A couple of seasons into the 2002 reboot, the Turtles ended up in another world and had to fight their way back to Earth. This led to another GBA game, and this time, the game goes in a different direction and I actually like it.
The story begins in the Turtles' home in the sewers. All of a sudden, an earthquake followed by a bright blue light happens, then the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles suddenly vanish, and they suddenly reappear on a far-off planet. Suddenly, troops from two armies - a human army and a Triceraton army - chase after a robot, and start fighting over who gets it. The Ninja Turtles swoop in and save the robot, then they are teleported again, this time to the robot's laboratory. The robot is Fugitoid, also known as Professor Honeycutt, and explains that the Turtles have been teleported here by a machine powered by crystal energy similar to his, and the Turtles think it is most likely Shredder's doing. Honeycutt states that the people after them are part of two warring sides who want to use the technology for their own evil ends, then tells them that the only way back to Earth is by collecting a lot of crystal energy, and to do that, a lot of crystals will need to be collected. The Turtles, not having much else to do, are up to the challenge.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, we find out that this is indeed the doing of Shredder with a little help from Baxter Stockman, who is now a human head on a mechanical spider body following his failures from the first game and from earlier in the reboot. Stockman plans to hack further into the transmat of the planet that they are on and make it so that when they teleport anywhere on the world they are on, the Turtles and their weapons will be separated from each other, leaving them unarmed in hostile territory.
From here, it's on to the first stage of the first world of the game.
Base 1
Turtles required for this stage: Any
Before starting any stage, you'll be able to pick your Turtle. The four Turtles will have different weapons (and different digitized voice samples) as well as different animations and moves, even though they all control mostly the same.
When you start, you'll be able to move around with the Control Pad, jump with A and throw shurikens with B. Down+Left and Down+Right let you crawl in narrow corridors. You can slide with Down+A. By holding Left or Right, you'll walk briefly before breaking into a run. If you want to stay at a slow speed, tap the D-Pad.
By holding forwards towards a ledge while in mid-air, you can grab it. Press Up on the Control Pad to pull yourself up, or press Down to drop down.
If you see a pole, you can climb up it with Up or down it with Down.
Press Up to enter doors. Some will be different colors and require different colored keys, which you can find off of enemies. When you get a keycard, you can use it at the card slot by walking up to it and pressing Up. There is a red keycard in this stage that lets you access the last part of the stage, and the blue keycard is used for the teleporter at the exit.
Speaking of enemies, you can fight them with the shurikens, but they will only deal so much damage. You'll also need to hide from them when necessary, as this game is nothing like the first GBA game and relies more on stealth and exploration. If an enemy sees you, hide! You'll eventually give them the slip and they'll eventually start walking around again like you're not there. Thankfully, you can always find your weapon, and that will allow you to fight back and do some real damage against the enemy.
If you see a hiding spot in the background, you can use it with Up. The narrow corridors in the background can be holding Up, pressing A, and climbing up and down on with Up and Down on the Control Pad. If you need to get back out in the open, press Down.
The heads-up display is pretty simple. You have your health in the upper-left corner. Down on the lower-right corner is your crystal count for the stage as well as an enemy radar indicator. If it flashes green, you're safe; if it flashes yellow, that means there are enemies nearby. If it flashes red, it means that you've been spotted and you need to hide or fight immediately.
The small crystals are worth one crystal while the big crystals are worth three. The turtle icon will recover some of your health.
When you get your weapon, you can perform combos by repeatedly pressing B, and you can perform three charge attacks by holding B. There is a "neutral" B button charge attack, one that you can do while holding Up on the Control Pad, and one that you can do by holding down. A+B allows you to do a desperation attack that costs you some health if it connects, and it can also be performed with R. There is also an attack you can do by pressing B while running. If you need to, you can double-tap Left or Right to make it easier to perform. You can also do a downward stab with Down+B in the air, should you need to attack enemies below you while in mid-air. Also, holding L lets you look around the room by rolling your thumb across the Control Pad while holding the button.
Blocks cannot be broken with the shurikens, but you can break them with your weapon. Keep this in mind, as you will sometimes need to backtrack often and break blocks to uncover hidden crystals.
The enemies here are pretty weak and will go down quickly even with the shurikens. If they get in close, they will either hit you with batons or kick you. Fight well against the enemy, as health will be hard to find in the later levels.
Eventually, you will get the blue keycard by beating up the soldier at the end. You'll need this to press Up at the teleporter at the end to get it to work. Once you take the teleporter, it's on to Stage 2.
As for the crystals here, they're really easy to find. Just break blocks and look around, and you'll easily find them all.
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