"Some games are best left alone in the past" is the best way to describe this generic attempt of a remake.
2009, Ubisoft decided to re-release this game. Only it was going to be rendered in 3D, which pretty much meant that the game was going to be given the "remake" treatment as many other classics have gotten through, such as Klonoa for the PS1 and Punch-Out for the NES. However, both Namco and Next Level games kept something in both remakes that made just as good as the originals: their loving charms.
In the arcade original, whilst going through all the levels fighting off enemies in this fast-paced environment, one of the turtles or enemies would do something that would catch your attention and probably make you laugh. And seeing as how this game was released after the highly popular animated series, it's no wonder people loved the game so much. Which is one of the reasons why I believe this remake fails. Ubisoft pretty much stripped the loving charm out of the original, rendered everything into 3D (just to please the graphics whores in my opinion), added one slight change to the game mechanics and all that was left is a completely shallow, generic and pretty much boring beat-em-up. And not to mention the awesome BGM that played was removed too with something completely different and just adds the generic appeal to this game.
Sometimes I will never understand why companies insist on remaking games. I understand them doing so just to get people into the series again or those who missed out, however I don't understand why it is necessary to pretty much rape originals of what made them so special back then and add other elements that are completely unnecessary just so they could sell.
- The turtles were all witty and silly-looking. The remake, they're all serious and lack any wit at all.
- The music was very catchy and worked well with the environments that they represented. The remake, not so much.
- The cheesy lines from the Konami original made you laugh at how bad they sounded. The remake makes you cringe at how bad the voices are.
Nothing against anyone who love the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as I was a fan of them back in the 80s and 90s (the new generation of these turtles reeked of generic to me), but this remake of this classic arcade game does not do the franchise any justice. Some games are just not meant to remade and this game is a perfect example of that. My word of advice: save your 10 dollars and try to find the originals. Sure the game can be better when you have a friend over to play, but other than that, nothing much comes out of this remake at all.