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A Turtles computer game is the last merchandising to be made. So now it's here, the question has to be: is this the bodacious foursome's finest appearance to date or have we been fobbed off with an expensive farce? Read on, dudes...

Imagine a thing: a thing that swims around in the stuff that you normally flush down the toilet. A thing that weighs 500lbs, smells like a sewer, is crammed full of pepperoni pizza and grins at you with big yellow teeth. Would you want a creature like that crawling over your pyjamas, sloshing about in your cereal, shouting "Cowabunga!" in your lunchbox and dripping sewer-slime all over the outside of your socks? The answer, of course, is yes. We all would (just don't ask anybody why).

By a bizarre coincidence 'why?' is exactly what April O'Neil said when the evil, turtley nasty, all-over bad guy Shredder kidnapped her and demanded she join his dreaded Ninjitsu Foot Clan. Did her friends, the bodacious foursome, flip their shells? Nope, they sharpened their Sai, tightened their belts and vowed to find her, thrash Shredder, nab his Life Transformer Gun and turn their rodent buddy Splinter into the man he used to be - no matter how many veggie pizzas it costs.

Now you don't have to be 6 feet tall, radioactive and green all over to tell that this isn't going to be easy. Equipped with Nunchucku, Sai (sai what?), Katana blade and Bo (don't know diddley?) they begin their quest in the places they know best: the sewers of New York. Basically this involves running around the city streets, avoiding some jerky trucks and the dreaded blobby blue people before ducking into the odd manhole cover or warehouse entrance to dish out more mutant punishment within.

The guys around here aren't the sort you'd lend your fluffy turtle slippers to. They fly around, they wobble towards you and they buzz viciously in to attack. One touch and you start feeling sick; too much bodily contact without proper precautions and your health hits zero. Use your radioactive jumping ability or pulp the critters first, before they do it to you.

Rescuing April isn't too difficult and after that it's breaststroke time (oo-er). Nasty old Shredder has planted waterproof bombs underneath the city and you've got to paddle through a labyrinth of electric gates, polluted jellyfish and sucking seaweed to defuse them all before the time runs out. This is one of the better-looking sections and comes as a welcome break from the platform levels.

Turtley dry again, you find yourself hunting around buildings and sewers for missiles and cannon. These goodies are used to equip the Party Wagon (parked nearby) which you'll need to blast through all the barriers between you and Shredder the Turtle be-header. Survive that and you're ready to enter the actual building where Splinter is trussed up and prepare for the final confrontation with the incredibly vile Shredder.

You only control one turtle hero at a time, though by accessing the info screen you can switch between them at any time. This is to exploit their various fighting abilities, though they're actually not all that different (except that Michelangelo is a bit of a wimp!).

Need help? Then grab one of the handy icons casually lying about. Pizzas boost energy, boomerangs invoke temporary invincibility, and shuriken or klai are good for kicking ass.

Despite the average graphics, vague collision detection, crap animation and generally poo programming, TMHT is moderately good fun. The task is divided between several large and varied levels, and the well-structured tape system ensures that the multiload blues are kept to a minimum.

With nicely graded difficulty and a smooth control method, even the youngest Turtle fans should be able to shred Shredder no problem!

1. Ropey collision detection creates a shoddy feel.
2. Graphics generally blocky and lacking in detail!
3. Poorly programmed overall.
4. Tinny in-game tune.

1. Forgiving control method makes play nice and smooth.
2. Different weapons add a bit of spice to the combat.
3. Extensive and complex area to battle through.
4. Well-graded difficulty - even younger players can progress.
5. Useful save game and continue options.
6. A variety of game-styles: swim, drive and fight.
7. User-friendly multiload - even on tape!