 There are over 80 beat'em up games between the Super Nintendo and Super Famicom. 80 games where all you do is punch stuff, kick stuff, move on to the next area, where you punch more stuff and kick more stuff, with a special move thrown in here and there. So what is it that makes people go bananas about this particular punch kick fest, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4, Turtles in Time? What is it that separates this beat'em up from over 80 other ones? First of all, Turtles in Time was released in the arcades in 1991. The big appeal of the game then was the four player co-op, and the complete chaos that brought about. You just couldn't get that on a home console. Until they brought it to the Super Nintendo. It's multiplayer but only up to two players, sadly it doesn't work with the four player multi-tap, but otherwise Turtles in Time for Super Nintendo is a near perfect arcade port. Okay, that's all well and good, but what is it about this game that makes it the best beat'em up of its era and maybe ever? A big part of it is how cleverly this game is structured. I remember it being a huge thrill when you got to the Technodrome at only level 3, and holy crap I'm already facing Shredder until he sends you back in Time, where you have to fight your way back to the present, and that's where the game outshines its peers. The structure here is perfect for a game like this because everything is so unpredictable. You have no idea what time period you'll be in or what you'll see or who you'll run into, whether it be dodging cannonballs on a pirate ship, foot soldiers on horses or dinosaurs, rock soldiers with bazookas, a prehistoric cave turtle boss, a crocodile wearing clothes. So to me, why play through such a simple button mashing beat'em up? Because you have no idea what the hell is coming next. Of course it's important to also have the fundamentals in place like hit detection, tight and accurate controls, tons of different moves like whipping a guy around like a rag doll, looks like something out of a Looney Tunes cartoon, and throwing a foot soldier into the camera. How do you not love that? They even incorporated that mechanic into the first Shredder boss fight. It's so cool. Plus having four characters to choose from does give the gameplay a bit of variety. Plus there's a one-on-one fighting mode and time trial stages, so it's nice to have a couple other game modes as kind of a bonus. One part of this game that I think it's overlooked sometimes is that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universe, so to speak, is just a fun time. I mean, there's a reason this was a popular Saturday morning cartoon back then, because everything here is just so delightfully silly, and the turtle's world here is perfectly represented. Everyone is here, Krang and his body, Baxter, the Rat King, and not only do you fight Bebop and Rocksteady, but they're dressed as pirates. Gotta love that. I also have to praise the music, which just knocks it out of the park. This is one of those video game soundtracks that I listen to all the time, just on its own, just for fun. It's so upbeat and energetic, and it always puts me in a good mood. I do want to mention the Turtles in Time remake, Resheld. That's available on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network. That's actually a remake of the original arcade game, but its biggest flaw is that the players can't join in your game as it's going in real time, like you can in the original arcade game. Overall, Resheld is pretty mediocre, and I'd much rather play the Super Nintendo port any day. So yeah, does Turtles in Time live up to the hype? If anything, it may surpass it. This game is just so much freakin' fun, it gets everything right. The variety of moves, the music, the unpredictability, the settings, the boss fights, the Ninja Turtles universe itself. Turtles in Time is objectively a top 10 Super Nintendo game and the best beat-a-bump of the 16-bit era.