Better than the second game, some parts better than the first game. Overall, not a bad game.
The story follows season 3 of the show. Part 1 of the game consists of the triceraton invasion of earth, with the battle against prime leader zanramon being at the end. Part 2 of the game includes the turtles' first encounter with agent bishop, getting to the base of his operations, and finally defeating him. Part 3 of the game pits you against the foot ninjas in an attempt to find the shredder and finish him off permanently(in this game he finally DOES get defeated). Finally, in the nightmare part of the game(appears after you finish all the other parts), the damio's son and draco warp into the turtles lair and puts each turtle in their own nightmare world. It's up to you to get them out.
The gameplay is interesting. The combos start out simple, with some three hit weak combos and a strong hit(part of the strong combo). Once you progress through the game, you can buy more hits towards the full combos. In some cases, the weak combos can have up to 7 hits and the strong combos can have up to 5 effective hits. Once again, it's like simple arcade play, but next generation, which is suprisingly fun. You roam around the areas battling enemies and completing objectives. You earn crystals by defeating enemies, which you use to buy various combos, skills, and scroll slots(used to equip abilities). Each turtle has their own health bar(thank god) and a meter that gets built up to unleash a special attack. Health pick-ups are scattered around to keep you alive, but one problem is that if you get tons of money, but fail to complete the objective by dying, you start all over again from the beginning without anything collected previously. The moral? Be safe, and not extensive(at least until you really ramp up your power).
The enemy fighting can actually be fun and challenging, seeing as how you have many combos at your dispersal and all the turtles are fighting(either CPU or friends playing with you). The areas are big, but not to the point that it gets annoying having to go through them. Once you buy certain power-ups, you can unleash team attacks that obliterate everyone in the room. There are lots of possibilities so be creative! You can even call the CPU turtles to your side if they wander off. There are mini-game stages that have you hang gliding, throwing shiriken at enemies, hoverboarding, and more. These extra games can be a nice distraction from the main game.
The environments are good and spacious, but at times can be too big and slightly confusing. The music is nicely done. The main setup of things in the menu is good as well. There are even bonus videos you can unlock and the turtles in time game too.
Overall, this is a great game that could be enjoyed by most people, and great with a group of friends. Enjoy!