Greetings ladies and gentlemen, and welcome back to TMNT Month 2. Since during the last TMNT Month, I reviewed the arcade version of this game, I decided it was time to review the game's very successful home console port. Now, back in the late 80's to early 90's, porting arcade games to home consoles usually resulted in the arcade version being superior. However, with this game, people have actually claimed that the Super Nintendo version is superior to the arcade version. How is this possible? Is it really the superior version of the game? Let's find out, here's my review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time.

Graphics
     The graphics for this game are great by home console standards at this point in time. They use, for the most part, the same sprites as the arcade version, but not as well animated. I can only assume that this has to do with hardware limitations on the SNES versus the arcade. There's also the option to choose between the animation coloring and the comic coloring. I usually stick with the animation coloring because I find it easier to see due to it being a little brighter. The enemies look good as well. You have different types of Foot ninja each wearing a different color and wielding a different weapon in order to distinguish themselves from one another. The levels and background also look great. You can tell the developers put hard work into the graphics department in order to make it look like the arcade version as much as possible. Overall, while not as good as the arcade version's graphics, definitely pretty close and they look amazing on this console.

Sound
     The soundtrack is just amazing. Every track in the game is very catchy and fun to listen to. I often find myself humming one of these tunes every now and again while I'm just doing what I normally do every day. I especially find myself humming the Sewer Surfing music. It just won't leave my head, I can hear it just from memory while writing this review. The sound effects are also nicely done and are close to the arcade sound effects, if not exactly the same. Just a great sounding game in general.

Addictiveness
     Ever since the arcade version appeared on Vizzed, I find myself playing that version a little more often, but before then I was wasting my time playing this version. It's definitely a really fun game that's sure to have you coming back over and over again. With all the different ways you can dispatch of your opponents, you're sure to come back to try and find as many as possible.

Story
     I'll give the story credit in that April isn't getting herself kidnapped this time. This time, Krang steals the Statue of Liberty, though I'm not quite sure why, I don't think it's ever explained. Shredder then appears on the Turtles' TV and gives them a message. The Turtles then decide to go and kick Shredder's butt...again. From there, the plot really doesn't make a return until after the Technodrome stage, where Shredder sends them into a time warp from which, he claims, they will never return. Not that I expect a beat-em-up game to have an amazing plot, but it's just one of those plots to get you going.

Depth
     The game isn't too terribly long and can be beaten pretty quickly depending upon your skill at the game. There aren't very many levels and not much room to really explore them. However, I think the game makes up for this by giving us a very wide variety of enemies to fight. Mousers, different types of Foot Ninja, and whatever those robots are that roll around and shoot lasers and rope you. (I hate those thing by the way, they're so annoying) While not the longest game I think the sheer amount of enemies more than makes up for it.

Controls/Gameplay
     I guess I'll go ahead and sum up the difficulty here, if you've played the game as many times as I have, you won't have a problem. Newcomers might get thrashed a bit at first, but once you learn how the game works, it can be pretty easy. Now for the controls, you move using the D-pad, and you can pretty much set your attack and jump buttons to be whatever you want them to be in the options. You can also pause using the Select button, yeah it took me a little while to realize that was the way to do it. (I felt like an idiot when I figured it out, considering I had tried pressing the Start button for the longest time and thought you couldn't pause the game.) The game flows pretty smoothly and you probably won't have too much trouble getting the control scheme down.

Overall, if you're a Turtles fan, or just a beat-em-up fan in general, you should definitely check this game out. I honestly can't decide if I like this version or the arcade version more. I guess that's just a matter of preference. With great controls, great graphics, and one of the best soundtracks in video game history, I give this game a 9 out of 10. Join me next time, where I'm heading to the Genesis to review The Hyperstone Heist. Until then, peace out.