When the TMNT movie tie-in hit every console known to man this past spring, gamers let out a collective groan. Movie tie-in games have earned their piss poor reputation for the most part and there was no reason to assume this would be any different. Critically speaking the reviews out there seemed to echo the sentiments of most gamers who weren't interested in giving this a whirl in the first place. It was, for the most part, written off as a flop that would remain commercially successful thanks to an army of seven year old boys. But was the general consensus of the gaming community right, or did our general bias against kids games/movie tie-ins spoil us into missing a really decent action-platformer?

Had it not been for my nephews, I never would have found this one out. They're in town for the summer and that means they visit from time to time and love to get their grubby little mitts on my games. Of course, my collection isn't exactly 7-9 year old friendly. A quick trip to the rental store though and we were all saddled up for some safe-for-7 fun.

The first thing I noticed right off the bat is that TMNT is a single player title. It's a strange choice, and it's certainly one of the things that other reviewers have complained about, but I think it works. You see, TMNT isn't a beat-em'up contrary to most peoples assumptions. It's a linear game that's very focussed on platforming. It plays an awful lot like Prince of Persia - not so surprising if you consider the fact that both games were developed by UbiSoft Montreal. Wall running, climbing, pole swinging -- in a lot of ways, the gameplay is nearly identical to PoP. Even the combat occurs in small and isolated chunks like in Prince. The one big difference though is the difficulty level. Clearly this is a game designed with kids in mind. Think of it as Prince of Persia Junior.

Coming from such solid roots, the gameplay itself is clearly rock solid. The story and art, too, are on solid ground. Both follow closely with the film, however, the game is done as more of a re-telling of the film than it is a shot for shot recreation. They employ this "living comic book" motif for the cutscenes, and the characters do off camera voice overs telling the story in the past tense. It works really well, and it helps retain the humor of the film while remaining original and independent of the screenplay itself. For the most part, the art retains the same CGI look of the film, however it feels fused with a touch of Sly Cooper-esque cel shading. Regardless, the look of the game, though not "technically" stellar, is distinctive and certainly appreciated by this reviewer.

Of course, no game is without its flaws. TMNT uses a fixed camera that will rotate around at times to showcase different angles on the action (occassionally even giving the game a cool 2D feel). It's not often that the camera causes a problem, but when it does it can be downright frustrating, sometimes leading to 20 or so jumps over the same gap until you manage to find a place to land. As well, the game may be seen as too easy by some. The title is far from challenging, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's not enjoyable. Still -- if you're looking for a game that'll really test your skills, this isn't it.

Overall, TMNT does what it sets out to do. It provides a quality platforming experience that's easy for kids yet fun for adults. It's living-proof that a casual Sunday afternoon game doesn't have to have Tiger Woods in the title.

Editors Note: Although the Xbox 360 version was played for this review, TMNT is also available on Wii, PS2 and Gamecube.

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