Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Mutant Nightmare E3 2005 Preshow Report

There's a mutant nightmare headed your way this fall as Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Leonardo return for a third action game on the Xbox, GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Nintendo DS. The console games will be full-on 3D beat-'em-ups, while the DS version will take a more-traditional 2D side-scrolling viewpoint. But in both cases, the games appear to be putting a focus on teamwork and puzzles that will let each of the four turtles flex one of his unique skills.

The console game will let you customize your character, and you can play in a single-player or cooperative setting. When playing with friends, you'll be able to bust out cooperative attacks and hyper combos. The game will contain some variety to its action, as you'll encounter vehicles and other things that change up the action a bit. As far as unlockable content goes, expect to see one of the old TMNT arcade games.

The Nintendo DS version of the game will focus on that same multiplayer strategy, letting up to four players play the game at the same time via the DS's wireless support. This version will contain 30 stages in its main mode. An additional battle mode will contain another 20 stages.

All four versions of Mutant Nightmare are currently scheduled to be released this fall.