or not, I like that he's close ranged. Given that throwing Foot Soldiers is the way to go in this game, Raphael is great for just that.

- Though not as excellent as Sonic Mania Plus or Super Castlevania 4, the soundtrack sets the mood for this game excellently. The jingles are pretty freaking cool, too!

Cons:
- There are no real cons. There, I said it. Shredder's Mech and Slash may not be beginner-friendly, but they're fun to fight once you know how to win against them. Additionally, I may not care for the Time Attack and Versus modes, but they do have their purpose for being here.

Overall (10/10):
Holy crap was this a long review! In my defense, I love this game that much. And of course, if I don't pump out high-quality in-depth video game reviews, who on this website will? That aside, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System is an extremely fun and satisfying game to play, and although it's a bit simple and repetitive, this game is executed so well that it actually never gets old. To double it up, I love the original 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series, so the fact that it's based after one of my all-time favorite cartoons is another grand factor as to why this game is so great. As SNES Drunk says, "So yeah, does Turtles in Time live up to the hype? If anything, it may surpass it. This game is just so much freaking fun! It gets everything right!". I admit I have a tendency to give perfect scores to games I enjoy, but that's because certain retro games such as Banjo-Kazooie, Panel de Pon, and of course this game are just so all-around perfect, unlike all the crap that gets released nowadays which is either overrated mediocrity that tries too hard to be the absolute best game ever but is actually quite below-average at best (For example; The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe) or easily among the worst video games of all-time that will make you appreciate the worst of LJN games (Bill & Ted NES, Terminator 2: Judgement Day SNES, Beetlejuice NES) so much more, are 50 times more overrated than any game that could appropriately fall in the aforementioned Non-LJN category, and ultimately are so bad (and controversial in some cases) that they actually cause literal headaches due to being that bad, and of course, emotional distress (Grand Theft Auto 5, The Last of Us and any subsequent titles, South Park: The Stick of Truth and South Park: The Fractured But Whole, the Bayonetta games and literally anything else crapped out by PlatinumGames, Undertale, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and even Super Smash Bros. 4 to a lesser extent, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game, and holy crap this list could go on forever. Sheesh, how much shameless s*** did the 2010s pump out!?). Don't get me wrong, there do exist really good modern games such as Sonic Mania Plus, Yooka-Laylee, A Hat in Time, Pokémon X & Y (Hey, I may not play Pokémon anymore, but those two games are really great considering that, and are my personal picks for the best games in the series, mostly due to re-usable TMs, as one-shot TMs are a crippling flaw in all games prior to Generation 5), Super Mario 3D World, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Rayman Legends, Mario Kart 7, League of Legends, Overwatch, and Street Fighter 5 to name a good handful.
Now that we're onto ranting about modern video games, I'd like to bring up Super Meat Boy; the game looks fun and simple, and I'd actually try it out if I didn't have to pay for it, but the problem is that it is overrated as f***! Seriously, critics and journalists call it not only one of the best platformers of all-time - which is downright crazy as-is - but they even go as far as to calling one of the all-time best video games period. Sheesh, that's f***ing nuts! It's just a simple but very challenging indie platformer, it's nothing THAT special, but it's still a good time. It's safe to objectively call it one of one of the best indie games yet and even one of 2010's finest games, but it's miles and miles away from even one of best platformers, never mind one of the all-time best video games. Although Undertale is called out for being overrated (which it most certainly is) by a good portion of the internet, Super Meat Boy isn't. Don't get me wrong, Super Meat Boy looks and most likely plays fine for what it is, but it's easily the most overrated video game that's still good, and even though the game is so painfully overrated, I feel as to if people don't call it out for being such, and that bothers me because I feel as to if I'm a loser whose opinion is generally shunned upon the public.

Sorry if I got off-topic there, I just REALLY had to get all that out of my system. Anyway, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System is quite simply the idealistic beat 'em up experience, although there are other good beat 'em ups such as Battletoads Arcade, Sailor Moon Arcade, Batman Returns SNES, Final Fight, and Streets of Rage. The reason why people (myself included) hold this game in such high regard is because Turtles in Time has a lovable western cartoon-vibe featuring well-known and iconic characters that everyone can simply get to know and love, there are four playable characters that generally play the same but with different statistics and special attacks to add some good (and easy to get use to) variety, it's easy to just breeze through the entire game in one sitting despite a small yet notable learning curve from two particular bosses (Shredder's Mech and Slash), and it's overall executed in such a perfect way as to be considered not only an excellent pick-up-and-play kind of game but also a strong dedicated title. So yeah, remember when I was debating as to whether this or Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island was my all-time favorite game on the SNES? Well, after all this talk about this marvelous game made me come to decide that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time is my all-time favorite SNES game, mostly because there is no other game quite like it at all. Don't get me wrong, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island is an incredible title for the system and it's still a blast to play today, but the collectathon feel of the game is something I could also experience with Banjo-Kazooie on the Nintendo 64, whereas no other game on any other system even comes close to dishing out a similar beat 'em up style quite like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Like I said earlier, though, there are other good beat 'em up games that I do frequently play such as Battletoads Arcade and Sailor Moon Arcade, and even some that I don't personally take interest in but would highly recommend such as Batman Returns SNES (It's a good game, I have played it, but HOLY CRAP is it hard!), Final Fight, and Streets of Rage. That's the thing, beat 'em ups went straight to hell after the 16-bit era with crap like Viewtiful Joe (It isn't THAT bad, it just looks mediocre and really strange. I had a copy of the game on my Nintendo Gamecube, and personally, it sucked, so I sold it.) and MadWorld, and don't even get me started on abysmal s*** like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game and the Bayonetta games. Ughh... Those two games are so f***ING BAD! I'm getting a headache just thinking about them...

Of course, we did at least get a few good beat 'em ups in the later era, but EXTREMELY few considering. What games are these? 2008's Castle Crashers, 2014's Hyrule Warriors, and to some desperately tiny extent even 2018's Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn, which like the original Shaq Fu back in 1994, isn't as bad as the main public would have you believe, especially considering they are the same type of people who would praise irredeemable crap like Bayonetta and South Park.

Regardless, this review has gone on long enough and I should call it wrap and I hope you get the moral of this review and start playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4: Turtles in Time for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System RIGHT NOW!!
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I'm going to void and close this thread as it's a dupe of thread 101999. Your original post will remain unaffected.
I'm going to void and close this thread as it's a dupe of thread 101999. Your original post will remain unaffected.
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