Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time

The Good
The final sidescrolling beat 'em up starring the famous ninja Turtles is arguably the finest title in the series, showcasing the best examples of the kickass gameplay that made the TMNT games such a phenomenon. Beyond being just a port of the arcade title of the same name, the game actually is sort of a hybrid between that one and the Genesis Hyperstone Heist exclusive, which essentially gives you the best of both worlds.

With extremely good graphics and sounds, this is the most authentic-looking TMNT game you could have in your home at the time and a near perfect arcade port of the original, which also includes the largest collection of sprites seen in the series as well as an excellent use of sprite zooming that works whenever you throw a character towards the screen (at you!) and also doubles as an interesting gameplay feature, as in some levels you have to hit enemies that are in the foreground and cannot be reached by normal attacks.

As a nice feature, besides the traditional arcade mode (which can be played solo or with a friend) you have a time trial and vs mode, which pits a turtle against another in a one-on-one match a-la Street Fighter, an idea so good that it got fleshed out into it's own game. All features which add a lot of value to an already good game with lots of moves, large and colorful enemies, nonstop action and lots of Turtle-goodness.

The Bad
The arcade mode is kind of short, specially when compared to the NES's Manhattan Project, which while inferior in quality and gameplay, is about 4 times the size of this one. (It's still longer than the original arcade Turtles in Time tough).

One could also argue that by the time the classic mold of 2D beat 'em ups was getting a little stale, and even the lesser titles out there had started to include multiple endings, branching routes and alternative challenges, stuff that Turtles in Time completely ignores.

The Bottom Line
Before Konami was known for it's superlative Silent Hills and blatantly over-rated Metal Gear Solid sequels, it was known to kids everywhere as THE name (along with Capcom of course) for 2D side-scrolling beat 'em ups, and this title is the perfect example of why they made such a name for themselves. Truly the finest title to bear the TMNT banner and one hell of a good time for fans of fast-paced cartoony action.