Ubisoft don’t cut them no slack as they announce a new Turtles game from one of the developers responsible for Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
While the cartoon series debuted in 1987, the origins of the pizza-eating turtles can be traced back to 1984 with the release of the much more serious Mirage Studios comic, making for 25 years of outlandish action from the Eastman and Laird franchise. Whether they’re teaming up with the Power Rangers, selling delicious pies filled with gene-altering toxic waste or starring in the always shameful traveling musical (I admit, I cried until my parents bought tickets), there’s no denying that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a worldwide pop culture institution all their own.
For their 25th anniversary, Ubisoft (who released the game associated with the 2007 CG film, “TMNT“) has teamed up with one of the development studios behind Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Game Arts, to produce a four-player action title scheduled for Fall 2009. Unlike previous games based on the franchise, this will be the first one to not be attached to either a movie, television show or comic book.
“The awesome new video game that Ubisoft will release in 2009 is an important part of celebrating this Turtles milestone with fans around the world,” said Gary Richardson, CEO of Mirage Studios in a press release sent out this morning. Earlier this year, Mirage put up a new website to celebrate the landmark year for Turtles fans, which includes contests, wallpapers and most importantly, the ability to watch clips of the original cartoon series.
In other Turtle news, there is still no definitive word on whether or not Warner Brothers and the Weinstein Group plan to move forward on a sequel to the 2007 CG feature, “TMNT.” Imagi Studios, the animation studio behind the film, was quoted by IGN late last year saying, “while Mirage continues to speak with Imagi, Mirage has begun discussions with several other movie companies regarding the production of a new TMNT film for distribution sometime in the not-too-distant future.” As someone who was pleasantly surprised by TMNT, I hope to hear word on a new film by end of year.
