In the 1980s, comic books got gritty. Batman returned to his roots as a grim and frightening specter of justice. Jean Grey died, and Daredevil lost his girl, job, and secret identity in one fell swoop. Even happy-go-lucky Spider-Man suffered an identity crisis of lethal proportions. Just when we were starting to think things couldn’t get any rougher, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtlescame out of their shells and hit comic stands. Now, in 2003, the same turtles are headed for the Xbox, and if you want a piece of their action, you really need to know where they came from.
In 1983, comic book creators Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman looked out at this malaise of dark psychological story lines and brooding stubble-faced heroes … and decided to make fun of it. They took all the conventions of the “grim and gritty” comics and turned them upside down. Sure, their book had ninjas, a quest for vengeance, and moody first-person narration, but the stars of the show were a bunch of turtles. Their origin was just as improbable as any other superhero team’s: Four baby turtles were accidentally dosed with an unknown mutagenic “ooze” and quickly grew into humanoid creatures with thumbs and the power of speech. They were trained in the martial arts by a mutated rat named Splinter (who was involved in the same ooze accident) and unleashed to fight evil and protect the innocent. Splinter named the turtles after artistic masters that he admired and trained each in a different weapon. Soon Donatello (bo staff), Michelangelo (nunchaku), Raphael (sais), and Leonardo (swords) were venturing out of the sewer and into the streets, looking to kick some evil backsides.
The comic book parodied the kind of dark themes and bloody battles that were popular at the time, but soon, the creators realized they had the makings of a perfect children’s action cartoon. They toned down the violence and lightened up the attitude, and one of the most successful creator-owned comic books became a monster television hit. Soon after that, a marketing juggernaut was born, and today, you can find Turtle comics, movies, action figures, plush toys, lunch boxes and now, Xbox video games.
The game follows the cartoon show instead of the comics, which means the Turtles’ trademark pop-culture lingo and devotion to all junk food, especially pizza, is safely intact. This more colorful incarnation (the original comics were in black and white) also means you get the full cartoon experience. Both the cut scenes and the game graphics have a cel-shaded look and feel, from the boys’ headbands to the comic book sound effects that appear with each blow.
The game also follows the plot of the cartoon show closely, starting from the robotic mouser attack on their headquarters from the very first episode. Instead of watching the Turtles fight, you’re controlling one of them as they battle the thugs, robots, and oddballs from the series. You’ll battle the mad Dr. Stockman, meet April, make friends with a vigilante in a hockey mask, and eventually battle the boys’ nemesis, the evil ninja master Oroku Saki (“Shredder”). Note that Shredder, in true supervillain style, keeps coming back, no matter how many times the Turtles defeat him. In the first issue of the comic, the Turtles blow him up with his own grenade, apparently vaporizing him, but somehow he’s still around.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the Xbox packs a huge amount of story into its more than 30 levels, which feature just about every major character and plot development from the cartoon series. Though the Turtles are quick with the wise cracks and began life as a satire, they’ve spent the past two decades proving that they are definitely no joke.
