I played some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the show floor today. Graphically the game is coming along very well. The cartoony look suits the game well and the comic-book exclamations (BAMM! FAPP!) are a nice touch. The demo left me with a few reservations, but the game is on the right track.

The game is 1-to-2-player only at this stage, but all four turtles are selectable. I picked Michaelangelo, the party dude, and took to the streets. The backgrounds are colorful and the animation is very fluid. Even with all the visual effects onscreen the game doesn't slow down. Most importantly, the game feels just like the old arcade TMNT beatemups; it's hard to describe but the gameplay is just right. Mike has a cool new move where he twirls his nunchuks in the air like a helicopter and bicycle-kicks his enemies. The other turtles have their own special moves as well.

The enemies themselves aren't too exciting though. The demo consists mostly of waves upon waves of pipe-wielding thugs and those little rat-robot-thingies. The level shown was pretty early in development (there wasn't even a boss at the end), though, so there's plenty of room (and time) for improvement. Also, in my opinion, the game is considerably less fun with only two players.

I'm still looking forward to the final product, though.