"Pizza Power....flying saucer food delight...Pizza
Power...." Sorry...sorry. Reminiscing about that time back in the early 90's when every arcade in America was blaring this same song
simultaneously. This theme song, part of the now hilarious TMNT musical tour, was easily the peak of the
phenomenon known as the Ninja Turtles. Coinciding with this peak, Konami wasted no time in producing a classic arcade game that stands up to even it's most fearsome competitors. The Statue of Liberty has been kidnapped (or stolen if you prefer) and as is the norm considering what game your playing, the Turtles are called upon to get it back. One must question why Shredder would steal the Statue of Liberty instead of, say, the Empire State Building which would probably put many a life in danger, but the symbol of America's freedom is good enough for me. Not content to let the Turtles run right at him, Shredder send the mutants back through time (and into the future) to stall them in their quest.
With the oh-so-loved 4-player feature back in action, this outstanding brawler is simply stunning in every category. Everything has been beefed up since the Turtles previous arcade romp. The soundtrack (including a fully voiced rendition of "Pizza Power" as mentioned above) is great, eclipsing the first game not only in sheer volume, but quality as well. There's a lot of speech to listen to as well adding to the Saturday morning cartoon feel.
The characters have been enlarged and the animation has been completely reworked. The now infamous mode-7 effect of throwing an opponent "into" the screen is a classic and the game simply wouldn't be the same without it (see: The Hyperstone Heist, Sega Genesis). Bosses fill the screen at times, screaming with color and animation that simply hasn't been seen since.
Even with 4-players hacking away with the Turtles trademark weapons, you'll never get lost in the crowd. The difficulty has been set to a perfect level, the number of stages is dead-on, and you can't deny the appeal of a good beat-em-up. Simply put, this is one of those games where everything simply clicked for the developers.
Note that the home port of this game on the SNES is easily on par, but some alterations have taken place. There's a few new stages, Bebop and Rock steady make an appearance, and the Shredder becomes Super Shredder ala TMNT II: The Secret of the Ooze. Either way you choose to play, your getting a game created by people who cared about making an outstanding video game and one that simply eclipses all others.
