There was a time in the Eighties when the Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles were everywhere.  Having been a successful underground comic book, the Turtles became a phenomenon that gave birth to two motion pictures, action figures, a Saturday morning cartoon and, of course a video game on the original Nintendo system.  I mean, really, who couldn’t resist the offbeat story of four mutated teenaged turtles that fought for truth, justice and a large pepperoni pizza?  The fires of their popularity diminished for a long while but the four half-shelled heroes return thanks to a Fox Kids Saturday morning cartoon and new games that have been released across all the major consoles.  Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles 2: Battle Nexus on the Game Boy Advance is the latest chapter, but do the Turtles still have what it takes to get out of the sewer?

Battle Nexus finds the four young turtles (Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo) in a serious jam when they are teleported to a strange alien city in some unknown planet.  Lost and confused, the four heroes soon come to the aid of a robot named Fugitoid that’s being chased by armed soldiers.  The Turtles discover that Fugitoid is really Professor Honeycutt, a scientist that is well-versed in teleportation technology and is the only man, err, robot, that can help them get back home.  In order to do that, though, they must help the Professor collect enough ancient crystals to power the teleportation device.  To make matters worse, arch nemesis Shredder and his cyborg henchman Stockman are behind the Turtles disappearance.

Reminiscent of the original NES Konami game, Battle Nexus’ single player Story mode has you choosing any of the four Turtles to complete a series of stages.  For those of you who don’t remember who is who in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universe, allow me to give you a quick rundown of each Turtle, his own skill and weapon of preference.  Leonardo, the leader, favors his trusty katana while Donatello, the tech geek, uses a Bo staff.  Then there’s Raphael who had a wild streak and uses two very sharp Sais and finally Michelangelo (who is also the party animal of the group) uses nunchaku.  Aside from the weapons, each Turtle has his own unique stills that become useful in each mission you gamers can’t get away with simply going through the whole game playing as one particular TMNT.  For example, one stage can only be completed by using Raphael since he could use his Sais to scale walls.

The game’s stages go from enemy bases to outdoor setting but the majority of the game requires you to collect a certain number of crystals to successfully complete the stage.  One stage might have you kicking the tail of any enemy soldier or Triceratron soldiers (basically half-men and half-Triceratops) you come across while in another stage you’ll be creeping around avoiding enemy cameras much like the GBA versions of the Splinter Cell games.  To spice up the stages, though, the Turtles also get to man the guns of a spaceship or use a Muta-Board (sort of like a hover board).  It’s not a bad variety, actually.

Combat is pretty straightforward even with the multitude of attack combos each Turtle possesses.  You’ll be tempted to play the game using only Leonardo and Raphael mainly because Leonardo’s katana makes it easier to hit enemies and because Raphael’s wall-climbing ability is necessary to complete stages that need you to get those hard to reach areas.  Both Donatello and Michelangelo don’t make as much an impact as the other two combat-wise but Donatello can use his staff to vault himself to higher ground while Michelangelo can throw his nunchakus like a boomerang (which makes him practically useless since all the TMNT have throwing stars (or, in ninja terms, Shuriken).

As cool as all of these features sound, it’s the execution that fails to bring us a game that’s as fresh as it is from beginning to end.  Sure it has an abundance of stages but it becomes less a challenge and more a lesson in frustration the deeper into the game you go.  While there’s a nice assortment of attack combos, they really don’t feel like you’re executing a unique move since all it does is knock a soldier down (you’ll have to hit the enemy more than twice to really defeat them)--it also becomes repetitive.  The controls can also be a hindrance because they aren’t responsive enough.  When I attempted to hide from the surveillance cameras, instead of moving into the shadows my Turtle jumped into the spotlight.  The game is also pretty hard even in the normal setting but what makes the game really difficult is the scattered crystals that are sometimes places in obscured locations.

The multiplayer modes are a welcome, addition, though.  Up to four players (using a GBA Link Cable and a copy of the same game for each player) can take each another on in Race Mode (which has all four Turtles racing each another using the Muta-Board) and Battle Mode (try to clear an area and beat a friend’s completion time).  The good news is that there are many areas and maps to use in both Race and Battle Modes.

Battle Nexus is also not a bad-looking GBA game either and you’ll know it the minute the cut scenes finish and you’re in the more elaborate-looking environments.  The cut scenes look like stills from the new cartoons and not the old comic books so fans of the old TMNT are in for a disappointment.  These are the cuter Turtles that look pretty good during the game’s action as does enemies (especially the really big ones like the stage bosses).

The game’s music doesn’t get on your nerves and that’s a good thing because the tempo of the game’s tunes never really changes while playing the game.  There’s all the usual platform action game sound effects but fails to capture the other little details (for example, when a Turtle falls into an electrical panel there isn’t any sizzling sound or sounds of crackling electricity).  The only voices you’ll hear come in song form when you manage to get all the crystals in a given stage.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus has all the right elements that make up a really great GBA action game featuring the TMNT, but it all falls flat thanks to its biggest flaws.  This is upsetting since the multiplayer mode has a lot to offer and the main Story Mode has an abundance of stages to play through.  Yet all of this just doesn’t work without responsive controls, an unusually hard Normal setting and weak combat.  Sorry but these Turtles aren’t ready to come out of their shell yet. 

Gameplay: 6.0
Aside from the fact that you have to slice or thump a bad guy multiple times before he blinks out of existence, the TMNT have their own unique fighting skills that come off almost perfectly and that’s not bad for a Game Boy Advance game.  The stages are plentiful but start feeling less and less exciting really quickly--thankfully there are some stages where you use vehicles.

Graphics: 7.0
Pretty and colorful, Battle Nexus has some nice visuals on the GBA.  The Turtles look great performing their combos and the flashy effects are wonderful.  As for the cut scenes, they’re not bad if you like the new cartoons.  The stage bosses are huge and practically fill the screen.

Sound: 7.0
The tunes are pretty rocking even though there isn’t much of a variety.  The sound effects are okay, although it would have been cool to hear more than just the sounds of the Turtles beating on enemies.  Thankfully, you’ll also be spared of hearing the word “Cowabunga!” over and over again like the console versions.

Difficulty: Hard
Even in the Normal setting the game is pretty hard.  The difficulty comes from the some really odd places you’ll find some crystals and the fact that while our half-shelled heroes have a nice assortment of combat moves they need to hit a simple soldier multiple times to defeat him.

Concept: 6.5
The NES original was pretty fun since it implemented all the TMNT in some good old-fashioned arcade action and this ones, especially on the GBA, comes close to recreating that.  You’ll love the multiplayer mode but come to dislike the repetitiveness of the single player mode.

Multiplayer: 7.5
While you can’t have a friend (or up to four players in total) play along with you in the single player mode, Battle Mode and Race Mode are a nice break since there are plenty of maps (plus secret ones to unlock). It’s not bad . . . it’s not bad at all.

Overall: 6.5
Battle Nexus is not the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles best effort but if you’re looking for a slightly better version of the game I suggest you forget the console versions and pick this one up instead.  It’s old-school charm and decent multiplayer mode offer a better alternative even with all the things that hold it back from being an instant classic.  Yet speaking as a fan, I would skip this one and wait for Konami to release one that’s true its superior original.