Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up (Ubisoft; PS2, Wii; rated everyone 10+)

This latest title starring the mutant turtles trained in the martial arts—by a mutated rat, no less—is an arcade fighting game.

You can take on the guise of one of the four turtles (Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello); Master Splinter, the rat; or one of the two humans who fight beside the turtles in the name of justice, April O’Neil, the investigative television reporter, or Casey Jones, the vigilante who wields a hockey stick.

While the actual fighting is much what you’d expect, the art style of the game makes it stand out. Rendered as pages from a comic book—where the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were born—the pen-and-ink drawings look great. The graphics really enhance the varied environments that you’ll be fighting in, from skyscraper rooftops to city sewers.

It’s a bit tricky to figure out the Wii motion controls, so given that the game was actually designed for controller pads, you’re better off using one of those.

On your own—battling the CPU—you can play arcade mode, mission mode, or survival mode, but multiplayer modes include Battle Royal (matches with one to four players), Tournament (three to eight players), and Swap Out (three to eight players taking turns in matches).

Smash-Up isn’t going to introduce you to anything new, but if you’re a fan of the TMNT and you’ve got some friends to play with, it’s a worthy rental.