Turtles II - Back from the Sewers does a lot better than its direct predecessor Fall of the Foot Clan in many cases. You notice this as soon as you start the cartridge, which plays a wonderful Gameboy version of the cartoon intro. The music is varied and catchy. There are even two scratchy voice samples. After each level start, a euphoric "COWABUNGA!" is heard, and "Pizza time!" when you pause. Can it get any more charming than that? The levels are also more dynamic and no longer consist of bluntly running to the right and beating everything that runs in front of your green nose. Instead, there are autoscrolling sequences on a skateboard or surfboard in which you have to dodge all kinds of obstacles and defeat foot soldiers and more. The graphics have of course also been improved and now offer more detail and depth. It is simply satisfying to see the flips of the four boys while jumping. With each level, however, the difficulty level increases considerably. Already in Act 3, it gets annoying because the game throws endless spawning mousers at you. In the Technodrome at the latest, the difficulty level has reached its maximum with more Mousers, Roadkill Rodneys, which this time are unfortunately not stunned when we hit them. Instead, they can counterattack directly after we hit them. Again, there are openings that spit out enemies endlessly until you pass them, which often results in a hit to the Turtle. You eagerly await the next pizza in this Endurance test. Where Konami has also tightened up are the bosses, which now not only take 5 hits but have a life bar like us. Especially in fights where the map goes into depth, it is almost impossible to hit the boss without taking a hit yourself. Here they have cranked the dial a little too far. And after each of the Turtles has been defeated once, it's game over, so you have four attempts. Back from the Sewers is an improved, albeit really tough game that you can really cut your teeth on.

Reviewed on Aug 14, 2023


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