It’s only game of solitaire as turtles go on missions

Superhero and cartoon characters have become integral parts of the electronic entertainment industry. Around the world, youngsters and guys who can’t get dates spend countless hours in front of their computers and video-game systems.

With this in mind, I salute the meld of pop-culture characters and Silicon Valley with a look at some…

Comics plugged in

TMNT

(Ubisoft for Xbox 360, rated E+10, $49.99)

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have returned not only to the silver screen in a new computer animated film from Warner Bros. but to the video game realm, in a third-person action game. A single player controls each of the four green warriors and works through 16 missions loaded with acrobatic conundrums and packs of thugs ready to beat the heroes back into the sewers.

What’s the story? From the game’s Web site: “Since rescuing the four brothers from mutagenic ooze as youngsters, Master Splinter has nurtured and trained the turtles for life in a dangerous world. Passing on the mastery of the martial arts and selecting each of their weapons for them at an early age, he has made sure they have always been ready for a fight. But since the Shredders’ death, these heroes from the sewers have drifted apart. Now a new force of evil is silently gaining strength in the city — one that will certainly give the team its toughest test yet.”

Characters’ character: Let’s first get a very sour note out of the way. It’s not possible for four people to play this game and that is inexcusable. Developers must have been sniffing toxic ooze to forget that this franchise is based on teamwork. To not include this type of action, as well as any type of online multiplayer option, is really dumb.

Now for the better news.

The game allows the player to control Leonardo armed with his katana, Raphael (and his alter ego the Nightwatcher) with his sai, Donatello with his bo staff and Michelangelo with his nunchuks through mainly solo missions as they travel above and below ground in urban terrains and stop familiar foes such as the Purple Dragons, Foot Clan and Black Gators.

Each turtle has a slew of acrobatic maneuvers to get him through the plethora of pure platform environments. That means the chance to jump, swing, climb, hang, run and bounce along walls, floors, rooftops and ledges through high-speed maneuvers Lara Croft would appreciate.

At the end of each mission, the player will be graded on his fighting abilities, his speed and the amount of coins he’s collected. Those who earn an “A” are awarded with another side challenge to sharpen skills.

In some missions, the player can temporarily bring in a second turtle to help his brother jump across large distances or deliver a heavy-duty Super Family Attack.

Both are nice additions, but in no way makes up for the lack of cooperative play.

The graphics look very sharp on the Xbox 360 and slightly make up for the repetitive game play and terribly redundant voice-over work. The turtles’ designs look ripped right from the movie and their fluid movement is very lifelike — and especially eye-popping when set against the moody locations.

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